Coming off of a $76 million Series A funding round, Irish FinTech startup Wayflyer has its eyes on Atlanta.
With a focus on providing flexible financing options for growing eCommerce brands, CEO Aidan Corbett told Hypepotamus that 75% of the company’s clients are in the US. Wayflyer already has offices in Dublin, New York, London, and Sydney, so Atlanta’s FinTech and eCommerce talent made it a natural next step.
Co-founder Jack Pierse will relocate to Atlanta and Jay Puentes, who previously worked for FinTech startups ChargeAfter and GreenSky, has signed on as Wayflyer’s US Director of Sales.
“With over 2 billion people globally making purchases online, the eCommerce industry continues to see double-digit growth year over year,” said Puentes. “Yet, despite exponential growth, eCommerce companies continue to have inherently difficult working capital challenges, limiting their opportunities for growth. Wayflyer is uniquely positioned to solve these issues and help eCommerce entrepreneurs unlock their potential. In the past three weeks alone, the Wayflyer U.S. team has doubled from 7 to 15, and I look forward to leveraging the extensive local network I’ve built over the last decade to oversee expansion in the area.”
The team plans to hire about 50 people in their Atlanta office this year with customer support, marketing and underwriting, and business development roles. While a specific office location hasn’t been announced, the team plans to open somewhere along the BeltLine.
“We believe this combination of local eCommerce sales talent and Wayflyer expertise will be powerful in ensuring the success of our new US headquarters,” Corbett told Hypepotamus.
FinTech in the eCommerce Space
Sitting at the intersection of eCommerce and FinTech provides a unique opportunity for Wayflyer coming out of the pandemic. The startup initially spun out of Corbett and Pierse’s previous venture, a data analytics company called Conjura. The duo saw an opportunity to underwrite emerging eCommerce businesses with short-term financing options.
The team’s first month, April 2020, brought in about $600,000 in advances.
Less than a year later, that number was up to $36 million.
eCommerce trends, particularly around marketing, helped with Wayflyer’s continued growth.
“The pandemic definitely accelerated consumer appetite to shop online and most of our customers benefited as a result,” Corbett told Hypepotamus. “ In addition, in the early days of the pandemic, there was tremendous value to be found in online marketing. Many businesses cut their online marketing budgets at the start of the pandemic and as a result, CPCS dropped significantly. There was real value to be had for the businesses that maintained their online spend and we were able to explain this to our customers and help finance their marketing campaigns, with great results.”
Wayflyer also helped smaller eCommerce brands weather supply chain disruptions by providing more flexible financing options.
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