Validar lands venture debt from Decathlon to expand event-tech platform

What's the deal? ValidarDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Seattle-based event-technology provider, has secured a venture-debt funding package from Decathlon Capital PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The capital will fund new features on Validar's platform plus expanded customer-support and sales-and-marketing efforts. Founded in 2005, Validar has powered ticketing, registration, and lead generation at more than 1,000 B2B events worldwide.

Why now? Founder and chief executive officer Victor Kippes said the package was custom designed for a fast-growing company. It offers flexible amortisation, requires no shareholder dilution, and triggers no changes to management or governance, he said. Validar will pay nothing for undrawn capital, and the deal leaves room for additional steps to support growth beyond the current investment.

What could go wrong? Venture debt must be repaid regardless of how the business performs, which can strain cash flow if growth stalls. For a scaleup betting on platform expansion, the pressure to convert new features into revenue is real.

The signal: Backing an established company with non-dilutive debt rather than equity is the core of Decathlon Capital Partners' playbook, and the structure lets a 20-year-old event-tech provider chase platform expansion without ceding control. As marketers demand harder data on event ROI, the technology measuring it is becoming a market worth funding without taking a stake.

Read more: PR Newswire

Image credit: E2 Conference