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Small and medium sized businesses often face a problem: to grow their business and get more inventory, they need access to capital. Expensive capital. Kickfurther plans to change that.
Boulder-based KickFurther’s CEO and co-founder Sean De Clercq experienced those expensive pain points first hand. Growing up in a family routed in the sourcing business, he learned the trade as a kid and set out on his own during his mid-20s to start a merchandising company. “I struggled first hand when I was running my merchandising company. We had a purchase order from our client and I had to pay my factory $50,000 to start production…. Getting that $50,000 just to start the production run was hugely painful for us,” said De Clercq.
For a small business without a track record, accessing that type of cash can be an insurmountable hurdle. De Clercq didn’t see why it needed to be that way.
A Better Marketplace
Kickfurther is creating a marketplace for small to medium sized businesses on one side and regular Jane and Joes on the other.
Businesses can use the platform to access capital and grow their businesses. For example, a clothing retailer could put up an order for 1,000 sweaters they want to buy. Users can evaluate the offer, and if they like it, they buy the inventory, which is shipped to the retailer. The model gives the business access to inventory they need to grow their business. The business agrees to share a portion of the revenue with users. Once the business sells a pre-determined percentage of that inventory, users are repaid at the amount set at the beginning. Kickfurther calls it PSR – percentage sold for return.
Kickfurther’s sweet spot is consumer goods. That way, users don’t need any specialized knowledge to figure out what they want to put their money behind. The litmus test for many offers will be, “Would I want to buy this?”
Two Weeks In, Two Successful Funding Campaigns
The platform is brand new and already Kickfurther can point to success stories and incoming revenue. “We had two offers up on the website, both have been funded now,” said De Clercq. One was Marlie Madison, the fashion e-commerce site. In the run-up to the holidays, Marlie Madison took advantage of the site to pre-order inventory that the company runs through quickly in December.
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The other offer was a little further from Kickfurther’s core businesses since it required a bit more specialized knowledge. The offer was by Camera Goat, a shop run by Jeffrey Garland, one of the cameramen on the movie Dark Knight. The camera dolly equipment Garland needed capital for will replace much more expensive equipment. “We are excited to be able to help him grow that,” said De Clercq.
Moving forward, the team sees lots of potential for their product. Kickfurther knows different users will be looking for specific things. Some users will want to support products made in America, while to others, that won’t be such a big deal. “We will make various sorting options available,” said De Clercq.
Over the next six months, the company hopes to push through 20-40 deals. They are also looking to establish strategic partnerships and create an inventory API.
The Move to Boulder
De Clercq and his co-founder came to Boulder for the Boomtown business accelerator and said their days there and the connections they made were invaluable. De Clercq was surprised that in Boulder he could walk into a businesses and almost always get a meeting with the owner. For now, they'll be staying in town due to that welcoming community.
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