Slope, a lending startup that uses artificial intelligence, has teamed up with e-commerce giant Amazon (AMZN) to offer a new financing option for independent sellers, according to CNBC. Backed by OpenAI (PC:OPAIQ) CEO Sam Altman and ai-finance">JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Slope will now let eligible U.S. sellers apply for a line of credit directly through their Amazon Seller Central accounts. The system uses Amazon’s internal performance data and Slope’s in-house AI model to approve applications almost instantly.
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The goal is to make the process quicker and more convenient than traditional bank loans, with support from a credit facility provided by JPMorgan. Slope’s co-founders, Lawrence Lin Murata and Alice Deng, created the company to help small and mid-sized businesses manage their cash flow. Notably, the new credit lines start at an 8.99% APR and are available to sellers who have been in business for at least one year and earn over $100,000 in annual revenue. Once approved, sellers can draw from the line as needed and choose repayment terms of three to twelve months.
Interestingly, Deng also pointed out that more than 60% of Amazon’s sales come from independent sellers, who often need reliable access to capital to grow. And unlike earlier Amazon lending efforts that focused on smaller sellers, Slope is aiming to serve more established businesses, including those with hundreds of millions of dollars in sales. As a result, the company has already seen strong interest, with applications rising 300% week-over-week during early testing.
Is Amazon a Buy, Sell, or Hold?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on AMZN stock based on 44 Buys and one Hold assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average AMZN price target of $296.85 per share implies 33.1% upside potential.
