Funding round will support market expansion, growing analytics capabilities
Wayflyer, an eCommerce revenue-based financing and marketing analytics platform, announced its Seed Capital raise of $10.2 million. The capital will support the company’s global growth ambitions, ability to continue to provide funding for e-commerce platforms, and further develop its proprietary technology. The seed funding round was led by QED Investors (Credit Karma, ClearScore, Nubank, SoFi), with Middlegame Ventures and co-investors Speedinvest and FinTech Investment Vehicle FGFE as the other major participants. This equity financing raise comes as Wayflyer scales to meet strong demand in the eCommerce sector for its funding and analytics offerings suited for small businesses, putting the company on track to reach profitability in 2021.
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“Wayflyer’s purpose is to help eliminate the road blocks for eCommerce stores on their path to growth. Their success is our success. With this funding, we can expand our global footprint to support even more startups to grow their businesses and empower them to market more effectively,” said Aidan Corbett, Wayflyer’s CEO and co-founder. “Since issuing our first advance in March of this year, we have helped over 100 businesses to exceed their revenue and growth goals with over $25 million in total funding advanced and zero defaults. This is undoubtedly due to the strength of Wayflyer’s technology and data, which allows us to invest in promising young companies that are shut out of mainstream financing options. With the support of our investors, we’re building upon this winning formula in new markets and with new capabilities.”
To help growing eCommerce brands meet their potential, Wayflyer provides affordable, non-dilutive, unsecured capital up to $5 million for inventory and advertising space. Its funding solutions are tailored for the needs of burgeoning eCommerce and Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) brands for both efficiency and continuous support, pairing ongoing marketing advice with same-day offers generated by its underwriting analytics engine. This unique mix of funding and AI-driven marketing insights allow founders to take control of their business and succeed even in the infancy stages of their brand. In 2020, Wayflyer found that, after 90 days, funded brands outperformed their forecast by 78% on average.
“Wayflyer has been a trusted partner all the way,” said Alaina Moulton, founder of The Baby’s Brew LLC, the world’s first portable bottle warmer and Wayflyer customer. “Thanks to their funds and crucial feedback on our marketing strategies, we were able to grow our Instagram by 290% since 2019, a huge win when you consider accounts of similar size only averaged a 29.9% growth rate during the same time frame. As of October 2020, our company has grown by 40% and we look forward to continuing to increase that number as we work with Wayflyer.”
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This latest funding round will enable the company to fund up to one thousand more eCommerce stores over the next year. Wayflyer is aiming to expand their customer base in the U.S., the U.K. and Ireland, along with strengthening their presence in fast-growing eCommerce markets such as Australia and Canada. Additionally, a portion of this new capital will be dedicated to improving Wayflyer’s analytics and marketing insights software to be even more responsive and customizable, allowing clients to capitalize upon unseen marketing opportunities.
“Wayflyer’s data-driven approach is a paradigm change for the eCommerce market,” according to Yusuf Özdalga, a Partner at QED Investors, the funding round’s lead investor. “At QED, we understand how challenging it is to build a business from scratch. Wayflyer provides a new avenue for growing companies to access capital while maintaining their innovative edge and independence. Wayflyer’s data-driven approach to financing allows them to finance high-potential, early-stage businesses with very little risk. We believe strongly in the company’s model and vision for the maturing DTC sector.”
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