Hokodo, a European business-to-business buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) service and trade credit management company, has announced its closure after operating for eight years.
The firm was established in 2018 with support from Anthemis Group and secured around USD 177 million in funding through equity and debt financing. This included a USD 109 million debt facility provided by Viola Credit, bolstered by additional investments from Notion Capital, Korelya Capital, and Mosaic Ventures. Hokodo intended to utilize these funds to facilitate nearly USD 1.76 billion in B2B transactions over the following two years.
During its operational tenure, Hokodo financed more than USD 590 million worth of invoices, served over 100,000 buyers across ten countries, and partnered with companies like BNP Paribas, Tide, and OroCommerce to integrate trade credit into their financial workflows.
Operational Challenges Leading to Wind-Down
Hokodo’s founders admitted that the company took too long to refine its focus, expanded operations prematurely without sufficiently validating its business model, and incorporated excessive product complexity. These strategic missteps ultimately led to the decision to cease operations in late 2025.
The closure of Hokodo underscores broader industry challenges within the B2B BNPL sector, where embedding scalable trade credit has proven more complex than initially anticipated. Establishing sustainable business models for trade credit requires careful management of credit risk and underwriting processes, areas where Hokodo acknowledged shortcomings.
Following this, the founding team is initiating Liquidity Lab, a consulting firm aimed at assisting businesses in optimizing their trade credit and cash flow operations using artificial intelligence (AI). The plan involves working closely with chief financial officers and their teams to deliver measurable improvements across the entire order-to-cash and procure-to-pay cycle.
The shutdown of Hokodo marks a significant milestone in the B2B BNPL category, as the market continues to consolidate around more focused operational strategies.
