Clearco becomes the latest revenue-based financing fintech to score a mega-round

The news: The $215 million mega-round, led by Softbank, comes just a couple of months after a $100 million raise that brought Clearco’s valuation to $2 billion, per TechCrunch.

What does it do? Clearco is yet another revenue-based financing fintech aiming to offer startups equity-free capital. It has helped over 5,500 companies raise over $2.5 billion across ecommerce (ClearCapital), SaaS (ClearRunway), and early-stage (ClearAngel).

Trendspotting: The Clearco raise will sound familiar: Fintechs with very similar offerings have recently hoovered up millions in funding.

In Q2 alone, US-based Pipe and Capchase raised $250 million and $125 million, respectively, while their UK-based counterpart Uncapped raised $80 million.

Much like Clearco, these fintechs fund companies in exchange for a cut of their revenues from future sales for a set period of time. This alternative financing solution compares favorably with equity capital raises and loans, which reduce startup founders’ ownership of their companies or saddle them with interest debt.

Looking ahead: Revenue-based financing fintechs are expanding abroad in a bid to fuel growth. But they may need to slash their fees to compete within an increasingly crowded market.

Following their big raises, both Pipe and Capchase announced UK and European expansions. A small Poland-based fintech is also entering the European arena through a €12 million ($13.7 million) raise last month. Clearco, meanwhile—which is available in the US, Canada, and Europe—plans to use its funding to enter emerging markets and potentially acquire locally based competing offerings.

All of these fintechs are growing quickly within the same market—Capchase is expected to grow 400% by the end of the year while Pipe, Uncapped, and Clearco are all valued above $2 billion. Dipping into the same pool of companies will likely put them at loggerheads with one another and cause their fees to drop: Clearco currently charges between 6%–12% for ClearCapital, for example, the same as Uncapped’s fee but can be more expensive than Capchase’s 5%–10%.