Venture debt is the loan that only exists because you raised: specialist lenders extend credit to startups that have closed an institutional round, sized against that raise, commonly up to about 30% of it, to stretch the runway the round bought. Done right, it's the cheapest growth capital a funded startup isn't using: in the example directory it prices at 9.5–14.5% est. APR* plus a small warrant component, disclosed up front, and extending runway 25–35% this way costs a fraction of the dilution another round would. The honest fine print: warrants are mild dilution, small, but not zero. Covenants can bite if the business misses plan badly. And the completed-institutional-round requirement is a hard gate, not a suggestion, venture debt is never a substitute for a first raise. The full guide prices warrant coverage in real terms, works an 18-month-runway example forward, and covers the classic failure mode: borrowing more runway for a plan that isn't working. Until then, the one-line summary: venture debt extends a story investors already believe. It cannot replace one.

What the full guide covers

• What warrants are and what they actually cost you
• Sizing: why the loan tracks your last round
• Runway math: a worked 18-to-24-month example
• Covenants, and when they bite
• When more runway is the wrong purchase

The full guide is publishing soon. The short version above is accurate and current, and the concierge already knows everything in it.