Meet the company: iwoca

iwoca is a company we’ve known for many years and who have been friends with Tamebay since before the company even got going! Indeed, we published a Meet The Company article with iwoca many years ago and today their CEO and co-founder Christoph Rieche once again speaks to Tamebay, this time to share news of their new Revenue Based Loans and why they might be suitable for your business. Read on on to find out more:

Who are iwoca?

iwoca had had a long partnership with Tamebay stretching back to when our founder Christoph met Tamebay’s editor Chris before iwoca even launched their finance offering. Having hosted many meetups together in the early days, we fondly remember many Tamebay readers.

iwoca was born out of the frustration that small businesses were struggling to find the finance they needed to reach their potential. We knew that technology had the potential to significantly change how small businesses access finance and move them away from using traditional banks. 

Less than a decade later, we’ve made more than £2 billion of finance available to more than 50,000 businesses.

What do iwoca do?

We provide loans, payments and invoice solutions for small businesses in any industry, from coffee shops to barbers to electricians, and of course, ecommerce businesses. We have different finance options available to help them grow, cover gaps, grab opportunities or just keep cash flow smooth. 

What’s new?

We’ve launched a new product – the Revenue Based Loan

Businesses can spend on growth and repay at their own pace, based on their revenue: if their sales slow down, they’ll pay less; as their sales grow, they can borrow more.

Who are Revenue Based Loans suitable for?

Because your repayments are directly linked to your sales, these loans are perfect for Amazon or eBay sellers, or for larger ecommerce companies.

It’s really sped up my product range expansion. Instead of putting new products off until I had the funds, the iwoca loan means I can afford to send samples overseas -which leads to more orders

– Andrew, Amazon seller since 2013 

Amazon’s payment processing can be a little complicated and slow, an issue for ecommerce businesses given they are often short on capital. Our RBL is the perfect solution for Amazon’s payment processing issue:

While we were waiting for our payments to come through, we looked at revenue-based loans through companies like iwoca, allowing ecommerce companies to repay their loans in line with the ebb and flow of their businesses. This means a lean sales month or a month with high returns won’t leave us caught short

– Anna Jenkins, iwoca RBL customer and founder of small business florist, Silky Bouquet

Our RBL is developed specifically to support those businesses that experience seasonal shifts in revenue and demand, enabling them to stay in control of their finances. This is particularly useful for those businesses operating in retail, hospitality and ecommerce given they experience fluctuations in demand – around Christmas, for instance.

Our RBL also offers flexibility to businesses affected by continued economic uncertainty, with supply chain and staffing issues making it difficult for businesses to plan. Moreover, it can drive growth for scale-ups whose revenue growth may come months after the finance is secured – an effective alternative to other traditional funding.

What makes iwoca better than the competition?

Some revenue-based loans will only base the borrower’s loan amount and repayments on the patterns of one revenue stream, but we will consider all revenue streams. Standard revenue-based loans involve lenders working with a business’ card payment processing company to ascertain revenue cycles. But we use open banking technology to use your business’ bank transaction data, instead of just card transactions, accounting for the multiple revenue streams a business may have. This will be particularly useful if you sell online, on multiple platforms.

I sell on eBay and Amazon. The product I have taken from iwoca is almost identical to Paypal Funding Capital; the only difference is that Paypal Funding Capital only took repayments from the eBay payments; obviously, that has changed with eBay handling payments.

The point I would make is eBay is offering several funding providers. iwoca is the only financier I have found similar to Paypal Funding Capital.

– Andrew, Amazon seller since 2013

What should I do if I’m interested in revenue-based finance?

Step 1. Apply in minutes: decide how much you’d like to borrow and link your bank account

Step 2. Choose your terms: once we’ve approved you, just decide what percentage of your revenue to repay each month. 

Step 3. Repay at your pace: we’ll send the money straight to your bank account, and automatically take the right repayment each month.

From the minute you apply, you’ll have your own account manager on hand to help; they’ll be in touch to talk through your offer and help with your application. 

What if I don’t need finance immediately?

Yep. If you don’t need finance right now – but think you will later – you can get an offer today  so you’re pre-approved for when your next opportunity arises.

In fact, a lot of our customers use their loans like this; it can be handy to know that you’ve got finance ready to go, just a click, call or email away.

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