South Florida is a microbusiness powerhouse, boasting the highest concentration of microbusinesses in the US: an average of 10 per 100 people. Small business is in our veins.
In this sense, Juan Ignacio Garcia Braschi is very much at home in Miami. “I’ve always wanted to start my own business,” Garcia Braschi [pictured above] told Refresh Miami. After a couple of stints in investment banking, the Madrid native went on to become one of ride hailing unicorn Cabify’s earliest employees.
“When I joined Cabify in 2013, it was a very, very small business,” he said. During Garcia Braschi’s time at Cabify, the company grew from $1M revenues to over $800M. And his career grew as well, with Garcia Braschi eventually rising to the rank of Chief Financial Officer.
Eventually, Cabify stabilized, leaving fewer fires for Garcia Braschi to put out on a daily basis. That’s when he knew he was ready for a change. So in late 2020, Braschi founded a new venture, Boopos.
The core proposition of Boopos is simple: providing eCommerce and SaaS businesses with non-dilutive, revenue-based financing. Their key differentiators? Speed: entrepreneurs can get pre-approved within 48 hours and funded within 7 days. Reduced risk: no personal guarantees or dilution. And maximum flexibility: entrepreneurs pay a percentage of revenues until their return cap is reached.
Garcia Braschi explained that their typical buyer profile is someone who is very motivated to be their own boss and own their own business. Many of them have been business owners before and might be interested in acquiring multiple businesses.
On the sell side, Garcia Braschi said that Boopos currently works with 10 online brokers to originate the top deals for their buyers. “We look at [the businesses] right as the brokers send them out to the market, we pre-approve them, and we send them a term sheet to use together with marketing materials for potential buyers.”
For now, Boopos focuses solely on eCommerce and SaaS businesses. However, the startup’s long-term ambition is to be able to finance any kind of small business. “Our vision is to remove the burden of owning a business.” Garcia Braschi underscored that in the future, they should be able to underwrite all businesses – online or not – by leveraging that company’s financial data.
Boopos is in expansion mode, having raised a $30M debt and equity round in February. And Garcia Braschi signaled that there will be more fundraises to come, and soon: “We have to keep on raising funds if we want to keep on lending.”
Top of Garcia Braschi’s list for product development is a marketplace for pre-approved businesses. So far the marketplace has approximately 70 companies, but the Boopos team plans to ramp up by bringing more buyers and brokers onboard.
Right now, three out of Boopos’s 20 employees are based in South Florida. As Boopos continues to grow, Garcia Braschi expects to continue hiring both in Miami and remote. “Our business is in the US, so it makes sense to have a presence here,” he said. Garcia Braschi saw New York and Miami as the top US destinations, but chose the latter because of the company’s connection to TheVentureCity, which has invested in Boopos, and Miami’s rising prominence as a global tech hub.
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