Swiss spend management fintech Yokoy raises $80m

A Switzerland-based startup that uses artificial intelligence to help manage travel and other company expenses has raised $80m.

Yokoy uses AI and API integration to approve and pay invoices, company travel expenses and other corporate spending of mid-sized and entrepreneurial firms.

It claims its technology means it can make spend management “easier”, “faster” and cut costs by up to 90 per cent compared to legacy systems.

Yokoy’s aim is to rid the world of excessive corporate spending on legacy processes. It says legacy systems mean companies spend an average of $60 for every single expense they have to process through their existing, outdated workflows.  

The Series B funding round was led by Sequoia Capital with investment from Speedinvest, Visionaries Club and Zinal Growth.

Existing investors Balderton Capital, Six FinTech Ventures, Left Lane, Swisscom Ventures also took part in the round.

To date, Yokoy has raised more than $107m and it says the new funding will be used to fuel international expansion, product developing and expanding headcount.

The Swiss startup now has more than 500 customers, including crypto exchange Bitpanda and industrial resin firm ASK Chemicals.

Since launching in 2019, Yokoy’s team has grown to five global offices, including the newly opened Amsterdam hub and has over 100 employees.

Philippe Sahli, CEO at Yokoy, said: "We’ve proven with Yokoy that spend management needn’t be a cumbersome, expensive process for global companies. 

“By combining all areas of the journey and automating it in one intuitive platform using artificial intelligence, Yokoy is becoming the ultimate spend management partner for businesses. 

“It’s this dedication to solving the pain points for customers that has seen us grow 400 per cent year on year and reach over 500 enterprise customers.”