The new partnership offers 1000s of ManoMano sellers access to flexible working capital
Can an industry that is in constant, rapid change be shaken up? The UK’s Storfund thinks so. Its new partnership with ManoMano means its financing service will now be available to the marketplace’s extensive seller base.
ManoMano is the largest marketplace for products and services in the DIY, gardening and home improvement sector in Europe, with over 5000 active sellers in its selective network.
Unlike many marketplaces, ManoMano does not compete with its own sellers with own-label ranges, but offers a shop window for sellers to sell directly to consumers. It also offers a range of dedicated services to empower its sellers’ businesses; Storfund is the latest addition.
ManoMano’s Head of Payment, Myriam Bourgeot said, “Helping our sellers to grow by providing access to robust, responsible financing is one of the ways we can invest in them and support their growth. Storfund offers a simple solution.”
Oliver Whelan,
Storfund’s Chief Revenue Officer“ManoMano is a fantastic win for us.”
Growth burns cash
Ecommerce sellers benefited from a boom during Covid, but, like all retail, they have struggled since, particularly in accessing financing. A recent Opinium survey of 500 UK small and medium businesses found that 38% felt banks did not understand their business needs*.
The strength of ecommerce sellers lies in their agility: a quick response to changes to demand, scaling up and down as needed. But, to achieve this they need access to flexible working capital.
Storfund’s financing service, which simply advances payments for sales, increases access to cash without adding debt. Plus, it can be turned on and off as needed, offering flexibility to respond to the peaks and troughs of seasonal demand and consumer behaviour.
Storfund’s Chief Revenue Officer Oliver Whelan said, “ManoMano is a fantastic win for us. It is one of the success stories of ecommerce through its clear sighted vision of looking after both consumers and sellers”.
Headquartered in France, ManoMano operates in France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Belgium and Spain, and is a good fit for Storfund which has been steadily expanding its presence across Europe.
Keeping it simple
Storfund is able to provide up to £5B per year in financing to sellers following a mega deal with the specialist investment house Fasanara in 2021. The fintech now supports ecommerce sellers in 36 countries and has official partnerships with many of the largest marketplaces globally including Cdiscount, Back Market, Rakuten, Kauflans, PcComponentes, Fyndiq and others, as well as being available on Mirakl marketplaces such as Leroy Merlin, Conforama, Rue de Commerce, BUT and Maisons du Monde, plus 18 out of 21 Amazon marketplaces globally.
Storfund’s mantra is to make things simple for marketplaces. ManoMano sellers will sign up for the service on the Storfund website, then a digital connection between ManoMano and Storfund means that sellers receive financing based on their sales, automatically, every day.
Storfund’s goal is for its service to be available as standard on every marketplace worldwide. It has an extensive pipeline of marketplace partnerships and expects to announce several more deals later this year.
*Opinium survey, Sept 2022, commissioned by Sonovate
