Image credits: Okredo
Vilnius-based Okredo, a SaaS startup, announced on Monday that it has secured €650K in a follow-up investment round led by the Lithuanian Business Angels Fund, Czech Presto Capital, and Lighthouse Ventures. The announcement comes nine months after the company raised €1M in November last year.
The SaaS company says it will use the funds to expand into the UK and other markets, and develop an Open Banking solution.
Gerda Jurkonienė, co-founder and CEO of Okredo, says,” The decision of some venture capital funds to continue investments is a sign of the company’s efficiency and ability to deliver results. In addition, the general proliferation of the data market — with its ability to increase the overall speed of business — has also helped attract further investments. As a result, the data industry, which some have even dubbed as the ‘new oil,’ is an attractive field for investors.”
What does Okredo solve?
Typically, data is a bit like a puzzle. It often comes from various sources, can be tough to put together, and can be time-consuming to acquire. However, once it’s all put together, it can provide insights that businesses can use for sales or credit risk management.
Hence, there’s a need in the market for products that make data easy to understand and that help businesses resolve these issues. This is what Okredo plans to offer with its solutions.
Okredo: What you need to know
Founded in 2015, Okredo enables SMEs to assess prospective and ongoing business partners’ and clients’ credibility, stability, and sales potential.
“Most importantly, our platform offers a variety of tools that make it simpler to assess businesses’ risks and sales potential. These tools are highly valuable due to the current economic instability, brittle logistical chains, ongoing geopolitical tensions, and the reorientation of international commerce. However, European companies currently lack a widely-accessible open data platform to analyse such factors, which is exactly what we want to change. To help tackle this situation, we have also created several API solutions for our partners who create ERP, CRM, and accounting systems, adding the value of current data to their services,” says Gerda Jurkonienė.
Last year, the platform was introduced in all three Baltic nations and had over 17,000 users and more than 3,000 corporate clients.
Okredo is developing an open banking solution for its users. With a company’s consent, the solution will categorise cash flow and other financial parameters, and enable the sharing of financial performance with relevant stakeholders throughout the year.
Consequently, businesses can make financial decisions quicker by engaging business partners, investors, or lending institutions with access to up-to-date data.
Even if the financial performance is weakened, the company can address issues sooner, initiate credit amendment actions, etc., says the company.
Investor
Based out of Prague, Presto Ventures (previously BVC) empowers talented CEE startup founders.
Roman Nováček, partner at Presto Ventures, says, “Having invested in Okredo a few months ago, we had the opportunity to observe the company’s operations from the inside, to get to know the processes and the team. Our investment has exceeded our expectations, and we still see potential in further developing their product and adding new features to broaden the market potential. We want to play a more active role in Okredo’s expansion to other countries. We do not doubt that a single European platform for corporate data can make doing business across Europe more secure, especially for small businesses traditionally priced out of the market. They will appreciate it in these uncertain economic conditions.”
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