FAQs
General Questions | The Fundraising Process | Data Connectors | Investors | Pricing and Advisory Agreement
General Questions
Q. Who is Hum Capital?
A. Hum Capital provides $1M–$50M in flexible, non-dilutive growth capital. Through Direct Lending, we fund qualifying companies directly; when a deal is a better fit elsewhere, our Intelligent Marketplace matches you with the right lender from our network of 900+ investors. Either way, we put your company’s financial data to work — using data analytics and AI to give you an investor’s view of your business so you can make informed financing decisions.
Sign up for your free account at humcapital.com/signup.
Q. What problem is Hum Capital solving?
A. Today’s fundraising process is often exclusive, inefficient, and short on transparency. Hum solves this two ways: we fund companies directly through Direct Lending, and where that’s not the right fit, our Intelligent Marketplace matches you with institutional investors looking for your profile.
Q. Is Hum a replacement for an investment bank or venture capital firm?
A. Many companies don’t have access to a venture firm or investment bank to guide fundraising decisions. Hum can be a strong complement — and in some cases an alternative. Through Direct Lending, we can fund you directly; through our Intelligent Marketplace, we connect you with institutional investors so you avoid the added fees and cost of an investment bank.
Q. Who actually is investing in my company when I work with Hum?
A. It depends on the path. Through Direct Lending, Hum (or one of our direct lending affiliates) finances your company directly. Through our Intelligent Marketplace, you’re matched with one of more than 900 institutional investors in our network. After creating your account and connecting your data, we’ll help figure out the best fit — you choose who to talk to, and we connect you directly to discuss terms.
Q. Are there any industry or country restrictions to working with Hum Capital?
A. The investors we work with support a wide range of company sizes and industries, though they generally avoid adult entertainment, gambling, cannabis, and crypto-price-dependent businesses. Hum supports companies headquartered in the U.S., plus foreign companies raising through a U.S.-organized affiliate, excluding countries under U.S. Treasury sanctions.
Q. What financing options does Hum Capital offer?
A. Hum offers two ways to raise capital. Through Direct Lending, we provide $1M–$50M in flexible, non-dilutive growth capital directly, with terms typically 12–36 months. If Direct Lending isn’t the right fit, our Intelligent Marketplace matches you with the right lender from our network of 900+ investors offering a range of non-dilutive funding options.
Q. What financing options are available on Hum’s Intelligent Marketplace?
A. Hum has more than 900 investors offering a range of non-dilutive funding options.
Q. Can Hum help pre-revenue companies obtain financing?
A. Currently, the investors on Hum’s Intelligent Marketplace do not invest in pre-revenue companies.
Q. Does signing up for an account impact my personal credit score?
A. Hum does not run a credit check when you sign up, so there’s no impact on your personal credit score.
The Fundraising Process
Q. How long does it take to raise funds on Hum Capital?
A. The time it takes to successfully complete a fundraising process is often dependent on the size and complexity of the transaction. Companies using Hum’s platform have closed deals in as few as a couple of days, but average deals in the $1–10 million range can take weeks before they close and funds are available. On average, companies have their first meeting with investors within 2 weeks of connecting to the Intelligent Marketplace.
Q. What is the difference between equity and debt financing?
A. Debt means you temporarily borrow capital and repay it over time while keeping all future income for your business. Equity is dilutive — founders give up a portion of ownership and future upside. Neither is necessarily better for every company, but at this time, Hum Capital only offers debt financing.
Q. Does Hum handle both equity and debt financing?
A. At this time, investors on Hum’s platform offer only debt financing options.
Q. How does Hum handle the due diligence for my company’s deal?
A. Hum provides investors with insights from a company’s financial and transactional data, while each investor conducts their own due diligence. Because Hum’s analysis is based on direct connections to cloud-based systems such as QuickBooks and Google Analytics, investors can typically accelerate their diligence process and shorten the time before making a decision.
Q. How many investors does Hum match companies with?
A. Hum has more than 900 investors it can match companies with. The goal is to match companies with at least 5 qualified investors based on their profile and fundraising targets. Once matches are identified, the company chooses which investors to connect with and what data to share — Hum then notifies those investors and connects the company directly. Hum isn’t able to match companies with investors in every instance.
Q. What is Instant Capital?
A. Instant Capital is Hum’s tech-enabled process that quickly assesses fundraising needs to offer fast access to working capital.
Q. What types of businesses are eligible to apply?
A. Businesses must be in the USA, seeking less than $750K in funding, and seeking capital within the next 6 months.
Q. What information do I need to complete the application?
A. Applicants need to provide business information such as structure and ownership type, and the company’s most recent four months of bank statements.
Q. Is my personal and business information secure?
A. Information is encrypted and secure.
Q. How long does the application process take?
A. The online application typically takes about 10–20 minutes. After submission, Hum’s team reviews the application, and applicants can expect a response within approximately 2 business days.
Q. What should my bank statements include?
A. Bank statements should cover the most recent twenty-four months, clearly show account activity including deposits and expenses, and be uploaded individually month-by-month in PDF format.
Q. What happens after I submit my application?
A. Hum’s team reviews the application and will contact the applicant if additional information is needed.
Q. How do I contact support if I have questions?
A. The Help Center directs applicants to Hum’s support form.
Q. What if my application is declined? Can I reapply?
A. Hum will provide an explanation of the decision and guidance on next steps, and applicants may be able to reapply after addressing the feedback.
Q. How much can I expect to raise using the Max Raise Calculator?
A. The Max Raise Calculator is a free tool that gives an initial estimate of how much debt a company could raise, based on financial metrics you enter — recurring or non-recurring business model, annualized revenue, annualized EBITDA, receivables, inventory, outstanding debt, and equity raised. It’s free to use, and the output is an estimate only, not guaranteed.
Data Connectors
Q. Why should I connect my business systems to Hum?
A. Connecting your business systems gives investors a more accurate view of your business and can help speed up financing decisions — some investors and financing options on Hum’s Intelligent Marketplace are only available to companies that connect their data systems. Connecting reduces manual file uploads, gives investors secure data-room access for due diligence, and keeps your data secure through a machine-to-machine connection. Hum connects with systems including QuickBooks, Stripe, Plaid, Shopify, Braintree, and PayPal.
Investors
Q. Understanding Investment Criteria Scores
A. When reviewing investment criteria scores, a series of bars shows how well an opportunity aligns with an investor’s preferences. The number of colored bars shows match strength — more filled bars mean a stronger match (a 9/10 score means very close alignment). The total number of bars, colored or not, shows how important that metric is in Hum’s matching schema, from 1 to 10 possible bars. Together, the two tell you both how well an opportunity fits a criterion and how much that criterion matters to the overall score — helping investors quickly spot where an opportunity aligns most strongly, and which mismatches matter less.
Q. Investor Analytics Chartbook Overview
A. Hum’s Investor Analytics Chartbook lets investors download an Excel file with standardized financial statements and auto-populated charts for companies presented by Hum — Income Statement and Balance Sheet summaries by month, quarter and year, plus dynamic charts like quarterly revenue, quarterly EBITDA, monthly revenue with margin, and working capital. The data comes from connectors pulling directly from a company’s financial systems (like QuickBooks and Xero) via Hum’s Intelligent Marketplace, which standardizes and refreshes it — weekly when a company connects its data directly, though some data may be uploaded manually instead. Investors can also pull original-line-item Income Statements and Balance Sheets from a company’s QuickBooks connector, covering the past three years, all from the matched company’s Data Room. There’s currently no limit on how much can be downloaded.
Pricing and Advisory Agreement
Q. Does it cost anything to get started with Hum?
A. There are no upfront costs to set up an account with Hum Capital. Signing up and accessing analytics about your company are always free — Hum only charges an Advisory Agreement after you successfully complete a fundraising process on our platform. Questions? Contact support@humcapital.com.
Q. How does Hum make money?
A. You only pay for capital you successfully raise on our platform. We charge an Advisory Agreement as a percentage of the capital you raise through Hum, with the percentage depending on the financing vehicle that’s right for your company. There’s no cost to upload your data to our Intelligent Marketplace to benchmark your business and evaluate funding options. Contact support@humcapital.com to talk through your options and pricing.
Q. When do I pay Hum?
A. Hum only collects an Advisory Agreement after a company has successfully completed fundraising through Hum. Creating an account and using our analytics to gauge your company’s performance is always free — the Advisory Agreement is only due once your deal has closed and capital is available to you. If we aren’t successful in helping you raise capital, you don’t pay Hum anything. However, certain lenders — including Hum’s direct lending affiliates — may charge documentation or other fees prior to completion, in order to proceed to due diligence and/or legal documentation. Questions about pricing? Contact support@humcapital.com.