Irish start-up Wayflyer raises $76m and secures $100m debt facility

Wayflyer, an Irish start-up that provides revenue-based financing and marketing analytics for online businesses, has raised $76 million (€62 million) in funding.

To cope with demand for its cash advance product, Wayflyer has also expanded its debt facilities by an additional $100 million and recently signed a major partnership with Adobe Commerce in a move that will further increase its capital deployment capabilities.

The equity raise comes just 14 months after Wayflyer launched its first product, confirming its status as one of Europe’s fastest growing fintech start-ups.

It also comes less than seven months after the company secured $10.2 million in a seed funding round.

Facebook launches digital skills initiative for small businesses

---

Dublin-based fintech Asset Class secures $3m investment

---

Facebook rejects two proposals to reduce Zuckerberg’s control over the company

---

GDPR is being used as a bureaucratic dodge to avoid public scrutiny

---

Founded by Aidan Corbett and Jack Pierse in September 2019, Wayflyer employs 40 people between Dublin, London, New York and Sydney.

The company provides ecommerce stores with affordable, non-dilutive, unsecured capital to secure advertising and inventory ahead of selling items. It also offers detailed analytics to help clients improve their sales performance.

To date, Wayflyer has advanced over $150 million to companies. Among the Irish firms to receive funding advances through the company’s platform are Gym + Coffee, Ambr Eyewear and the ebike sharing scheme, Moby.

The latest fundraise was led by Left Lane Capital, with support from partners of DST Global, QED Investors, Speedinvest and Zinal Growth, the family office of Guillaume Pousaz (founder of Checkout. com).

With ecommerce sales expected to hit $4.2 trillion in 2021, funds from the round will be used to support Wayflyer’s product development and international expansion. The business is set to enter multiple new markets in the coming months.

“We exist to help ecommerce businesses grow, and reduce the traditional barriers they face as they scale. Our rapid growth since launch demonstrates the strength of this proposition and our relentless focus on customer service, and we’ve only just scratched the surface of this enormous market,” said Mr Corbett, the company’s chief executive.

“The number of direct-to-consumer brands launching every day continues to amaze us and we’re excited about the next stage of our mission to become the go-to-growth platform for merchants looking to realize their potential,” he added.

Wayflyer was spun out of another company founded by Mr Corbett known as Conjura, which provides analytics for larger online businesses. Mr Pierce, Wayflyer's other co-founder and its chief financial officer, is a former venture capitalist who also spent time working at PwC and Highway1, the San Francisco-based hardware accelerator est