A ‘buy now pay later’ startup for B2B payments has raised £9 million in Series A funding.
Hokodo, based in London with an office in France, has signed up more than 20 merchants to its solution, with 10,000+ buyers transacting on the platform.
Following the funding round – led by Mosaic Ventures, with participation from Notion Capital, prominent Angels and seed investors Anthemis – it plans to expand around France, Germany, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands.
It says that trade credit, which suppliers advance to their business customers, is critical to supply chains, and never more so than now as we start to emerge from the COVID-19 crisis.
However the tools and processes for offering trade credit have barely changed in a centuries and, as B2B trade moves online, the current approach is no longer fit for purpose.
Hokodo says a world in which buyers must download and fill out an application form to apply for a trade account then wait two days for a credit review are numbered.
Hokodo says its ‘Trade Credit as a Service’ platform enables B2B merchants to instantly offer credit terms at checkout, even on a customer’s first purchase.
Merchants using Hokodo see an average 40% increase in revenue and increased customer satisfaction, while protecting them against the risks of non-payment.
“The B2B purchasing experience has long lagged behind its B2C counterpart, and trade customers are calling for more,” said Toby Coppel, co-founder and Partner at Mosaic Ventures.
“Hokodo is building a next generation platform for digital commerce, offering real-time credit to make it easier for businesses to purchase goods and easier for merchants to convert sales and grow.
“We have seen the enormous impact of “buy now, pay later” technology in the consumer market and, by solving the complexity of real-time trade finance, Hokodo is now bringing it to B2B.”