The Model
One deal, stated plainly.
Eastfound builds and runs your brand’s commercial presence in the UK and EU, and is paid primarily in a share of what that presence earns. Not a retainer that renews whether anything sold or not. When a partnership deepens and the evidence supports it, we put in our own capital and carry inventory risk alongside you. The exact structure is agreed at commercial review, because it depends on your product, your capacity, and how deep we both want to go. What never changes is the direction of the incentive: if your brand doesn’t earn, neither do we.
Three depths
How deep the partnership goes is a decision we make together.
Three depths, one model. Chosen at commercial review, and revisited as the brand grows.
Catalyst
Proof before scale: a live market test.
We build a working storefront for your products, put real marketing budget behind it, and run it against real UK and EU buyers. It closes with a report: what sold, to whom, at what cost, and a recommended next step. Fixed fee from £2,500, plus an agreed test marketing budget. No inventory commitment from either side.
Best for: brands and makers who want evidence before anyone commits capital.
Operator
Execution with alignment.
Eastfound runs the full commercial arm: store, marketing, logistics, customer service, and the trading decisions in between. We share in outcomes. Stock usually starts on consignment, and where the market evidence supports it, Eastfound puts its own capital in, including inventory. We commit money the way an investor does: on the numbers, not on hope.
Best for: brands with proven demand that want the UK/EU business run properly without building a team.
Venture
Building with ownership.
The deepest form: capital in, inventory carried, and a long-term stake in the brand’s growth here. Closer to a business partner than a service, with the structure agreed case by case.
Best for: partners who want Eastfound committed for years, not quarters.
Catalyst often comes first. Its closing report is the natural input to the commercial review where Operator or Venture gets decided, and it’s the same evidence Eastfound uses to decide where its own capital goes.
The operating model
What the machine does. What stays human.
The operations run on an AI-native workflow: listings, logistics coordination, ad operations, analytics, and CRM. This is the reason the economics work at all. Running a brand’s commercial arm used to need a team; on our machine it needs one excellent operator and good judgment about where to point it.
The judgment itself stays human. Positioning, brand voice, curation, and commercial calls are made by a founder who has run deal portfolios and her own DTC brand. Pricing decisions sit with Eastfound, as the operator facing the market every day, with partners consulted. Product compliance and conformity at source stay with the product’s owner, who knows the product best.
We publish how the work is divided. We don’t publish the toolchain, for the same reason a kitchen shows you the menu and not the recipes.
How a partnership starts
From first call to agreed scope.
- 01
Intro call.
Thirty minutes. Whether we’re a fit, what your product line is, which depth looks likely.
- 02
Commercial review.
The structured conversation where terms live: share of outcomes, capital, inventory, brand path. If a Catalyst test ran, its report is on the table.
- 03
Agreed scope.
The partnership in writing, at the depth we chose together, including whether we build on your existing brand or launch one of ours around your product. Both paths are real, and the right one depends on the review.
Where fit looks plausible but unproven, Catalyst is the standard first engagement: test, read the market, then decide the depth together.
FAQ
Asked directly, answered directly.
- Do you use AI?
- The products are handmade; the operation behind them is AI-native. That’s the whole point of Eastfound.
- Why not just hire an agency?
- Agencies sell hours / Eastfound sells outcomes. A retainer gets you effort; a share of outcomes gets you a partner whose rent depends on your sales. We also put capital in at deeper tiers, which no agency will do.
- What does Catalyst cost?
- From £2,500 fixed fee, plus a test marketing budget agreed at scoping. The fee covers the cost of running your test: the store, the marketing spend management, the report. Eastfound starts earning when the partnership does. Exact fee depends on catalogue size and complexity, scoped at the intro call.
- What happens to unsold stock?
- That depends on the depth and the deal, and it’s one of the things decided at commercial review rather than published as a blanket rule. Bring it to the intro call; you’ll get a straight answer for your case.
- Do I keep my brand?
- Sometimes the right move is building on your existing brand; sometimes it’s launching an Eastfound house brand around your product. Which path fits is decided together at commercial review, and the answer shapes the economics.
- Who handles regulatory compliance?
- Product safety and conformity at source stay with the product’s owner. Market-facing operations are ours. Where import-side obligations land is confirmed in scope, case by case.
The gap between this page and your numbers is one call.
Commercial specifics are a conversation, by design. Thirty minutes, no preparation required.