Today in B2B: Hokodo Raises $39.7M for BNPL Platform Expansion; Banking as a Service Is Fast-Tracking Embedded Finance

Today in B2B payments, DZ Bank and a Nordic insurance provider are the first two customers on Surecomp’s RIVO trade finance platform, while digital lockboxes bring buyers and suppliers together. Plus, the steel industry is embracing digital convenience and transparency, Octopus Ventures grabs $12.3 million in pre-seed funding round and ForwardAI and C2FO team up on better cash-flow forecasts.

Buyers, Suppliers Find Common Ground With Digital Lockboxes

Trading partners that make and receive payments digitally report increases in overall customer satisfaction, more flexibility in the payment options they offer and increased book-balancing efficiency, according to “Reimagining Business Payments,” a PYMNTS and Billtrust collaboration.

For example, digital lockboxes can receive payments and quickly match remittance information while sending the information almost simultaneously to enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The result is a high match rate of invoice payments and more easily balanced books — both of which can help improve customer satisfaction.

Buyers and suppliers have relied on inefficient AR and AP processes limited by outdated legacy computer systems and software. Often, this lack of interoperability results in delayed B2B payments, errors, fraud, a lack of payment data, cash flow challenges and other problems that can prevent companies from delivering the type of instantaneous financial transactions that their business partners expect.

Hokodo Raises $39.7M in Series B Funding

London-based buy now, pay later (BNPL) platform Hokodo announced in a Thursday (June 23) press release that it has raised over 37.8 million euros ($39.7 million) in a Series B funding round.

The funding was led by Notion Capital, with additional investment from Korelya Capital, Mundi Ventures, Opera Tech Ventures, Anthemis and Mosaic Ventures.

The company’s Series A round raised $12.5 million in October 2021. London-based Hokodo was founded in 2018 by co-CEOs Richard Thornton and Louis Carbonnier as a BNPL platform operating in the B2B space. The startup recently onboarded clients in France (Paris Fashion Shops) and Spain (Katoo), following launches in Belgium and the Netherlands (Ankorstore) earlier in the year.

Digital Convenience, Transparency Are Hot Commodities in Aging Steel Industry

While Felux CEO Dallas Hogensen was talking with a new customer, the customer remarked that he could order a chicken sandwich online and have it delivered to his door but couldn’t purchase steel online — even though steel is a $3 trillion market and the backbone of industry.

After signing up with Felux, an online B2B marketplace and supply chain platform for steel and other metals, that customer listed material for the first time, got several quotes within minutes and had a truckload delivered to him within an hour.

Felux announced June 2 it had raised $19 million in Series A funding to digitize commerce for this supply chain.

Banking as a Service Key to Fast-Tracking Embedded Finance for FIs

Chris Dean, co-founder and CEO of Treasury Prime, told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster that banking as a service (BaaS) can advance financial services in the U.S. to a level that meets and exceeds other nations.

In the meantime, there is a lag, Dean said. Banks — especially smaller ones — are finding their existing resources stretched thin. There’s a veritable alphabet soup of regulators at the state and federal levels, and, of course, there is an extraordinary amount of fragmentation across the industry because there are thousands of banks out there and no shortage of FinTechs coming into the space.

Changing it all is akin to turning an aircraft carrier in stormy seas, but a network approach can hasten and streamline the push toward modernization — without requiring firms to change their processes.

ForwardAI, C2FO Partner on Cash Flow Forecasting

Business data FinTech ForwardAI has teamed up with working capital platform C2FO to offer C2FO small business customers access to the ForwardAI cash flow forecasting and planning portal.

As the companies said in a news release Thursday (June 23), the partnership allows C2FO to integrate cash flow forecasts with its online platform, which in turn lets clients streamline their day-to-day cash flow management and operations.

The partnership comes a week after C2FO debuted its CashFlow+ Card, which lets businesses expedite their invoice payments without the traditional discount for early payments. Customers who use the card can select invoices they want to be paid early, then have the entire balance of each approved invoice transferred to their cards.

DZ Bank, Nordic Insurance Firm Sign Onto Surecomp RIVO Trade Finance Platform

Trade finance solution provider Surecomp has accepted DZ Bank as the first bank subscriber for its newly launched RIVO platform for collaborative trade finance, while a Nordic guarantee insurance firm has also signed on to the initiative, according to a company press release Thursday (June 23).

RIVO, which debuted in May, is an application programming interface (API)-based trade finance platform designed to create a collaborative ecosystem of corporates, financial institutions (FIs) and FinTechs. Both companies plan to integrate RIVO via APIs into their back-office systems, the release stated.

Frankfurt-based DZ Bank, which also acts as a central hub to 850 member banks, will invite its corporate clients to communicate through the RIVO platform for streamlined processing of thousands of trade finance transactions, according to the release.

EMEA B2B FinTech Octopus Ventures Closes $12.3M Pre-Seed Funding Round

Octopus Ventures has closed a $12.3 million pre-seed funding round it plans to use to continue the expansion of its B2B FinTech platform across the EMEA region, according to a Thursday (June 23) blog post.

Principal Maria Rotilu outlined in a company blog post how companies can attract attention during the pre-seed stage, including starting with their own savings accounts or other investment funds. She mentioned that Innovate UK offers grants that help build a startup without any dilution to ownership and grants present another viable option.