Wayflyer, a revenue-based financing and growth platform for eCommerce merchants, has announced the acquisition of creator funding provider Peblo. Through this acquisition, Wayflyer gains a significant presence in the influencer marketing space.
There are around 2 million creators globally earning an average of US$100,000 each per year. Unfortunately, these creators often have to wait up to 120 days to get paid by their partnering brands, which restricts their ability to grow their business. Peblo solves this pain point by providing funding to creators, plugging the gap between upfront cost and client payment. Customers are able to view invoices, brand deals and outgoings on an easy-to-use platform. By enabling creators to pay expenses and increase their spend on content, Peblo allows them space to pursue more ambitious brand deals and accelerate their growth.
Wayflyer’s acquisition of Peblo will enable individual creators to access up to US$2 million in financing, and the business expects to advance over US$500 million to creators over the next year.
Alongside solving creator cashflow issues, Peblo will also be able to efficiently connect influencers with relevant eCommerce brands through the Wayflyer platform, making the process of selecting and brokering influencer agreements seamless.
Peblo will remain as a standalone brand and will benefit from Wayflyer’s underwriting capabilities and knowledge of the eCommerce sector. The business’s team of six will join Wayflyer’s rapidly expanding team: the business grew its headcount by 525 per cent in 2021 and is looking to hire over 400 people globally by the end of this year.
The acquisition comes off the back of Wayflyer’s US$150 million Series B fundraise in February, which has brought the Dublin-headquartered fintech’s valuation to US$1.6 billion, making it Ireland’s sixth unicorn business. This follows a period of growth for Wayflyer, which opened offices in Atlanta, Spain and Australia last year.
Aidan Corbett, Wayflyer CEO and co-founder, comments: “By 2026, there will be an expected 15 million influencers worldwide, so the creator market is one that is too fast-growing for us to ignore. This strategic acquisition means that both online brands and the creators they partner with to market their products will benefit from our best-in-class underwriting, funding and marketing analytics.
“However, the most exciting part of this acquisition for us is that it allows us to offer our customers a direct link to the best-suited creators that can help their business thrive. Jake and the team at Peblo have built a great product and we’re looking forward to working alongside them to continue to grow it over the coming years.”
Jake Browne, Peblo CEO and co-founder, comments: “Wayflyer is one of Europe’s fastest-growing fintechs. We are delighted to become a part of its impressive story. Aidan and the team’s knowledge of the internet economy is second-to-none. Content creators are largely ignored in financial services, and by leveraging Wayflyer’s incredible resources we will now be able to change that.”
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