Wayflyer review: revenue-based finance for UK ecommerce brands

Wayflyer is a revenue-based finance provider that made its name funding ecommerce brands: online sellers who need cash for stock and marketing before the sales come in. Rather than lending against property or a director's guarantee, it looks at your sales data and offers funding based on how the business is performing. Wayflyer is one of the lenders on our panel, and as an independent broker we can compare its offer with other sales-linked and working capital options. You can read more on Wayflyer's own website.

01About Wayflyer

Wayflyer was founded in 2020 and has its global headquarters in Dublin, with offices in London, New York, Sydney and a US base in Charlotte. It says it has deployed more than $7 billion to over 7,000 businesses. It funds businesses in the UK, Ireland, the US, Canada, Australia and several European countries.

It started out with ecommerce brands and has since widened its scope. On its current criteria it will consider businesses that sell physical products online, software and SaaS businesses, retailers and service providers. It also offers an analytics product called Wayflyer Intelligence, but finance is its core business.

Smart Funding Solutions is an independent broker and is not part of Wayflyer.

02What Wayflyer funds

Wayflyer's product is revenue-based finance: you receive a lump sum and repay it plus a single fixed fee that is agreed upfront. It says it does not take equity in your business and does not ask for personal guarantees.

Feature	What Wayflyer says
Typical uses	Inventory, marketing, hiring, day-to-day operations and expanding into new marketplaces
Cost structure	One fixed fee agreed at the start
Repayment	Every two weeks or monthly, either as fixed amounts or as a percentage of sales
Security	No equity taken and no personal guarantees
Speed	Online application, decisions in hours and funds soon after approval
Data	Connects to platforms such as Shopify and Amazon to analyse performance

For an online brand, the classic use is buying stock ahead of a peak season, or scaling up advertising that already pays back. The money arrives before the revenue, and repayments come out as sales flow in.

03Who Wayflyer suits (and who it may not)

Wayflyer's published UK requirements include:

• At least £10,000 a month in revenue, averaged over the previous six months.
• At least six months of trading for physical product and software businesses, or two years for retailers and service businesses.
• Passing its financial assessment, which looks at cash flow, current and forecast revenue and marketing spend.

That makes it a natural fit for:

• Ecommerce brands selling through their own store or marketplaces, with steady or growing sales.
• Brands with predictable peaks that need to buy stock months ahead.
• Founders who want growth capital without giving away equity or signing a personal guarantee.

It may not suit:

• Very new businesses below the trading or revenue thresholds.
• Businesses with thin margins, where a fixed fee on a short advance can take a big share of profit.
• Firms that mostly invoice other businesses, where invoice finance may be a better match.
• Longer-term investments such as property, where a term loan or mortgage is usually more suitable.

For an online brand, the classic use is buying stock ahead of a peak season, or scaling up advertising that already pays back.

04What Wayflyer looks at

Wayflyer's assessment is data-led. You should typically expect to:

• Connect your sales platforms, such as Shopify or Amazon, and your business bank account.
• Share your marketing spend and performance, since it looks at how efficiently you turn spend into sales.
• Provide basic company details, your business category and monthly revenue.
• Show stock levels and margins, especially if the funding is for inventory.

Strong, consistent sales and a clear plan for the money count for more here than property or personal assets.

05Pros and cons

Pros

• Built around ecommerce, so it understands stock cycles and ad spend.
• Fast online application and quick decisions.
• No equity taken and no personal guarantee, according to Wayflyer.
• Choice of repayment style, including a share of sales.
• One fixed fee, so you know the total cost upfront.

Cons

• A fixed fee can work out expensive if you repay quickly.
• Minimum revenue and trading history rule out early-stage brands.
• Repayments reduce your day-to-day cash while they run.
• Best for short-term working capital, not long-term investment.

06Applying through a broker vs going direct

Applying to Wayflyer directly is quick. The case for comparing first is that revenue-based finance providers differ in how they price risk, how much they advance and how repayments are taken. An ecommerce brand may also qualify for a revolving credit facility or a term loan that costs less overall.

We search the market across our panel of 300+ lenders, set the offers side by side in terms of total repayable and cash flow impact, and approach the providers that fit your numbers. It is free to enquire; any broker fee is disclosed separately before you proceed. Try our Instant Quotes tool to compare lenders in minutes.

07Alternatives to Wayflyer

• Uncapped: focused on online and retail brands, offering flexible facilities that may suit a business wanting ongoing access to funds.
• Juice: offers revolving credit lines aimed at digital and ecommerce businesses, worth comparing if you need repeated injections of marketing or stock capital.
• Capify: offers revenue-based finance and merchant cash advances, which can suit businesses with strong card takings as well as online sales.

If you are weighing up a sales-linked offer you have already received, our guide to how YouLend funding works covers the same questions to ask about total cost and repayment speed.