How We Raised $11 Million By Focusing On Real Numbers

A day seemingly does not pass by without news of some huge financing round in a tech startup. Yes, everybody in the tech sector knows that raising a significant amount via a financing round is a sure-fire way to gain good PR exposure.  

It is understandable that companies want to maximize the PR potential of every round.  After all, we all need more clients, more leads and more revenue. To get more media exposure seems like an easy way to faster growth.

Often it looks like the rounds have been designed and engineered to generate the maximum “wow” effect. There are two main methods to do this.

Method one: valuations

The bigger the valuation, the better. After all, neither the journalists nor the general public can find out whether it's real or not, or what the strings attached to that crazy, unicorn-looking number are. So the temptation to lie/manipulate is high.

This is not our game.

We know that valuation is not just one number. It is a series of clauses, limits, numbers and mechanisms all aimed at protecting the investment of the venture capitalists involved in case the flagship valuation number turns out to be unrealistic.

So, when you read in the media about some valuation that sounds too good to be true, remember that it is probably engineered to awe you into retweeting the news.

Method two: celebrity investors.

Sounds easy. Just convince some celebrity to invest, be it a football player, an actress or, when the situation is really desperate, the latest 15-minutes-of-fame reality show contestant.

This strategy does not require any creative accounting, but rather just plain good old networking and some persuasion skills to find somebody willing to trade a bit of their glimmer and money for some equity.

This is not our game. Let’s not kid ourselves. Greatness in one field does not carry over automatically into others.

Just look at the ill-fated investments in the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain by Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, or Mike Tyson’s multitude of investment failures and heavy financial losses, to pluck but two examples from many.

The same is true for all Kardashian-like investors out there.

While they may temporarily boost the visibility and reputation of a startup, the degree of long-lasting success does not depend on the size of the investor’s backside.

So at Kantox, there will be no celebrity name among our investors simply for the sake of having a celebrity.

Nor will you find some huge, half made-up valuation in the press release.

What we want to talk about are real numbers.

These numbers:

•    $1,540,000,000 – The total US dollar value in foreign exchange transactions converted on the Kantox platform to date.
•    1,500 – the number of corporate clients Kantox serves
•    $33.67 million – the largest single trade on our platform
•    $150 million to $200 million – the total monthly amount in trades executed through the Kantox platform. Some clients are small companies, others are mid-size, and a few are listed on the stock exchange.
•    35 – The number of currencies available to clients.
•    75 – the number of countries to whom our clients have made payments.
•    $2,000,000,000 – The number in total trade volume that will be traded on the Kantox platform well before the end of this year.
•    250 - As a bonus let me share this number. More than 250 bankers or brokers have registered on our platform pretending they were real companies, to find out the details about our foreign exchange platform and services. Yes, we know who you are and we enjoy your snooping around :-)

These are the numbers that matter (to us). This is our game.

Relentless focus on our clients' needs.

Unending discoveries of how new ideas and technologies can improve our product and our  processes.

No fear. No superficial hokum.

It's all quite simple. Though we have grown faster than we expected, our ambitions are global.

We have already started opening some markets outside Europe, and we want to continue doing so. Our value proposition is universally valid, and we believe we can become THE alternative FX market.

All CFOs and treasurers on this planet deserve more transparency. By fulfilling their needs better than banks and brokers, we hope to contribute in a significant way to profound, long overdue changes in the banking world.

With more capital we can accelerate our growth and convert our vision to reality faster. That's why we have raised $11 million from our existing investors only: Partech Ventures, IDinvest Partners, Cabiedes & Partners and some business angels.

They are people we trust and people who will back us, patiently. We have not invited anyone else to join. We wanted a fast round to dedicate our time to our clients and not to a 6-month long road show.

Now, between you and me, we are not sure quite how this game will end. We may never be able to extend in a significant way in markets beyond Europe.

There may be new competitors who steal our lunch. There may be threats, crises and disasters. Nobody knows what will happen.

What I do know is this: no matter what comes, we will stay focused.

We will make the most out of every opportunity.

We will mitigate all the risks that may appear.

We will work hard every day and enjoy it, knowing that what we do has purpose.

We prefer to play the game we are good at – the technology game – instead of chasing celebrity investors or foolishly high valuations in the short term.

Because if we are able to build the alternative FX market thanks to highly sophisticated matching technology, the company valuation will be in the billions in the long run.

This is what we think at Kantox. What do you think? Are we right in our approach? Would you do it differently? I’d love to hear your opinion in the comments section below.