Yokoy, the all-in-one global spend management platform, has announced that it raised $26M (approx €22.4M) funding in a Series A round led by US investor Left Lane Capital. Prominent European investor Balderton Capital also participated in the round.
The Swiss company said it will use the funds to enhance its technology and expand operations into the US, Europe, and more regions across the globe.
Dr. Devis Lussi, Co-Founder & CTO says, “With Yokoy we’re building a highly intelligent, highly secure, and highly customisable global spend management platform that empowers our customers to take control of their vast corporate spending processes and fine-tune their workflows. We’re helping them to cut costs, save time and bring clarity to their global operations in a way that fits their ambitions. It’s this that we believe will see us becoming the leading spend management platform in the world.”
Left Lane Capital: What you need to know
Left Lane Capital is a venture capital and early growth equity firm that invests in high-growth internet and consumer technology businesses. The company aims to partner with entrepreneurs creating category-defining businesses that are fundamental to the human condition and spirit.
Vinny Pujji, Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital says, “Corporate spend management has been a slow-moving category with clunky solutions; but for good reason, given the unique regulatory, product, and security requirements. Yokoy’s easy-to-use but robust spend management suite is enabled by AI and offers flexibility, scale, and security to customers, from startup to enterprise. We are thrilled to partner with such a passionate and empathetic team, led by Philippe.”
One-stop solution for spend management
The Zurich-based company was founded in 2019 under the name Expense Robot by Devis Lussi, Lars Mangelsdorf, Melanie Gabriel, Philippe Sahli, and Thomas Inhelder.
According to Yokoy, the biggest cost drivers to companies when it comes to spending management are manual work, transaction fees, and errors.
These costs can be reduced by 50 per cent if resource-intensive processes are automated and can be reduced by more than 90 per cent when AI is combined with automated processing and real-time API integrations.
Yokoy automates spend management for medium and large enterprises with Artificial Intelligence (AI), combining expense management, supplier invoice management, and smart corporate cards into one single intuitive platform.
Midsize to enterprise companies can configure and build their own, unique process flows, automating as many or as few steps as they want.
The platform is self-learning, which means it constantly monitors individual workflows and processes to make them more efficient, scalable, and impactful over time.
Reduce expenses
Yokoy says it can bring the cost of spending management down by $1,000 per employee, per year. As a result, a midsize company could realistically save $1M per year, while getting more satisfied employees, analytics, and big data opportunities.
Since its inception, the Swiss company has grown to more than 400 customers, more than 80,000 users, five global offices, and almost 100 employees.
German expansion
In June, Yokoy expanded its operations into the German market with an office in Munich. The move into Germany comes just eight months after it entered the Austrian market. Under country manager Ben Bauer, Yokoy will be targeting large and medium-sized companies in the country.
