Employee benefits startup Kota has raised $14.5 million in a Series A round led by Eurazeo, EQT Ventures, and Northzone. Other investors include Frontline Ventures, 9Yards, and Plug and Play. This fresh capital will help the company expand its platform, which simplifies how small and medium-sized businesses manage workplace perks.
Founded in 2022 and previously known as Yonder, Kota is building a single, unified infrastructure to streamline employee benefits across Europe. Its platform helps employers deliver health insurance, pensions, and more—all through one easy-to-use system. The company’s goal is to replace outdated methods like emails and PDFs with a digital-first experience that feels modern and connected.
A New Model for Managing Work Perks
Since its launch, Kota has worked with hundreds of SMEs. Its platform already integrates with top insurers, including Vitality in the UK, Irish Life Health in Ireland, and Allianz Global Care. These partnerships allow employers to manage everything from policy details to claims in one place.
As part of the latest funding round, Kota also secured regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Ireland. This makes it one of the few tech companies in this space to voluntarily comply with tighter financial regulations—building more trust with employers and insurers alike.
Fixing a Broken System
Founder and CEO Luke Mackey created Kota after experiencing the frustration of poorly managed benefits in previous roles. He described the old system as “disconnected” and said it made benefits feel irrelevant to teams—even when companies invested heavily in them. “Insurance perks arrived in clunky portals or PDF documents,” he explained. “That’s nothing like the financial experiences people expect today.”
Kota wants to change that by making employee benefits feel more like modern digital banking—fast, clear, and easy to use. And investors agree. Elise Stern of Eurazeo praised the platform’s technical depth and insurer integrations, calling Kota “a standout” in its market.
With new funding and regulatory backing, Kota is now set to expand and reshape how businesses across Europe handle employee benefits.
