London, 8 June, 2023 – B2B payment solutions provider Hokodo has today announced the acquisition of a Lithuanian payments business, making it the first and, currently, only B2B Buy Now, Pay Later provider with a payments licence.
This acquisition is part of Hokodo’s journey to make better payment options available to B2B merchants across Europe. Since inception, the business has expanded rapidly into 6 of Europe’s largest markets, allowing ever greater numbers of business buyers to access the payment terms they need to grow.
This also means that Hokodo is able to offer a broader suite of payment solutions. Significantly, merchants, marketplaces and other suppliers can now partner with Hokodo to offer their customers a complete payment solution that includes pay now and pay later options.
This eliminates the need for suppliers to integrate with several solution providers and empowers them to compete on an even playing field with more established players. Meanwhile, buyers benefit from a consistent user experience that enables them to pay how they want to. Ultimately, this acquisition further enables Hokodo to reach its goal of helping 1 million businesses access a better way to pay in the next two years.
As part of the acquisition, Hokodo is opening a third office in Lithuania to complement its existing locations in Paris and London. The company plans to grow the team in Lithuania substantially over the coming months.
“We have been pleased to find that the Lithuanian candidate market is rich with talented individuals with the skills to operate a payment institution,” commented Chris Yea, Head of Talent at Hokodo. “We’ve already made our first hires in Lithuania, with more roles to go live imminently. Our plans are to hire around 30 individuals for the Lithuanian team over the next 3 years.”
“This is a landmark moment, not just for Hokodo, but for B2B merchants and their customers across Europe,” explains Richard Thornton, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Hokodo. “As a regulated EMI, our merchant and marketplace partners can have even greater confidence in our ability to manage and protect their funds prudently.”
“Since launching our business in France and the UK back in 2018, we’ve always had the largest European footprint among B2B BNPL providers,” adds Louis Carbonnier, Richard’s fellow Co-Founder and Co-CEO. “It’s compelling that we’re now able to help B2B suppliers across the whole of Europe provide their customers with the credit and payment options they deserve.”
