Irish unicorn Wayflyer eyes further growth as it secures $300m debt line

Irish tech unicorn Wayflyer has secured $300 million (€287.7 million) in debt financing from JP Morgan, increasing its firepower and reducing its cost of capital.

The company, which provides revenue-based financing and marketing analytics for online businesses, said it expects to advance up to $2.5 billion to ecommerce firms this year, up from a previous estimate of $1 billion.

The funds will allow Wayflyer to offer more competitive rates to ecommerce businesses across Western Europe, the US and Australia.

"With ecommerce revenues set to hit $5.4 trillion in 2022, the need for competitively priced funding solutions is greater than ever. The $300 million debt financing we've secured and partly deployed from JP Morgan will help us seize this opportunity, and enable us to offer the most competitive rates in the market to more effectively help ambitious ecommerce businesses realise their growth potential," Wayflyer chief executive Aidan Corbett said .

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Analytics

Founded by Mr Corbett and Jack Pierse in September 2019, Wayflyer provides ecommerce stores with affordable unsecured loans to allow them to fund advertising and inventory ahead of selling items. It also offers detailed analytics to help clients improve their sales performance.

The company has grown quickly. Wayflyer lent $50 million in its first year in operation in 2020 and around $500 million last year, providing ecommerce stores with affordable, non-dilutive, unsecured capital of between $10,000 and $20 million.

In February, the company became Ireland’s sixth unicorn, after raising $150 million in funding to achieve a $1.6 billion valuation, and doing so in just 2.5 years.

The company plans to build on that momentum, adding some new European markets that potentially could include France and Germany.

Equity

“We will be continuously raising debt. We have a lot of equity right now ... so definitely in the next 18 to 24 months, we wouldn’t plan on doing any equity raises. But on the debt side, we’ll keep doing it and move gradually towards a securitisation at some stage in the future,” Mr Corbett said.

Wayflyer also expects to launch “at least” two or three additional products next year, and previously said it was revamping its existing analytics products.

Wayflyer has more than 800 customers across 11 countries and employs 250 people between Dublin, London, New York, Atlanta and Sydney. – Additional reporting: Reuters