Europe fintech casualty: Hokodo

Hokodo, a London business-to-business buy now, pay later lender, has shut down after eight years, and its founders have moved on to a new firm called Liquidity Lab. (fintechfutures.com) The company said it made the decision to wind down in late 2025. Co-founder Richard Thornton said Hokodo processed its final transaction in November 2025, and most remaining employees left by late March 2026. (fintechfutures.com) Hokodo was founded in 2018 by Louis Carbonnier, Richard Thornton and Sami Ben Hatit. It sold short-term payment terms to business buyers, including 30, 60 and 90 day instalment plans, and said it financed more than €500 million of purchases for over 100,000 buyers. (fintechfutures.com) Business-to-business buy now, pay later is trade credit wrapped in software at checkout. Instead of a supplier waiting weeks to get paid, a specialist underwrites the buyer, pays the merchant, and then collects from the buyer later. (fintechfutures.com) That model drew heavy venture backing in Europe in 2021 and 2022, when investors were funding companies that promised faster online payments for wholesalers, marketplaces and manufacturers. Hokodo raised a $12.5 million Series A in 2021 and a $40 million Series B in June 2022 as it pushed across Europe. (fintech.global) By April 2026, Hokodo said it had raised more than $150 million in combined equity and debt, but the founders said they had scaled before the business had earned it, narrowed focus too slowly, and added too much product complexity. (fintechfutures.com; hokodo.co) The shutdown has not yet shown up as a dissolved company on the United Kingdom register. Companies House still lists Hokodo Ltd as active, incorporated on February 20, 2018, with its latest confirmation statement filed on December 4, 2025. (find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk; find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk) Customers with unpaid balances are no longer paying Hokodo directly. The company said its debts have been sold, debt collection agencies have contacted affected customers, and payments sent to Hokodo bank accounts will be rejected. (fintechfutures.com) The founders’ next company is not another lender. Hokodo said Liquidity Lab will be a consulting firm that helps business-to-business companies redesign trade credit and cash flow operations using artificial intelligence. (fintechfutures.com) That leaves Hokodo as a clean example of what changed in European fintech after the funding boom: a company that helped define a category, raised large rounds, served six-figure buyer counts, and still chose to wind down rather than keep chasing scale. (hokodo.co; fintechfutures.com)