Bridge Launches $500M Direct Lending Fund to Finance Suppliers of America's Largest Retailers

Bridge, a Citi-backed AI-powered lending platform, has launched a $500 million direct lending fund designed specifically for CPG brands and retail suppliers fulfilling purchase orders for America's largest retailers. Since spinning out from Citi in 2023, Bridge has deployed over $800 million and facilitated financing for hundreds of growing businesses. The fund launch marks Bridge's next phase of growth, driven by demand from suppliers selling into major retailers.

Through its work with Walmart, Bridge recently funded DogSauce, a pet-food super broth meal topper that expanded from 1,200 to 3,000+ Walmart stores on a single order that nearly doubled the brand's prior year revenue. "When Walmart calls with an expansion like this, you don't want to say no," said Dakota Sheets, founder of DogSauce. "But the financing gap between production and payment is real, and Bridge makes it possible to fill the orders without giving up equity."

When a brand wins an order from a major retailer, the win often comes with a financing gap that most people outside the industry never see. The supplier has to pay for manufacturing, raw materials, packaging, freight and compliance before the goods are delivered and long before the retailer pays. That timing mismatch can leave even strong brands choosing between draining operating cash, raising equity for routine production, delaying fulfillment, or turning to financing options that may be fast but are costly, opaque or poorly aligned with retailer payment cycles.

"Retail is being reshaped by volatility in tariffs, freight, oil prices and consumer demand, and the pressure often lands first on the growing suppliers that have the least room to absorb it," said Rohit Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder of Bridge. "Bridge is using AI to put capital to work for the businesses that need it. By analyzing the business, the order, and the retailer relationship more deeply than legacy underwriting allows, Bridge can move faster and get from no to yes for strong suppliers that traditional lenders might miss."

"Bridge's Purchase Order Financing Program gives Walmart suppliers an additional option for funding their orders. Expanding the range of capital options available to our suppliers is one of the ways we support our supplier community," said Brandy Newhof, Senior Director of Global Treasury at Walmart.

Bridge was built to provide access to efficient, affordable capital – which is an important part of helping suppliers scale their businesses and keep products moving through the supply chain. The company funds up to 100% of a brand's production costs on expected or confirmed orders, with underwriting built around how major retailers buy and repayment structured around when brands receive payment. A bank looks backward at a company's historical profits and invoices from delivered orders. Bridge looks forward at upcoming orders, so growing suppliers can fund demand in front of them in days. Financing is subject to credit approval, final terms, and availability.

"Plenty of lenders are happy to extend capital once a brand has delivered the goods and there's an invoice out. Lending against the credit risk of a major retailer like Walmart isn't hard," said Harte Thompson, Co-Founder and COO of Bridge. "But Bridge supports growing brands when they actually need it, when they are building the inventory to fill an upcoming order. That's the moment capital is hardest to find, and when it's not there, good brands get pushed into expensive, opaque financing or dilutive equity raises just to fund routine production. Bridge was built for that moment instead."

Access to production capital remains one of the clearest ways to help businesses scale and keep shelves stocked. Its AI-powered underwriting infrastructure is built around the specific payment cycles, fulfillment requirements and operating realities of each retailer, helping brands access the capital needed to say yes to bigger orders without putting the rest of the business under pressure.

For more information, visit bridge.co.