alt Hacker NewsI've been involved in many startups, and this type of fundraising is not common, or at least it wasn't common before a few years or so ago
The whole concept of talking about "runway" is basically calculating how much cash in the bank, that is actually in your bank account, will last. And this arrangement is different, as there are contingencies. In the past, VCs would just give you money in a particular series, and then if your business did well, they'd eventually give you more money in a later series. But it wasn't like they announced it all up front in, say, a Series A, but a big chunk of the money would only be delivered if you met milestones.
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This was already common in tech for Series C+ fifteen years ago when I raised a round. Once you’re talking tens or hundreds of millions, almost everyone wants milestones and tranches instead of giving all the money up front.
Same. I know $100m+ range arrives in the bank account. Don’t know more than that. But for that sum, I know it routinely just arrives.
Obviously this is 1000x as large so I make no claims to knowing that sum. But it’s routine for startup funding to arrive in bank account.
Sure for like $5-10MM, but no one is landing $100B cash in a startup's bank account