8fig allowed us to bring in inventory to meet demand without tying up our cash flow.
Innovation through necessity
Ali Kaminetsky always brought her lunch to work with her but lacked a fashionable or sustainable way to transport her food. When she looked online to buy herself a lunchbox, she only saw options “for children and men, none for women who want to look and feel their best.”
Given that the market didn’t have a product for her, Ali came up with her own solution: Modern Picnic. She started producing high-quality, beautiful, and cleanable bags for transporting food, which she sold out of her parents’ garage.
8fig understands the challenges of eCommerce and has been a true partner through the ups and downs.
Stylish lunchboxes for her
Modern Picnic disrupted the cooler industry with their first-to-market, vegan-leather, and insulated lunch boxes catered towards the modern female consumer. The company has since created a line of innovative, high-quality food storage solutions that embody its values of functionality, sustainability, and style. Modern Picnic has been celebrated in the media over 400 times, including publications such as Forbes, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Oprah, and The Today Show. It was even featured on Shark Tank in early 2024.
Since its launch, Modern Picnic has grown into a multi-million dollar business with roots in charity, women’s empowerment, and a commitment to creating innovative, sustainable, and multifunctional products. In 2023, Modern Picnic began expanding strategic wholesale partnerships with big retailers, such as The Container Store and Saks Fifth Avenue. In 2024, Modern Picnic will also partner with Bloomingdale’s.
Without giving up any equity, 8fig has allowed us to zero in on our supply chain and operations.
Supply chain
“Setting up the supply chain was definitely one of the hardest parts,” says Ali. All the other aspects of running an eCommerce business, such as marketing, graphic design, setting up a Shopify store, and accounting felt tangible and within reach. She was able to access resources or people to help navigate these processes. However, to Ali, “manufacturing felt literally and figuratively far off and very much out of reach.”
Stock issues
As Ali began to introduce new products, she had to start paying close attention to data and customers to understand the product market fit and measure demand. “With supply chain constraints easing, we have been able to optimize our inventory levels to ensure we stay in stock.” Ali also recommends hiring an inventory planner, which was a key part of resolving her stock issues.
8fig provided access to fast, easy, and flexible financing solutions. We have been ablt to capitalize on growth opportunities, invest in new products, and operate with ease.
Cash flow
Regarding liquidity issues, Ali feels that “any business owner that says they have never experienced cash flow issues would be lying.” In her view, “cash is king.” She does everything she can to have clear cash flow forecasts. In the current economic climate, there are unprecedented levels of market uncertainty that have made this even more important. “Cash flow management is paramount,” believes Ali.
Funding
One of Ali’s biggest challenges was raising capital as a young female founder. She bootstrapped the company for over two years, reaching +$1M in revenue before raising a pre-seed in 2020.
From 2020 to 2021 Modern Picnic went from a 6-figure brand to a 7-figure brand while Ali was still shipping products out of her parents’ garage. During BFCM (Black Friday-Cyber Monday) 2021, as she dealt with a surge of demand, being understaffed, spaces overflowing and taking over every square inch of their home, she realized she needed to raise capital to move to a 3PL (third-party logistics provider). So she chose 8fig as her funding partner.
Why 8fig?
As investments dried up these past few years, we knew we had to find a debt financing solution that we could trust, we could grow with, and would be able to provide us with the financing to continue to grow while also staying flexible to changes and fluctuations. 8fig gave us all of the above and has been a great partner to work with.
8fig funding allowed Modern Picnic to take the next step as a business. It provided the capital to invest in growth avenues, launch new products, and shore up the supply chain. Ali explains that “8fig provided access to fast, easy, and flexible financing solutions. We have been able to capitalize on growth opportunities, invest in new products, and operate with ease. All of this without losing equity is a true win-win.”
This growth was manifested when capital from 8fig allowed Ali to launch Modern Picnic food containers. She shares that, “since launching with 8Fig we were able to finally bring our highly requested food containers to market which have quickly become one of our best sellers!”
8fig allowed us to bring in inventory to meet demand without tying up our cash flow.
8fig also helped Modern Picnic shore up its supply chain and cash flow. “8fig allowed us to bring in inventory to meet demand without tying up our cash flow,” says Ali. “ Without giving up any equity, 8fig has allowed us to zero in our supply chain and operations.” Thanks to this partnership, Modern Picnic experienced 4.5x sales growth during BFCM 2023 and reached $6 million in total sales.
Tips for sellers
Ali recommends that other eCommerce businesses make sure their backend operations are tightened up. She also stressed the importance of establishing a trust-based relationship with supply chain partners that can grow together with your brand.
