You have validated the idea, won your first customers, the team is growing – and suddenly you need far more capital than a year ago. Welcome to the scale-up phase. This is where the most exciting, and most expensive, mistakes happen: many founders reflexively reach for the next equity round, even though there are often smarter ways to fund growth. Time to look at the main options.
Why the financing question is different in the scale-up phase
In the startup stage the core question was usually: how do I survive until the next milestone? As a scale-up, that changes. You have a working business model, recurring revenue and more predictable costs. Now it is about scaling growth – new markets, more people, larger inventories or marketing budgets. That needs capital, but not necessarily new investors on board.
Traditional banks often struggle with young, fast-growing companies whose figures and collateral do not fit the classic lending grid. At the same time, equity is expensive – not only financially, but strategically, because you give away shares and influence.
The main financing options for scale-ups at a glance
- Venture capital and equity rounds: The classic route. VC investors bring capital, network and know-how. The price: ownership, governance rights and dilution with every further round. Often unavoidable for capital-intensive growth – but it should not be the only option.
- Bank loans: Attractive because they are non-dilutive. The challenge: extensive collateral, long processing times and a credit history young companies often do not yet have. Anyone who needs liquidity quickly often waits too long here.
- Venture debt: A mix of loan and equity-linked financing, usually alongside a VC round. Extends runway without diluting as heavily as pure equity – though the provider landscape in Switzerland is limited and terms suit very specific, well-capitalised scale-ups.
- Revenue-based financing: Repayment follows ongoing revenue – interesting for models with recurring income such as SaaS or subscriptions. Advantage: the burden tracks performance. Disadvantage: not suitable for every model, and still a niche market in Switzerland.
- Grants and innovation subsidies: Institutions such as Innosuisse support innovative projects with non-repayable grants. Good for research and development, but project-bound and not a solution for ongoing liquidity needs.
The alternative: flexible digital credit solutions such as Kamuno’s
Exactly in this gap – fast, straightforward financing without dilution – Kamuno positions itself. We offer scale-ups a digital credit solution tailored to the typical financing gaps of growing companies: access to debt without losing ownership, a solid liquidity base for the next growth phase, and a fully digital decision process.
In concrete terms that means:
- Credit lines from CHF 10,000 to 250,000, available to draw flexibly
- Terms of up to three years
- A fully digital process – from initial assessment through to payout
- A decision within days rather than months, as is often the case with classic bank processes
The flow is deliberately lean: an initial assessment without documents delivers an indication of the possible loan amount within minutes. If you continue, you receive a non-binding offer, submit the required documents and have the application reviewed within a few days. After approval, funds are available flexibly within the agreed credit line – so you only pay for what you actually need.
For scale-ups that need short-term capital for hiring, inventory, marketing or the next expansion step without launching a full new funding round, this can be a sensible complement to the existing financing mix. Kamuno is a VQF member, works with Swisscom as a technology partner and belongs to Urner Kantonalbank.
The right financing mix matters
There is no single right form of financing for scale-ups. The most interesting question is usually not “equity or debt?” but: which combination fits my growth pace, business model and risk appetite? Anyone who wants to avoid dilution and still stay able to act quickly should include flexible digital credit solutions such as Kamuno’s as a building block in their financing strategy – as a fast, straightforward complement to classic equity or debt.