If you’re building a company in climate, robotics, life sciences or anything capital-intensive, this episode is for you.
Justin Stevens is the founder of Overlap Holdings, a venture firm that writes checks like other VCs, but also helps unlock smarter financing for frontier tech companies looking to scale.
Drawing on nearly two decades of Wall Street experience (18 years at Apollo), Justin explains why equity alone isn’t always the best path. He breaks down how debt, project Finance, government grants and other funding options can extend a founder’s runway without diluting the cap table.
“We think of the company’s capital journey more than anything else,” Justin said. “In frontier tech, the capital is just as important as the Technology.”
In this episode, we cover:
🔶 The 4 types of debt that startups in capital-intensive industries should understand
🔶 Why most VCs don’t know how to structure debt and why that’s a problem for founders
🔶 How Overlap combines equity Investing with a capital solutions business to help startups raise debt
🔶 How Overlap built Relationships with 200+ lenders to connect startups with the right financing at the right time
🔶 A founder-first framework for thinking about funding as a relay race, not a one-off event
If you’re raising a Series A or B, or planning for what comes next, this is a masterclass in funding strategy, minus the fluff. And for more info on Overlap’s strategy, check out this Substack post, The Four Roads to Frontier Tech Debt Financing.
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