Financing growth at the speed of performance.
Why the next generation of e-commerce growth will be funded by the customers it acquires — non-recourse, capped, and aligned.
Executive summary
Customer acquisition is the single largest growth investment most e-commerce companies make — and it is financed worse than almost any other asset on the balance sheet. The cash goes out today; the gross profit returns over months or years.
Cohort Capital introduces a different architecture. We purchase, on a non-recourse basis, a capped share of the future gross profit generated by the specific customer cohorts a company acquires with our capital. It is a true sale of a defined receivable — not a loan, and not a merchant cash advance.
- 1The problem: a financing gap in growth
- 2Why now: the thesis
- 3How it works: the mechanism
- 4How it benefits companies
- 5Underwriting & risk
- 6The capital structure behind it
- 7Governance, compliance & transparency
- 8Conclusion
- AAppendix: assumptions & glossary
The problem: a financing gap at the center of growth
Every dollar a brand spends to acquire a customer is, in effect, an investment with a deferred return. The acquisition cost is paid up front and in full; the gross profit that justifies it arrives gradually, over the customer's lifetime. This timing mismatch sits at the heart of consumer growth — and the financial system has never built an instrument designed specifically to bridge it.
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