WHAT IS THE FUNDING MIX OF A PROJECT AND THE WACC (WEIGHTED AVERAGE COST OF CAPITAL)
Once the total funding needs of a start-up project has been calculated, the following step would be to consider the potential funding sources where the funding can be obtained. The two major funding sources of any company/project are mainly:
- Equity funding (“E”) or amount of money borrowed from investors/shareholders/equity owners of a project/company.
- Banking debt (“D”) or amount of money borrowed from financial institutions or banks.
The funding mix ratio depends on the project risk, credit scoring/rating, country framework and start-up ecosystem for that specific country. For the case of Spain, according to Webcapital (2016), the funding mix ratio for start-up projects in Spain was 86% from shareholders (“E”) and 14% from banking debt (“D”).
It is very important to understand that this funding is not for free, and it has a yearly cost in percentage defined as “Ke” (cost of equity funding) and “Kd” (cost of banking debt funding). The “Ke” depends on the project characteristics and risk profile, and the “Kd” depends on the interest rates yield curve and risk profile of the project too (credit spread). As a general rule we could assume that Ke will be in the range of 15%-40% with an average value of 25%, and the Kd could range from 3%-8% with an average value of 5%. These metrics should be supported by any study/research depending of the project characteristics. The Ke metric usually is calculated using the “CAPM”, Capital Asset Pricing Model.
The Ke is defined as the minimum yearly profit expectations in percentage required by shareholders that invest in a project. If this Ke or minimum profit expectation is not achieved by the project, the shareholder or equity owner will not be satisfied with the project’s profitability according to the project’s risk profile. In the same way, the project should be able to pay back the amount of money borrowed from the bank (principal of the banking loan) and the yearly interest determined by Kd.
Once the funding mix ratio has been defined and the Ke and Kd have been calculated, the cost of the funding mix can be calculated, being defined as the“WACC” or Weighted Average Cost of Capital. This KPI or metric would be defined as the yearly weighted cost in percentage of the funding mix taking into account the Ke and Kd and the ratio %E and %D. The WACC formula is as follows:
WACC=%E*Ke+%D*Kd*(1-corporate taxes)
Let’s imagine a project with the following financing scheme:
- Equity funding (E: 86%), Baking debt funding (D: 14%).
- Ke (25%) and Kd (5%).
- Corporate tax level: 25%.
- The WACC=86%*25%+14%*5%*(1-25%)=22.03%. For every euro borrowed with the funding mix 86% (E) and 14% (D), and with a cost of funding Ke (25%) and Kd (5%), the weighted cost is €0.05, and the project should generate at least a profit/return of €0.05 to be able to pay back the funding sources and profit expectations, otherwise the project will be unprofitable.
EXAMPLE
In the following link it is explained how to determine the total funding needs of a start-up project. Using the methodology explained there, the entrepreneurs require for their start-up €55,213,500. If the funding mix is 86% equity (E) and 14% financial debt (D), the amount borrowed from the investors will be “E”=86%€55,213,500= €47,483,610 and from banks “D”=14%€55,213,500= €7,729,890.
The E=86%=€47,483,610 should be invested in the project through shares.
The cash-flow generated by the project should be able to payback to the investors (via dividends and share price increase) at least the minimum profit expectations defined by Ke=25%. In addition, the project cash-flow generation should be able to payback the principal of the banking loan (“D”=€7,729,890) and the interests (“Kd”=5%). In the following link there is an explanation of how a banking loan is solved following a French amortization method.