An Austin- and Tel Aviv-based startup that provides ongoing lending to e-commerce companies and helps them manage cash flow has raised a big round of funding to expand its reach and build its team.
8fig, founded in 2020, said May 9 it has raised $140 million in new capital. Of that, $100 million is a credit facility backed by Silicon Valley Bank, which is now a division of First Citizens Bank. The other $40 million is equity funding led by Koch Disruptive Technologies. Other investors included Battery Ventures, Localglobe, Hetz and the Jesselson family.
8fig has now raised $196.5 million in total. The startup's platform uses artificial intelligence to analyze online sellers' cash flow and supply chain. It then lends money at key points when online sellers need to buy materials for their products before assembling, packaging and shipping the items. 8fig works with sellers who operate on major platforms such as Amazon, Shopify and BigCommerce.
That helps sellers get money as they need it, and the 8fig platform crunches historical data to help the businesses prepare for seasonal sales, 8fig co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer Roei Yellin said.
"We are looking to do all the hard stuff — the boring stuff that people are not excited to do," Yellin said. "So basically, we help you with the cash flow management, better understanding your cash flow, better understanding your margin. You have all these tools around you. You have tools for converting clients. You have a tool for SMS, and you have a tool for shipping ... but everything is scattered, right? We want to centralize everything to a place where you can not only understand better, but you can also take action and manage better."
Within the e-commerce industry, 8fig works mostly with Amazon private label brands that have physical goods, as opposed to drop shippers and arbitrage sellers, which it doesn't work with.
The company said it has delivered more than $500 million in funding to online sellers since its inception.
8fig has about 90 employees, and about 25 of them, largely in marketing and customer success, are in the Austin office at Heartland Plaza near Fifth Street and MoPac Expressway.
E-commerce has taken significant hits in the past six months as macro trends, including inflation, have jostled the market. Amazon has made big cuts while Austin-based BigCommerce in December laid off about 13% of its staff and Shopify this month said it would cut about 20% of its staff.
But 8fig leaders seem to see those factors as temporary.
"We are still big believers in the space," Yellin said. "We think it's still the beginning."
