Workpay, a Kenyan startup that provides a cloud-based workforce management system with human resource (HR) and payroll management for small businesses in Africa, recently announced that it has raised $2.7 million in its pre-Series A round led by global and Africa-focused investors, including Launch Africa Ventures, Saviu Ventures, Acadian Ventures, Proparco, Fondation Botnar, Kara Ventures, Norrsken and Axian. The funding round also saw participation from an existing investor, P1 Ventures.
With this latest investment, the company intends to roll out its services in 40 countries in Africa. By delivering a mobile-first experience for payroll, the platform is positioned to expand across Sub-Saharan Africa, which is already home to half the world’s mobile money services and continues to be a global leader in mobile payment transactions.
Launched in 2019 by Paul Kimani, Jackson Kungu and David Maina, Workpay offers tools that enable its clients to pay salaries in local currencies across Africa (and outside the continent through the startup’s partners), file taxes and process employee benefits. Using its tools, employers can also track and manage employees’ time, attendance, and leave days. In addition, a timesheet app with GPS geofencing allows employees to clock in and out of work sites and sync with payroll. The company is on a mission to empower businesses to order and pay their employees on time every time. It provides HR solutions to over 600 businesses in over 20 countries across Africa.
Speaking about the capital raised, Co-founder & CEO of Workpay, Paul Kimani, said:
Our solution meets the specific needs of HR and payroll across Africa. With this new investment, we will continue scaling across the continent. Payroll is a strategic part of the payments value chain that allows us to build other products.
Headquartered in Nairobi, the HRTech firm has integrated it with banks and mobile wallets to ensure individuals can disburse approved salary payments to employees instantly and securely. In November 2021, the platform expanded its operations into Nigeria.
Co-founder & CTO of Workpay, David Maina, added:
The biggest challenge most businesses, especially in Kenya and Africa, have is when it comes to payroll payments. Being able to automate that running of payroll and being able to pay out at once is one thing that keeps us going.
General Partner of Acadian Ventures, Thomas Otter, said in a statement:
Workpay is building a top-notch product, meeting the specific needs for HR and payroll in Sub-Saharan Africa. The addressable market in the region is growing rapidly, and HR and payroll systems provide the foundation for fair and accurate pay. When combined with advances in mobile payments, solutions like Workpay can positively impact businesses and society.
In 2020, WorkPay had raised $2.1 million in seed funding from Kepple Africa Ventures, which also invested US$100,000 in the company in 2019. Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Musha Ventures, P1 Ventures, and several angel investors also participated in this round. The startup’s latest funding brings its total raised to $5.3 million.
