Bridge, an AI-powered lending platform backed by Citi, has announced the launch of a $500 million direct lending fund dedicated to financing consumer packaged goods brands and retail suppliers that fulfill orders for the largest retailers in the United States.
Since spinning out from Citi in 2023, Bridge has deployed more than $800 million to facilitate financing for hundreds of growing businesses. The launch of this new fund represents a significant phase of expansion driven by increased demand from suppliers selling to major retail corporations.
The initiative is designed to address a critical financing gap that occurs between the start of production and the eventual receipt of payment from retailers. Suppliers must often cover the costs of manufacturing, raw materials, packaging, freight, and compliance before goods are delivered. This timing mismatch often leaves even successful brands forced to choose between using operating cash, raising equity for routine production, delaying fulfillment, or seeking more expensive and opaque financing options.
Bridge utilizes artificial intelligence to perform underwriting by analyzing a business, its specific orders, and its relationship with retailers. While traditional banks typically examine historical profits and invoices from delivered orders, Bridge’s technology focuses on upcoming orders to enable suppliers to fund demand in a matter of days.
The platform provides funding for up to 100% of a brand’s production costs for expected or confirmed orders. The repayment structure is specifically aligned with when brands receive payment from their retail partners.
The effectiveness of the program was highlighted by the pet-food brand DogSauce. Using Bridge to bridge the gap between production and payment, the company was able to expand its distribution from 1,200 to more than 3,000 Walmart stores on a single order, which nearly doubled its revenue from the previous year.
Walmart has acknowledged the buy Order Financing Program as an additional capital option available to its supplier community. The availability of such funding is increasingly important as the retail sector navigates volatility in consumer demand, freight costs, oil prices, and tariffs.
Bridge is supported by a group of investors including TTV Capital, Citi Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures, Gilgamesh Ventures, Thayer Partners, and US Bank Ventures.
