Codat, the API-based platform for business data, has received strategic investments from PayPal Ventures and American Express Ventures.
The FS giants join a Series A round that was led by Index Ventures last year for London-based Codat, which is now set to target the US market.
Codat uses a single API to directly ‘plug in’ to the software used by small businesses - allowing banks, fintechs and other FS players to access everything from the company’s accounting software to payment terminals recording real-time transactions.
The technology cuts out the need for unwieldly Excel documents and PDFs sent via email, simplifying the process of sharing information. For banks and fintechs, the company says it helps them scale and speed up their offerings to millions of small businesses.
The firm was founded in 2017 by CEO Peter Lord, COO Alex Cardona and CTO David Hoare, who had worked together at what is now MarketFinance, a peer-to-peer invoice finance platform.
It has built up a strong customer base in Europe, with clients including PayPal-owned iZettle, which uses Codat's technology to transfer point of sale transaction data into their merchants' accounting software.
Says Lord: "It's clear that small businesses are the backbone of global economies, and in the next few years, we believe there will be a dramatic acceleration in the quality of financial products they are offered. We believe it starts with an industry-wide shift from siloed data to a more connected ecosystem."