Slope, a lending startup that uses artificial intelligence to vet businesses, is partnering with Amazon starting Tuesday to provide a reusable line of credit to Amazon sellers, backed by a JPMorgan Chase credit facility, the company told CNBC exclusively.
The new relationship means eligible U.S. Amazon vendors can apply for and access capital directly through their Amazon Seller accounts with real-time approvals.
Slope was co-founded by CEO Lawrence Lin Murata, who said said he saw the ups and downs of running a small business while he was growing up in São Paulo.
Lin Murata helped his parents at their family's toy shop, which they've been running for more than three decades. As he gained more insight into the finances of the business, he said he realized that cash flow was a large pain point for his parents and other small businesses.
That led him to start Slope, an AI-powered lending platform backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and JPMorgan Chase, with co-founder Alice Deng.
"Leveraging AI, we're able to underwrite these businesses, and we're able to handle all the complexity of assessing the risk for a business," Lin Murata said. "At the same time, [we're] providing a very easy, real-time experience to them."
The lines of credit will start at an 8.99% APR, according to Slope, and require vendors to be in business for at least one year with more than $100,000 in annual revenue. Once approved, Amazon sellers can draw from the line as needed and choose a term ranging from three months to a year to align repayment with their inventory cycle. Scope did not disclose the financial aspects of its deal with Amazon.
"Most people don't realize that sellers, independent sellers, are kind of the backbone of Amazon and e-commerce in general," Deng told CNBC. "More than 60% of Amazon's sales are driven by independent sellers."
Deng said Slope is filling a gap with the new partnership. Currently, Amazon sellers can use some third parties to access capital, though Deng said those initiatives are more focused on smaller sellers, while Slope is focused on mature sellers, some of whom reach hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and require bank-grade financing.
Deng said when Amazon did its own lending around four years ago, the total addressable market was between $1 billion and $2 billion. With Slope taking over the program, the company expects that number to grow.
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