Y Combinator joins $8.75m seed round of Indian corporate card provider Kodo

Kodo, an India-based startup that provides corporate cards and spending management tools for startups and small businesses, has raised US$8.75 million in seed funding.

The round, which comes after Kodo took part in Y Combinator’s winter 2021 batch, attracted investors including Brex, Goat Capital, Pioneer Fund, Y Combinator, and other Silicon Valley backers.

Kodo said it will use the new funds to expand its engineering, product, sales, credit, and operations teams to support its accelerated growth plans.

Photo credit: Kodo

Founded in 2019, Kodo provides cards for business expenses and provides real-time tracking through its connected platform. Its technology also analyzes spends across categories and lets users upload receipts on the Kodo app to get automated expense reports.

The company said that India is currently shifting from cash to digital, with card spends on its platform showing a 45% month-on-month growth for the last 12 months, representing a 83x jump in transaction volumes.

“We are seeing accelerating adoption of Kodo cards from businesses ranging from VC-backed startups to small and medium businesses, across sectors,” said Kodo co-founder and CEO Deepti Sanghi. “With this capital raise, we are well positioned to build on that momentum, strengthen our team and expand our customer base.”

Kodo is used by local companies such as Inshorts, Zupee Gold, and Epigamia, according to its website. Its partners to date include payments major Mastercard, Indian private sector bank ICICI Bank, and global information services firm Experian, among others.