[Funding alert] Fintech startup Kodo raises $8.75M from Brex, Y-Combinator, others

Kodo, a Mumbai-based corporate card startup, on Thursday announced that it has raised $8.75 million in seed funding round from a slew of investors that include Brex, Goat Capital, Pioneer Fund, and other Silicon Valley investors.

The fintech startup, which was part of the winter 2021 batch of Y-Combinator, was launched in 2019 by Deepti Sanghi and Gaurav Thapa, with the mission of putting a Kodo corporate card in the hands of every founder in India. It will use the funds raised to support its accelerated growth plans by strengthening and expanding its team across engineering, product, sales, credit, and operations.

Deepti Sanghi, Co-founder and CEO, Kodo said, 

“We believe that founders should be free from the anxiety of where their money is, how much is being spent, and how to optimise their cash flows. Kodo cards with integrated spend management tools is our first step towards that goal.”

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“We are seeing accelerating adoption of Kodo cards from businesses ranging from VC backed startups to SMBs, across sectors. With this capital raise, we are well positioned to build on that momentum, strengthen our team and expand our customer base,” she added.

According to the firm, business collections and spends in India are witnessing a massive shift from cash to digital, creating a strong tailwind for Kodo’s cards and spend management tools. Kodo claims that its card spends have grown 45 percent month on month for the last 12 months, leading to an 83x jump in transaction volumes. 

“Kodo has built an amazing foundation in India and we are looking forward to putting the full weight of our experience behind them,” said Henrique Dubugras, Co-CEO, Brex.

An all-in-one finance solution for growing businesses, Brex goes beyond the roles of a bank, bookkeeper, credit card or expense software to help companies spend, save, and earn smarter. After completing the Y Combinator accelerator programme in 2017, Brex has grown to over 600 employees and raised over $940 million in venture capital.

“As early investors of the global fintech revolution, we were struck by the clarity of Kodo’s vision,” said Robin Chan, General Partner of Goat Capital, adding, “We seek tenacious founders unlocking massive new markets. Deepti and Gaurav are exactly the type of founders we love backing.”

Goat Capital was founded in 2020 by Justin Kan (Co-founder of Twitch) and Robin Chan with over $100 million under management. Justin and Robin have invested at the earliest stages in companies such as Gingko Bioworks, Ramp Financial, Razorpay, Scale.ai, Square, Twitter, Uber, Xendit, and Xiaomi. 

Kodo claims that it offers a frictionless card experience to busy founders, starting with a three-minute approval process to automate expense management tools. The company believes that repetitive financial tasks should be automated so that founders can focus on building their business. Kodo also offers rewards worth over Rs 50 lakh to its customers.

Companies using Kodo cards can issue multiple cards (both virtual and physical) to their team members. The startup recently launched Kodo Pay, which allows customers to now use their Kodo credit limits to pay even those vendors who don’t accept cards.