Hokodo, a European B2B BNPL provider and trade credit managing general agent, has announced it is shutting down after eight years of operation.
The company, founded in 2018 and backed by Anthemis Group, raised approximately USD 177 million across equity and debt over its lifetime, including a USD 109 million debt facility from Viola Credit, with additional backing from Notion Capital, Korelya Capital, and Mosaic Ventures. At that time, Hokodo was planning to leverage the capital to facilitate nearly USD 1.76 billion of B2B transactions over the next 24 months.
During its operational period, Hokodo financed more than USD 590 million in invoices, served over 100,000 buyers across ten countries, and integrated with partners including BNP Paribas, Tide, and OroCommerce to embed trade credit into checkout and financial workflows.
Strategic missteps and wind-down
The founding team acknowledged that the company took too long to narrow its focus, scaled before it had sufficiently validated its model, and took on too much product complexity. All these factors ultimately led to the decision to wind down in late 2025.
The closure reflects broader challenges in the B2B BNPL market, where the promise of embedded trade credit at scale has proved more difficult to execute than anticipated. Building sustainable unit economics in trade credit requires discipline around credit risk, underwriting, and product scope, areas where Hokodo's founders acknowledged the company fell short.
Furthermore, the founding team is now launching Liquidity Lab, a consulting firm focused on helping businesses optimise trade credit and cash flow operations using AI. They plan to collaborate with CFOs and their teams to offer measurable improvements across the order-to-cash and procure-to-pay cycle.
Hokodo was a notable early player in establishing the B2B BNPL category across Europe, and its closure marks a significant moment in the segment's development as the market continues to consolidate around providers with more focused go-to-market strategies.
