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finder.com’s rating: 3.9 / 5.0
★★★★★
Bottom line: Kickfurther’s unique platform lets you crowdfund inventory purchases while they’re still being manufactured. It’s cheaper than factoring, but it’ll still cost more than a bank loan. Read our full review or get our 30-second take.
$2,000,000
Max. Amount
Not applicable
APR
Max. Amount | $2,000,000 |
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Loan term | Varies |
Min. Credit Score | 600 |
APR | Not applicable |
Requirements | Varies |
Kickfurther is a unique online inventory financing platform that specializes in helping e-commerce and other retail businesses grow. It’s one of the few providers that allows you to finance inventory before it’s manufactured — most will only fund inventory that’s sitting in a warehouse waiting to be sold.
It also claims to be less expensive than alternatives like accounts receivable factoring or purchase order financing. Companies that work with Kickfurther long-term can often qualify for lower fees.
The way it works might be a little complicated to someone who isn’t familiar with peer-to-peer lending or crowdfunding. However, many customers praise its team for walking them through the initial steps, and generally agree the platform is easy to use.
But it’s not completely transparent about pricing until you set up an account. This is standard for other similar products I’ve reviewed. But this makes it difficult to verify that it is actually less expensive than the alternatives without sharing your information.
The way Kickfurther works is a pretty different from an average business loan — though it’s similar to other types of inventory financing. Your typical rates, terms and fees don’t apply and you’ll generally follow these steps:
Kickfurther doesn’t charge interest on its advances. Instead, it charges a fixed fee that’s paid back as a percentage of your monthly sales. The fee varies depending on your monthly revenue and the payment schedule — which you determine. I spoke with Kickfurther Founder and CEO Sean De Clercq, who says that the total cost ranged from 1.2% to 2% per month for advances taken out during the last two weeks of March 2021.
Generally, lower costs go toward more established businesses and previous Kickfurther users. “We have a proprietary model that helps us identify risk, and our pricing gets less expensive over time as we can see the sales cycle of our customers,” De Clercq tells Finder. “Our model also learns, opening up greater funding potential for brands at lower costs over time, creating a funding solution that scales alongside a business.”
With Kickfurther, terms are based on your sales period. Kickfurther defines your payment term as how long you have to pay off an invoice once you receive it. While it automatically sets to 14 days, your term can be as long as the longest payment term on your wholesale account.
Here’s how Kickfurther compares to two similar providers. Kickpay is a direct online inventory financing company that specializes in e-commerce businesses. OnDeck offers short-term loans and lines of credit that business owners commonly use to stock up on inventory.
Kickfurther inventory financing |
Kickpay e-commerce business loans |
OnDeck short-term loans |
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★★★★★ |
★★★★★ |
★★★★★ |
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Loan amount Up to $2 million |
Loan amount $20,000 – $1,000,000 |
Loan amount $5,000 – $250,000 |
APR Not applicable |
APR Not applicable |
APR 29.9% to 99.9% |
Loan term Varies |
Loan term 16 weeks |
Loan term 3 to 24 months |
Requirements Varies |
Requirements At least $250,000 in the past 12 months of revenue, e-commerce business, use a 3rd party fulfillment center for storing and shipping inventory, at least one US location. |
Requirements 625+ personal credit score, 1 year in business, $100,000+ annual revenue, active business checking account |
Compare more business loans lenders
BBB accredited | No |
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BBB rating | A+ |
BBB customer reviews | 3 out of 5 stars, based on 2 customer reviews |
BBB customer complaints | 3 customer complaints |
Trustpilot Score | 4.5 out of 5 stars, based on 169 customer reviews |
Customer reviews verified as of | 29 April 2021 |
Kickfurther gets mostly positive reviews from business owners. Many highlight how helpful the team was with setting up their first campaign and how quickly they were able to receive a large amount of funding.
Some also point out that it’s a great opportunity to connect with potential investors. Several say they plan on using the platform again.
Most negative reviews come from investors. Several warn that the campaigns — which Kickfurther calls “co-ops” — often fail. And many complain about the lack of support for investors.
But generally, Kickfurther gets more positive than negative reviews.
Your business must meet the following criteria at a minimum to qualify for Kickfurther financing:
Kickfurther isn’t for startups or new businesses. “We work with companies that have completed at least one production run and with a track record of sales, typically above $500,000 annually,” De Clercq tells Finder, though you may be eligible with just $150,000 in sales. Your company is evaluated based on sales history, business financials and supply chain information.
While there’s no time in business requirement, it’s better suited for businesses that want to expand than startups. “Our ideal clients are experiencing increased demand and are looking for resources to help them produce inventory and capital to meet trajectory.”
Kickfurther’s next-day turnaround on funds as high as $2 million is unique for any lender that I’ve reviewed — let alone a platform that relies on financing from direct lenders. And many of the customers who have written online reviews of Kickfurther agree that this kind of quick financing is hard to come by.
One of the major benefits of high advance amounts is that they help businesses qualify for lower prices from suppliers. “Many of our customers use us to access volume discounts, which many times can lower the cost of goods sold by 50%.” De Clercq says. This can increase the profit margin and help spur an overall increase in sales revenue.
It’s also one of the few inventory financing operations that doesn’t require your inventory to be fully manufactured when you apply. “Most of the marketplace doesn’t get involved until there is a purchase order or the inventory is sitting at a warehouse ready to be sold,” De Clercq tells Finder.
And it has a new app called Snowmelt, which De Clercq describes as “a free resource that streamlines the product sourcing process to lower costs and improve product quality at the same time.”
Yes, Kickfurther is a legitimate inventory financing platform. Founded in 2014, Kickfurther is the first financing platform dedicated specifically to inventory financing.
It has helped businesses raise over $100 million, and is backed by the same investors behind companies like Robinhood, Tesla and Twitter. And its founders have backgrounds in supply chain financing and peer-to-peer lending platforms, like LendingClub.
While not all pages on its website are secure — such as the Kickfurther glossary — pages where you can submit sensitive information are encrypted.
Compare more ways to finance your inventory to see how Kickfurther stacks up to the competition.
Kickfurther inventory financing is not currently available on Finder
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