We just raised $5.6m from our top customers on Frec, and the round was oversubscribed in under 48 hours!
Here’s how it all went down.
Customers have been asking to invest in Frec since we launched, so we kept track of those who asked, provided valuable feedback, or referred customers.
The list started growing quickly after launching long short. Although we had the bulk of our Series A still in the bank, we saw an opportunity to make our top customers owners in Frec. So I pitched the idea to the board.
The pitch was simple. Customers who want to invest work at some of the most impressive companies in the world, like Nvidia, Meta, Apple, Netflix, Snowflake, Databricks, Stripe, Shopify, Uber, Robinhood, Plaid, Workday, Block, Two Sigma, JP Morgan, and more. Their colleagues are exactly the type of people who could benefit from Frec the most. Offering these customers ownership would create an incredible customer advisory board.
The board agreed. And when I sent the invites to the customers, the reactions were heartwarming:
“Heck yes, I’m 100% in. Thank you for thinking of me for this. I’d love to be part of it. You know I’m very bullish on Frec’s future.”
“I am impressed with how smart it is to engage your best customers with ownership this way.”
“I'm glad to be a customer and now glad to be an investor. Eager to see how things grow and develop.”
…and many more 🙏
So we raised the money in a YC SAFE note for a fast and efficient close, and we used an AngelList Roll Up Vehicle (RUV) to keep our cap table clean.
I’m excited to welcome our newest investors. We always value customers who engage with us and hope to include more of them as investors in future opportunities.