SaaS startup raised investment after pivot: “We weren’t just entrepreneurial pressure, but human pressure”
The entrepreneurial journey for Lumant has not been straightforward. The Aarhus-based startup was born as a digital marketplace, but in 2024, it was left with two years of hard work, DKK 13,000 in revenue and a growing realization that its strategy wasn’t working. One hard shift and a targeted product pivot later, the company has now secured its first external investment from performance marketing company Admill.
The investment will be used to build a scalable marketing engine. Lumant will now be the preferred tool for Danish course creators who want to sell their knowledge online.
“We haven’t raised money to save anything. We did it because we’re ready to build something bigger,” says Rasmus Pedersen, who together with René Nielsen is the founding duo behind Lumant.
Investing with skills
Admill enters as an investor with both capital and competence. This is not a classic passive investment. It is a partnership where Admill will actively help Lumant drive scaled growth through digital marketing.
“We’ve used our own money all the way until now. But we could see that we needed both liquidity and stronger competencies to take the next step. That’s where Admill comes in,” says Lumant co-founder René Nielsen.
Until now, Lumant has been driven by bootstrapping and word-of-mouth. But raising the ambition level requires a more aggressive approach to growth. Admill’s competencies in digital advertising, tracking and scaling models are therefore central to the collaboration.
“What really convinced us was that they asked the right questions. You could feel that they understood our product and target group. That made the choice pretty clear,” René Nielsen continues.
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In other words, the investment is not a sleeping pillow. It’s fuel for a machine that’s already running, but has lacked momentum. The founders also see it as a seal of approval for both product and team: When someone chooses to invest both money and time, it’s a clear signal of confidence in the potential.
“It just feels different when someone comes with their own money and says: ‘We believe in you so much that we want to join you,'” says Rasmus Pedersen, adding:
“It gives a tenfold increase in spirit.”
Marketplace threatened with shutdown
Lumant’s current model as a Danish SaaS platform for course providers is the result of a radical shift in strategy. The original idea was to create a marketplace for digital courses, but after two years of limited progress and an inadequate business model, the founders were close to shutting down.
“We had worked for two years and earned 13,000 kroner. We were under pressure. Not just entrepreneurial pressure, but human pressure,” says Rasmus Pedersen.
It wasn’t until they returned to the actual needs of users and shifted focus to a software product and an all-in-one platform to sell online courses, programs and membership clubs that things started to take off.
“We could hear that customers started using us not because we were a marketplace, but because we were an alternative to the expensive SaaS platforms. They used us as a workaround. It showed us that there was something bigger to it,” explains René Nielsen.
With a subscription-based model and a shift to SaaS in the fall of 2024, growth began to show: Almost 200 paying customers in less than a year and an ARR of over $550,000.
“After we made the switch, we had 25 new customers in a month,” says Rasmus Pedersen.
“When we saw that number, we had no doubt anymore. We were doing something that worked.”
A Danish solution for an overlooked audience
The market for online course platforms is dominated by large foreign players like Kajabi and Teachable. Lumant positions itself as a Danish alternative: simpler, cheaper and in Danish.
“All the big platforms are foreign and they cost a fortune. We come up with something that is cheaper – and most importantly – in Danish,” says Rasmus Pedersen and explains:
“It actually matters to our customers, who are often not technical and want to feel comfortable with the tool.”
The target audience is the many coaches, therapists and micro-entrepreneurs who have something to say but are often left behind when technology becomes too complex or solutions too expensive.
“We’re building something for people who aren’t hardcore digital. People who have had an idea for ten years but never found the right solution,” says René Nielsen.
This is precisely where Lumant has found its niche. Many of its customers have previously used manual solutions or foreign systems, but have now switched to Lumant because it is easier, more accessible and targeted to their needs.
“We hit a hidden demand. People have been tired of the old solutions, but have gotten used to them because there was no alternative,” says René Nielsen.
Indlægget SaaS startup raised investment after pivot: “We weren’t just entrepreneurial pressure, but human pressure” blev først udgivet på TechSavvy.