Deel, a payroll platform for remote workers, has secured a $14 million series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, sources told CNBC. As part of the investment, Andreessen general partner, Anish Acharya, is joining the San Francisco-based company’s board.
The round was done completely on videoconferencing tools, according to Deel chief operating officer, Dan Westgarth.
Andreessen general partner, Anish Acharya, is joining the San Francisco-based company’s board.
Deel, founded in 2018 by MIT graduates Alex Bouaziz and Shuo Wang, focuses on the future of work which has become more crucial this year. The company capitalises on the emergence of businesses with distributed workforces, a trend that has accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic.
Its main product allows clients to hire and pay workers regardless of where they are located, using a single software program versus a patchwork of services most companies use for teams around the world, says Westgarth. He joined Deel recently from London-based digital bank, Revolut.
“We’ve seen companies that typically hire in a 30-mile radius around San Francisco, New York or Boston replace that with a location perimeter of ‘anywhere,’” Westgarth tells CNBC. “It’s a function of the pandemic, which taught businesses located in these expensive metro areas that they don’t need employees based there, because remote teams are performing very well.”
Some companies have as many as 10 separate providers to pay teams located in Europe and Asia because labour laws vary by country, he states. “We allow people to very quickly hire people anywhere without having to worry about local labour law, which is very time consuming,” says Westgarth.
Deel also helps workers get access to insurance and other benefits, which may help clients retain employees.
Since emerging from start-up accelerator Y Combinator last year, Deel has picked up 400 clients, most of whom themselves are start-ups, he notes.
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