SAFEs as (New) Financing Instruments

SAFEs are financing instruments that give the investor the right to receive equity of the company upon certain triggering event. Since its introduction such financing instruments have gained increasing acceptance also outside the US, as a means to more easily facilitate early-stage financings where valuations are uncertain and also to serve as a bridge between growth rounds at more mature companies. This article describes the most relevant aspects of SAFEs from a US, UK, Austrian and Swedish Law perspective.

This article first appeared in the September 2022 issue of Business Law International (Vol 23, No 3), and is reproduced by kind permission of the International Bar Association, London, UK. © International Bar Association.