JULIA PRICE, H’24
Powering Founders Without Dilution
Julia Price, co-founder of Linea Capital, has long envisioned a way to combine philanthropy with commercial investing to support African small and growing businesses (SGBs). After a career spanning investment banking, asset management, and capital advisory, she set out to build a platform that addresses a glaring gap in funding for impactful businesses on the continent. Today, Linea Capital offers a fresh alternative to traditional equity and debt financing by providing revenue-based finance (RBF) to high-impact SGBs, especially those led by women or focused on job creation—without diluting founder equity. This approach aims to unlock capital at scale while preserving the ownership and incentives of entrepreneurs driving Africa’s economic growth.
“Committed to connecting impactful businesses with large volumes of capital in smart ways. Equity is a precious commodity that should be kept in the hands of African founders.”
Pay-As-You-Grow Capital for South African Businesses With No Equity Dilution
THE CHALLENGE: Across Southern Africa, SGBs face a stark choice, raise highly dilutive equity or seek costly and often unavailable debt. With a continent-wide funding gap estimated at $80 billion and banks able to meet only a third of debt demand, many founders, especially women and underrepresented entrepreneurs, are left with few viable options. Venture capital and private equity funds tend to focus on a narrow slice of high-growth companies, leaving most businesses underserved. This funding scarcity stifles job creation and economic inclusion, hindering the region’s growth potential and reinforcing inequities.
THE PROCESS: Linea Capital’s innovative RBF model offers founders capital in exchange for a fixed percentage of future revenues, avoiding equity dilution and fostering shared success. This model suits both tech and traditional SGBs that are not yet eligible for conventional debt. By blending different sources of finance, Linea lowers the cost of capital and provides investors with flexible risk-return profiles. Their tech-driven approach tracks revenue flows in real-time, enabling transparent collections and insightful portfolio analysis. Beyond funding, Linea supports founders in scaling revenue locally and internationally and builds partnerships for post-investment growth support. Since launching four years ago, Linea has secured funding from USAID, the Dutch Good Growth Fund, and the South African Jobs Fund, among others.
THE RESULTS: To date, Linea has closed 18 RBF deals with six successful exits, demonstrating both financial returns and impact. Their proprietary technology stack mobilizes capital efficiently, monitors revenues at source, and aggregates data to inform strategy and risk management. The company is now positioned to scale, aiming to raise $30 million to expand RBF across Southern Africa, empowering more SGBs to grow sustainably while maintaining founder equity. Through this model, Linea hopes to catalyze a more inclusive and resilient capital ecosystem that fuels jobs, innovation, and lasting wealth within African communities.
“Linea Capital is redefining how capital flows to African entrepreneurs, preserving ownership, reducing cost, and unlocking growth.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT LINEA CAPITAL
Linea Capital provides capital to growing businesses through a non-dilutive, revenue-based finance model, primarily in Southern Africa.
Revenue-Based Finance for Africa
ABOUT JULIA PRICE
Julia Price is a co-founder and investor passionate about funding startups while keeping equity with founders. With a background in investment banking, she specializes in funding models, investment structuring, and asset management, bridging capital and entrepreneurs across South Africa and Africa. Julia holds a Business Science degree and Accounting Honors from the University of Cape Town, is a Chartered Accountant, and completed intensive tech and entrepreneurship studies at Stanford. She co-founded Linea Capital in 2016 and serves on the investment committees of Launch Africa Venture Fund and Five35 Ventures.
I AM A HARAMBEAN
Price has long admired the Harambean Alliance for its authentic focus on the risk-takers and problem-solvers who sacrificed safe harbors for the open seas of entrepreneurship. The close bond of founders seeking to support each other to change the course of their collective futures and those of their communities is something she longs for as a founder herself.
“My vision is to build a business that can raise vast volumes of capital and deploy it to the most impactful businesses in Africa using smart structuring and technology.”