I was jamming with Will Fischer at Spring Cash recently. He’s seen it a thousand times: A brand spends years perfecting a product, grinds to $2M in revenue, and finally gets the "Big Call." A national retailer wants them in 1,800 doors.
The founder celebrates. Then they look at the bill for the inventory.
To fill that order, they need $500k in cash today. The retailer won’t pay them for 90 days after delivery.
This is the Retail Death Trap. You either:
Drain your DTC budget: Your Facebook ads go dark so you can pay for pallets. Growth stalls.
Raise a "Rescue Round": You sell 10% of your company at a shitty valuation just to buy juice or coffee beans.
At Pixel Theory, we focus on the back-end numbers because if you can’t finance the growth, the marketing doesn't matter. Here is the playbook for scaling retail using Spring Cash’s "Growth Shield."
1. Invoice Factoring vs. PO Finance (Know the Difference)
Will and the team at Spring Cash (who have deployed $25M+ since mid-2025) focus on two main levers:
PO Finance: They pay your manufacturer directly to produce the goods. You don’t touch the cash; it goes straight to the supply chain.
Invoice Factoring: Once the goods hit the retailer’s warehouse, Spring Cash "buys" that invoice. They give you the cash immediately so you aren't waiting 90 days for Walmart to cut a check.
The Math: They typically charge 1–2% per month. If you have a 30-40% margin, giving up 2% to keep your DTC machine running is a no-brainer. It’s the cheapest "employee" you’ll ever hire.
2. The Projo Case Study: National Rollout
Will mentioned a brand called Projo Power (high-protein coffee).
They had a solid business, but retail rollouts are getting bigger. In 2022, a retailer might have started you in a single region. In 2026, they go "big or go home" with national launches.
Projo used Spring Cash to factor invoices from TJ Maxx. That "small" liquidity allowed them to support a massive 1,800-door national rollout without sweating the inventory costs.
Because Spring Cash fronted the production money, Projo could keep their remaining cash for in-store promotions and marketing. > Operator Note: If you go national but don't have the cash to run in-store promos, your velocity will suck. If your velocity sucks, you get kicked off the shelf. Financing inventory isn't just about supply; it’s about protecting your marketing budget.
3. The New "Interest-Only" Alpha
They just launched a product that is essentially perpetual working capital.
The Deal: If you’re doing $1M+ in revenue, they’ll give you up to 8% of your revenue as an advance.
The Catch: There isn't a traditional "payback" schedule that drains your daily sales.
The Cost: You pay a monthly fee (effective APR as low as 12%).
As long as you pay the fee, the capital stays on your balance sheet. It’s like a permanent floor of liquidity. In the corporate world, companies like Five Guys or Raising Cane's use this "bullet loan" logic all the time. Spring Cash is just bringing it to the CPG mid-market.
4. Why Spring Cash is Different (The Bank Play)
Most "fintech" lenders are just middlemen. They borrow money at 10% and lend it to you at 20%.
Spring Cash is backed by a family office and has its own direct bank facility. * Lower Cost of Capital: They aren't squeezing you to pay back their own high-interest debt.
Flexibility: They can underwrite based on a Buyer Award Email. Most lenders wait for a formal PO. But POs often arrive 14 days before delivery. You can’t make 10,000 units of product in 14 days. Will’s team will often fund you based on the intent to buy from the retailer months in advance.
The Takeaway
If you are an omnichannel brand, your biggest risk isn't "bad creative." It’s timing.
The time between paying your supplier and getting paid by Target is a "valley of death." Spring Cash builds a bridge over that valley.
If you’re staring at a retail expansion and wondering how the hell you’re going to pay for the production run, you need to talk to Will.
