# Wayflyer Financial Model Revenue-based financing (merchant cash advances) for eCommerce brands, repaid as a percentage of daily sales. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/wayflyer - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/wayflyer.xlsx - Category: Fintech - Model type: Lending / Credit - Funding round: Seed - Funding: $10M - Founded: 2020 - Geography: US, UK, Australia (>95% of revenue) [DECK, slide 11]; global offices for 24-hour support [DECK, slide 10]. Incorporated as Wayflyer Limited (Ireland implied by copyright). - Customer: B2C ## About the company Wayflyer provides revenue-based financing to e-commerce brands, advancing capital that is repaid as a percentage of daily sales. It is designed to fund inventory and marketing without the dilution or fixed repayment profile of equity and conventional loans. Each advance carries a 4% to 12% factor fee embedded in the total repayment amount. Direct sales and platform relationships with WooCommerce and Adobe Commerce provide distribution, while SPVs and warehouse funding support the underlying lending portfolio. The model should forecast merchant originations, average advance size, factor-fee mix, daily collections, repayment duration, defaults, and repeat advances. SPV equity, warehouse debt, funding cost, and concentration risk need dedicated schedules because they determine the economics of the merchant-cash-advance book. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## Product & value proposition - Provides short-term working capital advances (2–6 months) to eCommerce merchants to fund inventory and marketing spend. - One simple fee of 4%–12% of advance amount; no interest rates, credit checks, arrangement fees, penalties, personal guarantees, or security. - Repayment via daily remittance as a % of daily sales - rises when sales are strong, falls when sales slow. - Underwriting based on 1st-party data (marketing analytics, website data, transaction history); offer generated within ~1 hour, cash deployed within ~1 day for deals up to $1M+. - No equity dilution; no warrants. - Onboarding flow: connect merchant account (1 min) → connect marketing/website accounts (2 min) → connect bank accounts (2 min) → generate & accept offer (15 min) → underwriting/AML/KYC (25 min) → cash deployed. ## Revenue model - **Revenue type:** Factor fee on each advance - 4%–12% of advance principal. - **Fee is charged upfront / embedded** in total repayment amount; no ongoing interest accrual. - **Repayment mechanism:** Daily sweep as a % of merchant's daily sales until advance + fee is fully repaid. - **Channels:** - Direct outbound sales (mentioned in ToC, slide 02). - Platform partnerships: WooCommerce (exclusive merchant finance extension in Woo Extensions Store) and Adobe Commerce Cloud / Magento ("Adobe Commerce Capital" white-label product) - both won as of early 2021. - A third unnamed partnership opportunity referenced. - **Deal size:** First signed month (Apr 2020) = $600K in deals; deal sizes reach $1M+. - **SPV / debt financing structure:** Advances funded through Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) using third-party debt; equity capital held as "First Loss Pool" (credit enhancement). ## Traction & metrics - Launch: April 2020; signed $600,000 in deals in first month. - Monthly growth in Signed Deals ($M) and Fees Charged ($M): consistent MoM growth Jun-20 through Jan-21 per chart - no Y-axis values readable; trend is strongly upward with approximate 5–8x growth over 8 months visually. - Customer count and total signed deal count redacted ("xxx Customers, xxx signed deals") on slide 11. - US, UK and Australia: >95% of all revenue. - Negligible default level stated. - Customer revenue growth testimonials: Tommi Skin 8x revenue growth / 3.1x ROAS; Bow Wow Labs 2x revenue growth / 3x ROAS; Geologie 10x revenue growth. - Cashflow table (slide 20) shows structure (Opening Free Equity Cash, Operating Cash Burn, First Loss Pool, Closing Free Equity Cash, Outstanding Balance at SPVs, First Loss Equity Requirement) for Oct–Mar but all data cells are blank/redacted in this version of the deck. ## Unit economics - Fee yield per advance: 4%–12% of advance principal. - Average advance duration: 2–6 months. - Implied annualised yield (back-of-envelope): 4–12% over 2–6 months ≈ 8%–72% annualised; mid-range ~24–36% annualised. - No explicit CAC, LTV, or contribution margin figures in the deck. - Default rate described as "negligible." - First Loss Pool: equity capital retained as credit support against SPV losses; size relative to portfolio not disclosed. ## Competition / moat - Traditional alternatives characterised as: equity (dilutive, expensive), bank debt (slow, covenants, guarantees), personal funds (limited access). - No named direct MCA competitors cited (Clearco/Clearbanc, Kapital, Pipe etc. not mentioned). - Moat claims: proprietary 1st-party data underwriting; speed (offer in 1 hour, funded in 1 day); platform exclusivity via WooCommerce and Adobe Commerce Cloud partnerships; multi-currency tech stack; global office network enabling 24-hour support. - Backed by top fintech investors (Speedinvest, QED Investors, DST Global) whose portfolios include N26, Nubank, Revolut, Brex, Stripe, Robinhood - signal of institutional credibility. ## Team & funding ask / use of funds - **Founders:** Aidan Corbett (CEO/Co-Founder, ex-McKinsey, Kubicle, Conjura); Jack Pierse (CFO/Co-Founder, ex-Highway1, PwC). - **Key hires:** Dan O'Brien (VP Sales); Niall Gormley (Head of Product & Engineering, ex-Stars Group, Oracle); Margaret Kearney (General Counsel, ex-CarTrawler, Bank of Ireland); Edward Doyle (VP Product, ex-Kyckr, BAE Systems). - **Round:** Series A. - **Existing investors:** Speedinvest, QED Investors, DST Global (implied - shown as "our investors" with portfolios). --- ## Recommended financial model - **Archetype + why:** Specialty lending / MCA originator model - specifically a **portfolio origination + fee income model** with an SPV/warehouse debt overlay. This is not a SaaS or DTC model; revenue is fee income on advances originated, risk is credit loss in the loan book, and the balance sheet structure (SPV + first loss equity) is the core mechanic. Closest archetype: **fintech lender 3-statement + loan book / portfolio model**. - **Forecast horizon & granularity:** 3 years monthly (Series A context; cash burn and portfolio ramp are monthly decisions). Switch to quarterly in year 3. - **Key drivers & assumptions:** | Driver | Value / Source | | -- | -- | | Monthly new advance originations ($M) | ~$0.6M in Apr-20; chart shows ~5–8x growth to ~$3–5M by Jan-21 - exact figure not readable. Use Jan-21 as base. | | Average advance size ($) | ~$50K–$150K per merchant based on $1M+ upper deal size and early-stage customer mix; use $75K base | | Fee rate (factor rate) | 4%–12%; use 8% base (mid-range) | | Average advance duration (months) | 2–6 months; use 3.5 months base | | Monthly repayment rate (% of daily sales) | ~10–20% of daily merchant revenue; backs into duration given typical eCommerce margin profiles | | Monthly origination growth rate | 15% MoM base case (tapering from observed ~20–30% MoM in H2 2020 as base matures) | | Credit loss / default rate | "negligible"; model at 1% of outstanding portfolio (base), 3% (bear) | | First Loss Pool as % of SPV balance | 10–15%; typical warehouse/SPV credit enhancement ratio for fintech lenders | | Cost of debt (SPV warehouse) | 6–10% p.a. on drawn balance; use 8% base | | Operating cash burn (monthly) | $200K–$500K/month at Series A stage for headcount + infrastructure; no data in deck | | Headcount ramp | 20–30 FTE at Series A, growing 50% per year | | Geographic mix | US + UK + AUS >95%; model single blended currency (USD) | | Partnership channel contribution | WooCommerce + Adobe ramp from 0% to 30–40% of originations by end of year 1 post-launch | - **Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):** - **Base:** 15% MoM origination growth, 8% fee, 1% loss rate, 8% cost of debt, $75K avg advance - **Bull:** 25% MoM growth (partnership channels deliver), 10% fee, 0.5% loss rate, 7% CoD - **Bear:** 8% MoM growth, 6% fee (competitive pressure), 3% loss rate, 10% CoD, origination pause in 1 month due to credit event - **Required sheets / outputs:** 1. **Assumptions** - all drivers above with scenario toggles 2. **Origination schedule** - new deals per month, average size, fee income booked 3. **Loan book / portfolio roll** - opening balance, new originations, repayments, defaults, closing balance; split by SPV vs equity 4. **SPV / debt model** - warehouse drawn, interest cost, first loss pool requirement, headroom 5. **P&L** - fee revenue, credit losses, funding cost, opex (headcount, tech, G&A), EBITDA, net income 6. **Cash flow** - operating burn, first loss pool top-up, free equity cash (mirrors slide 20 structure) 7. **Balance sheet** - cash, loan portfolio (gross/net), SPV liabilities, equity 8. **Dashboard** - monthly originations, portfolio balance, fee yield, loss rate, free equity cash runway, CAC payback (if data added) ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Wayflyer financial model free? Yes. The Wayflyer model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.