How Wing Achieved 210% Growth with ECL
Learn about how startup Wing achieved 210% growth with $1.4M of financing from ECL
Context
Wing is a truly global venture, operating a thriving marketplace for virtual assistant services. It sets itself apart with twin missions:
- 1. Helping SMEs in North America and Australia find affordable, quality outsourcing.
- 2. Empowering talent from India, the Philippines, and several Latin American countries, to find well-paid jobs that utilize their skillsets.
Wing pairs these assistant services with its Wing Workspace app for chat, task management and file sharing. Since its founding in 2018 it has raised $2.2 M in seed funding from Surface Ventures and SkyDeck - and employs over 700 virtual assistants worldwide.
Key takeaways
- ECL’s $1.4M financing enabled Wing to achieve a 210% annualized growth rate.
- ECL's financing bridged the gap to Wing’s upcoming Series A funding round.
- Strategic deployment of funds in marketing drove new customer acquisition and sustainable growth.
Challenges
Mid-2023, Wing’s leadership team decided it was time to press the gas pedal on growth. The four co-founders with backgrounds spanning tech, to consulting - decided they were ready to scale. Their aim was to bring their unique service to more businesses and more skilled workers around the world.
Accelerating Growth at Scale
Wing aimed to expand its reach to new businesses and skilled workers globally while maintaining quality.
Building Trust in Financing Partners
Choosing a partner with competitive rates and trustworthiness was critical for Wing’s leadership team.
Solutions
Wing partnered with Efficient Capital Labs to utilize revenue-based financing, providing growth capital without equity dilution.
Wing’s Co-Founder and CMO Roland Polzin learned about revenue-based financing early on in Wing’s growth journey. With a growing customer base and revenue, Wing applied for and successfully received offers from multiple revenue-based financing providers. Efficient Capital Labs stood out as a partner.
In mid-2023, Wing took $500,000 of financing from ECL. Later that year, Wing took an additional $900 K of financing.
Non-Dilutive Financing Wing avoided equity dilution, preserving ownership and control by opting for revenue-based financing.
Strategic Investment in Marketing Wing deployed the financing into marketing, generating a high return on investment and achieving rapid customer acquisition.
Results
ECL’s financing empowered Wing to achieve unprecedented growth, positioning it for future milestones.
- 210% Annual Growth Rate Wing’s strategic marketing investments drove a 210% annualized growth rate after the financing. Polzin notes “we have a pretty favorable payback period [on customer acquisition costs]. So essentially every dollar we spend in advertising is [returned] within two or three months.”
- Sustainability of Growth New revenue streams from growth initiatives improved the business's long-term value. According to Polzin “the new revenue will stick around for longer and ultimately makes our business more valuable.”
- Bridged Gap to Series ECL's financing supported Wing’s scaling efforts and helped it prepare for its Series A round.
