Ares & Boostrap Labs

Fast-growing companies have a cash flow problem most people misunderstand

For innovative suppliers and technology companies, cash constraints rarely signal failure — they signal growth. Long contract cycles, purchase orders awaiting fulfillment, and invoices awaiting payment trap working capital for 60 to 180 days. The business is winning new customers but bleeding cash in the meantime.

This is the hidden constraint that holds back some of the most promising companies in AI, advanced manufacturing, and deep tech. Capital doesn't disappear — it gets stuck between operational states, frozen inside the order-to-cash cycle while the business keeps moving.

"Suppliers often struggle with cash flow not because they are failing, but because they are growing. Tools that unlock capital tied to orders and receivables can fund that growth." - Benjamin Levy · Partner & Co-Head, VC & AI Innovation Group, BootstrapLabs

Venture investors see this pattern constantly

BootstrapLabs — an Ares company — has backed applied AI companies for over a decade, supporting founders building transformational technologies across robotics, autonomous systems, enterprise software, and industrial AI. Benjamin Levy and the team work with founders at the intersection of breakthrough technology and operational reality.

They know that financial visibility is as critical as product velocity. Without a clear picture of how capital moves through the business — where it's locked, when it arrives, what's coming — even well-funded companies can stumble on operational finance at exactly the wrong moment.

That's where Klear comes in

Klear's Capital Intelligence platform helps companies unlock working capital tied up in purchase orders, invoices, and long contract cycles — enabling innovative suppliers and technology companies to grow without slowing operations.

Klear's platform works across three dimensions:

Activate. Turns operational activity into usable capital. Orders, milestones, invoices, and settlement run as one synchronized capital event, with same-day liquidity on investment-grade receivables.

Predict. A real-time forward model of liquidity — so founders see constraints before they happen and act before the business breaks.

Accelerate. Measures and improves how fast capital moves through the cycle, identifying where it's trapped and what it's costing the business.

For venture-backed companies building complex technology, this kind of financial visibility and flexible capital is critical to scaling innovation without losing operational control.

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