Adfluential

Traditional lenders had struggled to support the company’s business model. Delivery is entirely digital, with no physical goods changing hands, making conventional verification processes challenging. Crucially, Adfluential’s media costs historically operated within 30-day trade credit terms. As the business began attracting larger, more institutional clients, those organisations required 45- to 60-day payment terms. This gap created a structural constraint on growth and a difficult choice: either decline high-value clients or accept terms that would strain working capital. Some prospects wouldn’t engage without extended payment terms, while others were willing to commit significant volumes only if those terms were available. Longer payment terms introduced increased credit exposure.

Adfluential’s expansion into new areas also meant trading with buyers without an established payment history. Adfluential therefore required a more robust method of assessing creditworthiness, alongside protection should a debtor fail. Adfluential had significant traction in terms of new business, but without a flexible solution to bridge the working capital gap and manage credit exposure, further growth would become restricted.

Adfluential’s Managing Director, Matthew Milnes, has been a private banking and investment management client of Investec for a decade. It was through a conversation with his wealth manager that he learned that Investec also offered invoice finance and was introduced to the Capital Solutions team. They took the time to understand the complexities of Adfluential’s model, and offered a bespoke invoice finance facility combined with a modified recourse facility – additional protection for bad debts provided in partnership with Allianz. In combination, the solution addressed both sides of the challenge: liquidity and credit risk management were, for the first time, aligned with growth.

The combined invoice finance facility has enabled Adfluential to take on clients it previously couldn’t work with. One of the UK’s largest home improvement groups has significantly increased its spend with Adfluential since moving to 45-day terms – business that simply wouldn’t have been possible under the previous 30-day structure. It has also changed how the company manages risk and client relationships, as Matthew Milnes explains: “Previously, if we couldn’t offer terms it was perceived as our decision, and people can take that personally. Now we can reference an independent rating from a global insurer, it becomes objective.”