The global pandemic has accelerated the shift to remote work as many U.S. businesses give teams the freedom and space to choose where they work from, ensuring safety while also improving quality of life and operational costs. Without the need for employees to have a physical office presence, it has opened up the opportunity to recruit and hire talent from anywhere in the world. Enter Deel, a San Francisco-based tech startup and a developer of a payroll platform used by businesses working with global remote contractors.
Today, Deel announced it has raised $30 million in Series B funding, led by Spark Capital. The round, which closely follows a $14M Series A round, was led by Andreessen Horowitz. To date, Deel has now raised more than $48 million in total funding, Backers include seed investment and participation from YC Growth Fund and notable angel investors including Nat Friedman, Ryan Petersen, John Zimmer, William Hockey, and Alexis Ohanian.
Founded two years ago by MIT alumni Alex Bouaziz and Shuo Wang, Deel’s platform is used by remote teams that connect localized compliance and automates payments in one system of record, as well as provides contracts and templates to be used for tax forms and localized contracts, automated payment, invoicing and receipts, and customer support. Deel’s team combines deep technical expertise with a strong partner network for regulatory and compliance, which includes more than 150 international labor law and accounting experts.
Deel’s platform solves the largest logistical challenges that come with moving to a distributed, global workforce: payroll and compliance. Onboarding and paying workers across borders is complex, with specific currency and labor law requirements that vary by country. It can be both costly and time-consuming.
“We’ve squashed the conventional notion that there’s a particular radius in which you can attract talent,” said Deel co-founder and CEO, Alex Bouaziz. “By bridging localized compliance and payments and then automating it, we are making a complex and manual process seamless and redefining U.S. companies’ hiring pool to literally include qualified candidates from anywhere.”
To date, Deel supports over 500 companies and thousands of employees on their teams in more than 140 countries. The platform provides contracts and templates – legally vetted and compliant – to be used for tax forms and localized contracts, automated payment, invoicing and receipts, and customer support. Both independent contractors and full-time employees are supported by Deel’s technology.
During the pandemic, Deel has experienced rapid growth. Deel’s customer base has doubled and there are now 14x as many individual full-time employees and independent contractors on the platform since May.
“We have filled 15 marketing and engineering roles with employees in 7 countries, using Deel’s platform,” said Julie Bissinger, Head of Operations for Near, Inc. “Deel saves us hours of time every month and ensures we’re compliant in our team members’ local regions.”
“Technology will be the great enabler in achieving workforce equality,” said Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and early-stage investor. “Deel’s platform makes more diverse hiring choices possible. Unbound by geography, businesses can hire the best person for the role, wherever and whoever they may be.”
