Powercut

Bronagh McKay and Craig Mulhall are the founders of Powercut, a fast-growing, Irish athleisure brand. They started Powercut in 2019 after Bronagh was frustrated by the lack of options for athleisure in Ireland. Just two years (and a lot of hard work) later, Powercut is a multi-million Euro business. Craig tells the story of how they did it and how Revenue Based Financing from Wayflyer has helped them along the way.

‍The beginning: combining great design and clever marketing

When Craig and Bronagh started Powercut, they wanted to create high-end athleisure products for women. Using their design expertise, and inspired by Nike’s Tinker Hatfield, they developed a premium range of products that they launched in late 2019. Customers immediately loved their products and Powercut’s sales started to grow.

In 2020, Craig and Bronagh decided to double down on their growth ambitions. They expanded their marketing efforts, worked closely with influencers and even supported healthcare workers during the pandemic by offering them discounted products. They combined beautifully designed products with clever marketing campaigns to get in front of potential customers.

Orders started rolling in.

The challenge: bigger inventory orders = greater need for cash

Soon, Powercut was attracting the attention of national retailers. These retailers presented a big opportunity for Powercut, allowing them to get their products in front of millions of potential customers. But, to fulfil these retailer contracts, Craig knew he would have to make some very large inventory orders. And to do this, they would need external funding.

Craig and Bronagh considered using one of their local banks, but quickly realised it was not the way to go. With a modern, fast-moving business like Powercut, they didn’t have the time to go through long application processes and to explain their business to someone who didn’t understand the online economy.

It was at this time that Craig met Wayflyer.

As specialists in funding for eCommerce business, the Wayflyer team quickly understood the challenge Powercut were facing. With Wayflyer, Powercut could get funding in their bank account in a matter of days and then repay the funding using a percentage of their sales. In addition, Craig and Bronagh wouldn’t have to give up any equity, collateral or personal guarantees to get the funding.

Craig connected his eCommerce platform and ad accounts to Wayflyer - a pre-requisite for receiving Revenue Based Financing - and received funding offers a few hours later.

After considering his options, Craig initially took a small amount of funding to test the process. He liked the results and went on to take over €100,000 in funding from Wayflyer.

The Result: growing sales from €300k to €2.5M

This funding gave Powercut the money they needed to make their big inventory orders.

“We made a much bigger order than we would have without the funding. It allowed us to fill stores, stock up the website, and take on new retailers when we needed to” said Craig.

“Getting the cash together to make this order ourselves would have taken at least 6 months. With Wayflyer, we were able to make the order straight away, then just repay them with a small percentage of our sales.”

This gave them all the stock they needed for their retailers, as well as their own direct-to-consumer channels. More stock and more retailers quickly led o more sales for Powercut.

All of this has allowed Powercut to grow exponentially, increasing their annual sales from €300K to €2.5M!

‍The Future: an international athleisure brand, rooted in premium design

The journey hasn’t been an easy one for Craig and Bronagh. They’ve poured blood, sweat and tears into Powercut over the last few years, as well as having a baby along the way. But they are both as excited as ever about Powercut’s potential.

Craig sees Wayflyer funding as a way to unleash this potential. “We have a great relationship with Wayflyer. We recognise how important they have been in helping us achieve our growth”, says Craig. “We have such a talented, driven team and have huge ambitions for the future. Funding from Wayflyer gives us the freedom to pursue those ambitions”.

With new products, markets and retail partners on the horizon, Craig and Bronagh are passionate about bringing more beautifully designed athleisure products to more people around the world.