> - By 2023, with slowing growth, it's likely that Airtable was no longer able to raise additional funding. Best case was likely a down-round.
The author stated they had millions if not 10s of millions in the bank and a bit of runway. And they had already done layoffs. Based on this, they were not under pressure to raise or do a down-round.
Separately and related to a sibling comment, the fact that Thrive Capital invested in Airplane and Airtable means they can now have a positive "tombstone" for Airplane by saying it was an "exit" while receiving a bunch of their original investment back.
You’re right, the point I was trying to make but should have said more explicitly is that they raised at an inflated valuation that would make any subsequent “up” round more difficult to raise in the future, even if the growth trajectory improved.
The author stated they had millions if not 10s of millions in the bank and a bit of runway. And they had already done layoffs. Based on this, they were not under pressure to raise or do a down-round.
Separately and related to a sibling comment, the fact that Thrive Capital invested in Airplane and Airtable means they can now have a positive "tombstone" for Airplane by saying it was an "exit" while receiving a bunch of their original investment back.