Deel hits unicorn status with $156m Series C funding round
International hiring and payments platform Deel has reached a valuation of $1.25 billion, following its latest funding round.
The Deel team
The $156 million Series C round was led by YC Continuity and two existing investors, Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital. YC Continuity’s managing partner, Ali Rowghani – formerly Twitter’s COO and CFO of Pixar – has joined the board.
Since its conception in January 2020, the startup has grown from a team of seven to employ more than 120 people remotely across 30 countries.
Last year Deel experienced 20x growth by attracting 1,800 companies paying employees in over 150 countries, as well as adding 120-plus currencies.
In a statement on the company’s website, co-founder and CEO Alex Bouaziz says: “It all started with pain points we saw companies facing daily, on a global scale. Where others saw obstacles, we saw opportunities. The solution eventually became Deel: a barrier-breaking platform built to simplify international hiring, compliance and payments in one place.”
Ali Rowghani of YC Continuity adds: “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.”
The company plans to open 80 more Deel-owned entities in 2022 and focus on new features, such as a Deel API, international salary insights and a solution to grant equity globally.
Related: Plaid announces $425m Series D with three new investors
