Looking forward is good. It helps us to make sure we’re on track to reach our goals and anticipate future challenges. It also stops us from walking into lamp posts. But looking back is useful too. It’s a reminder of the good times that have passed and all the hard work that has brought us to where we are today. As 2024 draws to a close, we’re taking a look back at some of our favorite moments from the past year. Let’s get started, shall we?
Hokodo digs deep into B2B buyer demands
Let’s begin all the way back at the start of 2024. At that time, we were right in the middle of surveying hundreds of B2B buyers to learn about their demands and expectations for the year ahead.
Fast forward a few weeks and we launched ‘The Definitive Guide to B2B E-commerce Buyer Demands in 2024’, a comprehensive report revealing that…
- 93% of B2B buyers now use e-commerce: online channels including marketplaces, websites and apps have become the new normal for B2B buyers.
- 55% face a poor user experience with online checkouts: slow, lengthy and complex payment processes pose a significant challenge for B2B buyers.
- Payment terms are a must-have for B2B e-commerce buyers: 83% of B2B buyers will abandon an e-commerce purchase if no payment terms are offered.
- B2B e-commerce buyers have a clear list of priorities: the 3 most important things to consider when choosing a supplier are quality of product or service, delivery speed, and availability of payment terms.
Download the report here and keep your eyes peeled for the 2025 edition in January 👀
We secured a €100m debt facility 💸
In April, Hokodo secured a new €100 million debt facility from Viola Credit, a global credit investment manager focused on supporting the growth of the innovation economy.
With this new financing, we will facilitate more than €1.5 billion of B2B transactions over the next two years. The debt facility will also support the continued roll-out and expansion of our embedded Pay Later and Pay Now solutions.
At the time, Aman Mehra, VP of Finance at Hokodo, said: “To date, Hokodo has processed payments for more than 50,000 business buyers and forged industry-defining partnerships with institutions such as BNP Paribas and Citi.
“With this new credit facility, and by partnering with a reputable global credit fund, we’re able to continue our work supporting the B2B economy, making payment terms safer, simpler and more sustainable for buyers and sellers of all shapes and sizes.”
We scored a screamer with the B2B Marketplaces Euros 2024 ⚽
Summer 2024 was a big one, and only made bigger by the first ever B2B Marketplaces Euros!
Following a tough competition featuring 24 of the very best B2B marketplaces in Europe, Outvise was crowned the winner of the B2B Marketplaces Euros 2024. Representing Spain, Outvise has stormed the competition over the past month, winning all 7 of their matches on their path to glory. Congratulations to the Outvise team!
This campaign was a lot of fun and we would like to once again thank all the marketplaces for getting involved without hesitation. That’s what we call good sportsmanship.
Hokodo: the main event
Throughout the year, Hokodo attended some of the best and biggest B2B commerce events across Europe and the UK, including Bold B2B: eComm Summit, IRX, Savant B2B Commerce, E-commerce Berlin Expo, Paris Retail Week and many more. Bring on events season 2025!
New strings were added to the Hokodo bow
2024 saw the release of loads of exciting new Hokodo solutions and product features. One of the most significant of these is our trade account solution that empowers buyers to make several purchases during a set period and then pay for everything at once on one invoice on an agreed date.
Meanwhile, our brand new in-store feature has just launched, enabling one of France’s leading B2B sellers to offer the flexibility and speed of digital trade credit in their brick and mortar locations. Book a call with the Hokodo team to find out how our expansive payment terms offering can be tailored to fit the unique needs of your business.
We cycled from London to Paris for charity 🚴
OK, we’re using “we” very liberally here. What we actually mean is that five fearless and fabulous Hokodians decided to raise some money for Save the Children by cycling 200 miles from London to Paris in September.
Setting off from Hokodo’s London office on Friday, the crew cycled down to Newhaven to get the ferry across to Dieppe before cruising down the Avenue Vert to Paris, arriving at Hokodo Co-founder Louis’ house just in time for Sunday lunch. Well done, team!
Hokodo and Talaria made digital trade credit available in more European countries than ever 🇪🇺🇬🇧
In November, we announced that we will use Talaria, the digital trade finance platform of Munich Re, in order to expand our geographical footprint.
We utilise Talaria’s credit underwriting algorithms and financing capabilities to extend the reach of digital trade credit to new markets, empowering B2B sellers to offer instant, flexible payment terms to business buyers across nearly every country in Europe.
“Last year we announced that Hokodo had become an EMI and was the first digital trade credit provider to be able to offer its solutions across the EU. But that’s only part of the story,” said Richard Thornton, Co-founder and President of Hokodo, at the time. “Since then, we have been hard at work making that a reality. Choosing the Talaria solution was a no-brainer since Talaria, like Hokodo, is specifically designed to meet the needs of B2B merchants. This also allows us to leverage Munich Re's extensive experience in risk assessment and management whilst seamlessly integrating with Talaria’s customisable API.“
Read more here.
We celebrated our wins as a team
In December, Hokodo’s teams from London, Paris and Vilnius came together for two days of team-building, strategic alignment and a whole lot of fun. Some of our highlights included…
- Taking a deep dive into the challenges and successes of 2024 through the eyes of different functional areas 🏊♀️
- Hearing our Head of Legal and Compliance, Lisette Simons, interview Hokodo board member Jim Lofgren about his time at Klarna, his career advice and his love for Halloween 🎤
- Tucking into some tasty food and making the most of our time together at the Hokodo Christmas party 🎄
Check out some of our favourite pics below.
We upset that one guy on LinkedIn
This year we’ve been trying our hand at making memes for social media. If you’ve not seen any, check out the Hokodo Olympics to get an idea of what we mean. By and large, our memes have had pretty good reception from our customers, colleagues and partners (and even some of our competitors 🤫). But one guy didn’t like them.
He *really* didn’t like them.
Sorry, mate. We’ll try harder next year.
And with that, we’ve reached the end of Hokodo Wrapped 2024. Stay tuned in 2025 for groundbreaking B2B payments solutions, exclusive industry insights and, quite possibly, some more memes.
