What is a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE)?
A Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) is a contract by which an investor makes a cash investment into a company in return for the rights to subscribe for new shares in the future.
How to create a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE)
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What is a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE)?
A Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) is a contract by which an investor makes a cash investment into a company in return for the rights to subscribe for new shares in the future.
Under a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE), the investment is converted into equity when there is an “equity financing”, a “liquidity event”, or “a dissolution event”.
Contrary to a Convertible Note, a Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) does not carry interest, does not expire, and does not specify a minimum amount of funds to be raised at the equity financing.
What are the differences between a SAFE and a Convertible Note?
A SAFE is a contract between an investor and a company, through which an investor invests into a company in return for future equity shares with no specific deadlines. Whereas a Convertible Note is a debt instrument that converts into equity under predefined conditions, typically in qualified financing, at a liquidity event, or on the maturity date. These are the main differences between a SAFE and convertible note.
- Convertible Note has a maturity date upon which, if the conversion doesn’t take place, the company will return the investment amount to the investor, but a SAFE does not.
- Convertible Note carries interest, but a SAFE does not.
- Convertible Note identifies the minimum amount of funds to be raised at the equity financing, but a SAFE does not.
What are the advantages of raising capital through Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE)?
A business can raise capital through different means however raising it through a SAFE has several benefits like:
Easy to negotiate: Raising capital through a SAFE is quick and easy to negotiate because there are very few legal formalities involved. Businesses don’t have to worry about valuation cap or other debt elements, a simple self-explanatory SAFE document is enough to raise the capital.
Not interest-bearing: A SAFE is not interest-bearing so there is no extra work needed to convert the interest into equity.
No fixed term: Unlike other capital raising instruments, a SAFE doesn’t have any fixed term so there is no need to worry about the deadlines. If the company never reaches the trigger event, no shares are issued.
Conclusion
A Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE) is designed to be simple and short. It saves you the trouble of negotiating and agreeing on the amount of equity financing, which is often quite difficult to agree upon between the investor and the company at an early stage of the business.
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