Deel, the Leading Platform for Global Hiring and Payments, Raises $156m Reaching Unicorn Status
21.4.2021 15:07:00 EEST | Business Wire | Press release
Deel, the international payroll company shattering hiring barriers worldwide, announced today that it has raised $156 million in Series C funding led by the YC Continuity Fund and has welcomed Ali Rowghani to its board. The round was co-led by existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital. Dara Khosrowshahi, Lachy Groom, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jeff Wilke, and Anthony Schiller also participated in the round, among others. With a valuation of $1.25 billion, Deel has emerged as a market leader in the global payroll and compliance space.
Deel allows businesses to hire anyone, anywhere, in a compliant manner. Hiring and onboarding international employees or contractors takes under 5 minutes, with no local entity required. Paying them in 120+ currencies takes just a click.
Deel was co-founded in 2018 by MIT alumni Alex Bouaziz and Shuo Wang. Deel was already focused on this pain point when the pandemic hit, putting the startup in a prime position to help companies adjust to the dramatic shift in working and hiring norms.
"We built Deel to be the solution for companies wanting to hire anywhere around the world, from Argentina to Zambia," said Deel CEO Alex Bouaziz. "We set out to solve a problem that the majority of businesses found inherently daunting. With Deel, we were able to consolidate everything into a product people trust and enjoy using to hire, to pay, and to give their global team members the best experience possible. Now with this third sizable investment, we can't wait to open even more doors for businesses, employees, and contractors around the world."
In 2020, Deel grew by 20X in revenue and now supports over 1,800 businesses worldwide. Deel’s explosive growth led to back-to-back funding rounds, totaling $206 million in under a year. With this Series C financing, Deel plans to continue international expansion by tapping into new markets and setting up 80 new Deel-owned entities across the world in 2021. Deel also plans to grow its team by hiring exceptional talent across the globe. Additionally, Deel will continue to improve, build, and grow their product offerings across the board by focusing on features such as employee equity and an open API.
“The way people work is fundamentally changing and Deel is leading the way,” said Ali Rowghani, from YC Continuity. “Deel was at the forefront of remote work pre-pandemic, and it will be long after. The team is uniquely equipped to remove the obstacles of remote work so companies hire the best talent in the world, instead of only those nearest to them."
“I’m excited to be investing in Deel the platform, which streamlines the complex minutiae of payments and compliance, removing the obstacles so that companies worldwide can go ahead and hire the best talent anywhere, instead of just the nearest talent to them,” said Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber CEO.
Deel’s own team is entirely remote, and has grown from 7 employees to over 120 across 26 countries since January 2020. CB Insights projects the industry for virtual HR software will grow to $43 billion by 2026 as technology platforms like Deel help businesses make the transition to remote-first work.
About Deel
Deel is a global compliance and payroll solution that helps businesses hire anyone, anywhere. Using a tech enabled self serve process, businesses can now hire independent contractors and full time employees in over 150 countries, compliantly and in minutes. With more than 250 legal, accounting, mobility and tax experts as partners, Deel enables any business to compliantly create, sign and send localized contracts from a library of templates. Deel automates the process of collecting country specific documents like tax documents from contractors and employees, to ensure they’re correctly set up. The platform also allows companies to pay international contractors and employees in more than 120 currencies with just a few clicks. Learn more about Deel here.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210421005590/en/
Contact information
Lisa Tarter
lisa@tidalwavepr.com
About Business Wire
For more than 50 years, Business Wire has been the global leader in press release distribution and regulatory disclosure.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Myers Industries Launches European Production of Scepter Military Packaging30.7.2026 19:04:00 EEST | Press release
Myers Industries, Inc. (NYSE: MYE), a leading manufacturer of Products that Protect™, today announced that its Scepter business has launched production of military ammunition containers in Europe through Scepter International Poland sp z o.o. Production began earlier this year at a privately owned contract manufacturing facility in Poland that was selected by Scepter following a rigorous evaluation process. Initial customer shipments commenced in April 2026. Scepter manufactures a growing portfolio of proprietary ammunition containers using advanced resin compounds. Already fielded by military customers across NATO and allied nations, the ammunition containers are now being produced in Europe to better serve regional demand. Scepter's lightweight, reusable polymer packaging replaces traditional wood and metal containers. The result is improved soldier handling; reduced transportation weight and logistics burden; greater fuel efficiency; lower lifecycle costs; and a durable, corrosion-r
ARIS Recognized as a Leader in First Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Digital Twin of an Organization Platforms, Believes This Reinforces Need for Trusted Governance and Control of Enterprise AI30.7.2026 19:00:00 EEST | Press release
ARIS, the process context platform enabling enterprise AI deployment, today announced its recognition as a Leader in the inaugural Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Twin of An Organization (DTO) Platforms – where it believes agentic AI, autonomous workflows, and enterprise governance converge. As enterprises move from AI experimentation to autonomous agent deployment, a critical challenge emerges: how do you safely scale autonomous AI when the enterprise lacks a unified digital twin – a single source of truth for processes, data, governance, and outcomes? Gartner describes the DTO as a dynamic software model that relies on operational and contextual data to understand how an organization operationalizes its business model, connects with its current state, responds to changes, deploys resources, simulates future states and delivers customer value. "Enterprises are rightfully ambitious about agentic AI and autonomous workflows," said Guillaume Bacuvier, CEO of ARIS. "But they're discove
Kingswood Capital Management Raises $4 Billion Across Two Oversubscribed Middle-Market Funds30.7.2026 18:00:00 EEST | Press release
Kingswood Capital Management, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Kingswood”), a Los Angeles-based investment firm focused on the middle-market, today announced the final closing of Kingswood Capital Opportunities Fund IV, L.P. (together with its parallel fund, “Fund IV”), with total capital commitments of $3.1 billion, as well as Kingswood Capital Opportunities Small Cap Fund I, L.P. (together with its parallel fund, “Small Cap Fund I”), with total capital commitments of $900 million. These funds more than double Kingswood’s total assets under management (“AUM”) to over $7 billion. Fund IV represents the fourth institutional fundraise in five years for Kingswood and is more than double the size of Fund III. Both Fund IV and the inaugural Small Cap Fund I were significantly oversubscribed in just five weeks. Fund IV exceeded its initial target of $2.25 billion, while Small Cap Fund I exceeded its initial target of $550 million and both closed at their hard caps. The successful fundrai
CyrusOne Names John Hatem Chief Executive Officer to Accelerate its Global Digital Infrastructure Strategy30.7.2026 16:30:00 EEST | Press release
CyrusOne (the “Company”), a leading global data center owner, developer and operator, today announced the appointment of John Hatem as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Company’s Board, effective immediately. As part of the Company’s long-term succession planning, Eric Schwartz, who successfully led CyrusOne through a period of significant expansion, is stepping down as CEO and will work together with Hatem to ensure a smooth transition. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260730005910/en/ John Hatem Hatem joined CyrusOne in 2011 and has held a series of increasingly senior roles across the business. He most recently served as President, responsible for global sales, global procurement, and design, engineering, and construction in the United States. His deep experience in data center design, development, and operations has helped transform CyrusOne into one of the world’s leading digital infrastructure p
Mary Kay Releases 2026 Sustainability Report Highlighting Transformative Progress Across Social, Economic, and Environmental Impact Globally30.7.2026 15:03:00 EEST | Press release
Mary Kay Inc., a leading global beauty company committed to sustainability and women’s empowerment, today released its 2026 Sustainability Report, outlining progress toward its 2030 goals and celebrating the 2025 and latest achievements that continue to drive positive change globally. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260730240667/en/ Mary Kay's annual 2026 Sustainability Report highlights the company's decades-long dedication to social, economic, and environmental sustainability - core pillars central to its business strategy and its purpose-driven legacy rooted in Mary Kay's mission of “enriching women’s lives” around the world. (Image Credit: Mary Kay Inc.) The annual report highlights Mary Kay’s decades-long dedication to social, economic, and environmental sustainability - core pillars central to its business strategy and its purpose-driven legacy rooted in the company’s mission of “enriching women’s lives”
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom