From Startup Hustle to Scaling Confidently

Launched in 2020, Needed is a women’s health company dedicated to closing critical nutrition gaps across The Motherspan™ — from preconception through postpartum and beyond. Growth and strong community demand quickly put the team in a tricky position: how to keep products in stock, manage cash flow, and scale operations without tying up all of their capital.

Settle supported these key operational challenges:

• Inventory-heavy business: Large upfront investments in ingredients, packaging, and freight often locked up cash for weeks.
• Manual processes: Tracking purchase orders, invoices, and cost of goods sold in spreadsheets created room for errors.
• Scaling stress: Staying in stock across multiple channels without a centralized system slowed decision-making and risked lost sales.

Managing cash flow while scaling was our biggest challenge. We needed a way to keep inventory in stock without tying up all of our working capital.

The Solution: Settle as a Growth Partner

Needed partnered with Settle in 2020 to unlock the working capital they needed to keep pace with demand. What started as a financing solution quickly expanded into a broader operations platform:

• Bill Pay & PO automation to consolidate purchase orders and invoices in one place.
• Three-way match to reduce costly errors across POs, invoices, and receipts.
• Inventory integration with Shopify to improve COGS tracking and reporting.
• Month-end reporting and QuickBooks integration to streamline accounting.

Settle feels like the best parts of an ERP without the clunky, one-size-fits-all setup.

The Results: Time, Accuracy, and Revenue

With Settle, Needed transformed how it operates and scaled faster than ever:

• 165% 3-year compound annual growth rate supported by consistent inventory availability
• 28 products launched in 5 years largely supported by Settle Working Capital.
• 30+ hours saved each month by replacing manual spreadsheets with automated processes.
• Fewer errors and greater accuracy, with all POs, invoices, and reporting in one system.
• Confidence to scale without the cost or rigidity of a traditional ERP.

One of the biggest benefits has been accuracy. Before, if a vendor adjusted pricing, those changes didn’t always flow through our spreadsheets. Now, with everything in Settle, errors are caught before they become costly mistakes.

The Road Ahead

Needed is set up for continued growth and operational excellence. With centralized processes, automated workflows, and flexible financial tools, the team can:

• Expand product lines without worrying about cash flow constraints.
• Reduce manual work and free up more time for strategic planning.
• Maintain inventory visibility and cost accuracy across all channels.
• Scale confidently, knowing the systems in place will support both growth and efficiency.

From the start, Settle designed solutions around our needs, not a one-size-fits-all model. That partnership has made all the difference.

👉 Settle helps ambitious brands like Needed scale fearlessly by simplifying cash flow, streamlining operations, and creating a clear path to growth. Talk to a Settle product expert to get started today.