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The tech unicorn was recently named Ireland’s fastest growing start-up at the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards.
E-commerce financing company Wayflyer has acquired business-to-business marketplace MadeMeBuyIt for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2019 by Jack Pierse and Aidan Corbett, Wayflyer is one of Ireland’s tech unicorns and provides e-commerce companies with loans to kick-start their business or improve cash flow in exchange for a share of their future profits.
Meanwhile, MadeMeBuyIt was launched in 2022 and was founded by Benjamin Kosinski. The US start-up connects e-commerce brands with national retailers to sell inventory.
Corbett, Wayflyer’s CEO, welcomed Kosinski and the MadeMeBuyIt team to Wayflyer. “It’s impressive what they’ve achieved together in such a short space of time, and we look forward to working with him,” he said.
Kosinski said joining forces with Wayflyer marks a new chapter and will allow the start-up to scale further. “Building MadeMeBuyIt has been an incredible journey, and I’m proud of all that we’ve achieved in the last few years,” he said.
As part of Wayflyer, the MadeMeBuyIt team will focus on developing new products and will work remotely from Miami in Florida.
Wayflyer has been going from strength to strength since it was founded six years ago. In 2022, the unicorn signed a major sponsorship deal last year with Irish golfer Shane Lowry and snapped up creator funding provider Peblo in its first big acquisition.
In 2023, the fintech start-up secured $1bn in capital from US investment management firm Neuberger Berman.
At the end of 2024, Wayflyer was named Ireland’s fastest growing start-up at the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards.
In the US, MadeMeBuyIt has also been rapidly growing since its launch, having raised venture capital from prominent VCs and angel investors across the country including Geek Ventures, XRC, Ran Makavy, Ben Jabbaway, Aaron Schwartz, Anne Lee Skates and Jordi Hayes, as well as Wayflyer’s Corbett.
According to the company, it has attracted more than 500 e-commerce brands and signed partnerships with 10 major retailers in the US, including Kohl’s and FYE.
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