Bridge, a Citi-backed AI-powered lending platform, has announced the launch of a $500 million direct lending fund specifically designed for CPG brands and retail suppliers that fulfill 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. This fund launch marks the next phase of Bridge's growth, driven by increasing demand from suppliers selling into major retailers.
The financing gap between winning a large order and receiving payment is a critical challenge for many suppliers. When a brand secures an order from a major retailer, it must finance manufacturing, raw materials, packaging, freight, and compliance before delivery, and long before the retailer pays. This timing mismatch can force even strong brands to deplete operating cash, raise equity for routine production, delay fulfillment, or turn to costly and opaque financing options that are poorly aligned with retailer payment cycles.
Bridge's AI-powered underwriting infrastructure is built around the specific payment cycles, fulfillment requirements, and operating realities of each retailer, helping brands access capital needed to say yes to bigger orders without putting the rest of the business under pressure. The company funds up to 100% of a brand's production costs on expected or confirmed orders, with repayment structured around when brands receive payment. Unlike traditional lenders that look backward at historical profits and invoices, Bridge looks forward at upcoming orders, enabling growing suppliers to fund demand in days.
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. Dakota Sheets, founder of DogSauce, noted, "When Walmart calls with an expansion like this, you don't want to say no, but the financing gap between production and payment is real, and Bridge makes it possible to fill the orders without giving up equity."
Rohit Mathur, CEO and Co-Founder of Bridge, emphasized the importance of this initiative: "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. 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."
Brandy Newhof, Senior Director of Global Treasury at Walmart, added, "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."
Harte Thompson, Co-Founder and COO of Bridge, highlighted the unique value proposition: "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, 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. With this new fund, Bridge aims to provide efficient, affordable capital to suppliers, helping them scale their businesses and keep products moving through the supply chain. For more information, visit bridge.co.
