In its most recent funding round, Nigerian HR tech startup SeamlessHR raised US $9 million to support its growth throughout Africa.
SeamlessHR, Africa’s top payroll and HR technology company, was founded in 2018 with the goal of assisting organizations throughout the continent in increasing employee productivity through the use of state-of-the-art technological solutions.
The startup, which serves more than 2,000 medium-sized businesses worldwide, provides a strong platform that simplifies the hiring, onboarding, and retirement processes of employees. It maintains physical offices in Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria.
The Gates Foundation and Helios Digital Ventures have contributed US$9 million to the latest round of funding for SeamlessHR, bringing the startup’s total funding to US$20 million. The funding will support the company’s strategy to increase workforce productivity, broaden its reach throughout Africa, and boost business performance through creative solutions like AI-driven workforce management technology and embedded finance offerings.
The investment follows an impressive five-year run in which nearly 2,000 businesses in 20 African countries have implemented SeamlessHR’s eponymous software to manage payroll and HR procedures for approximately 300,000 employees.
“I am really excited about our journey. Over the last five years, we have expanded across the continent to become the dominant HR and payroll software for medium to large enterprises in Africa. While we continue to accelerate our work to optimise workforce productivity in both the public and private sectors across the continent, much of our attention will also be on empowering hardworking Africans with responsible credit products that will help them use their employment as collateral to enjoy a better life,” said SeamlessHR’s co-founder and CEO Emmanuel Okeleji.
“The impact of recent global disruptions like the pandemic and various conflicts around the world and its resultant effect on economic indices such as inflation, exchange rates, and food supply has unfortunately affected the most vulnerable working Africans, leading to worsening poverty. We are confident that our suite of embedded finance products will contribute to alleviating these problems at scale for our people so that working Africans like people in other parts of the world will be able to leverage responsible credit to gain better access to basic life needs like shelter, mobility, food, and education.”
According to managing partner Fope Adelowo of Helios Digital Ventures, his company thinks technology holds the key to releasing Africa’s enormous potential as a major player in the world economy.
“SeamlessHR is not only pioneering the digitisation of workforce management but also empowering businesses and employees with transformative solutions such as embedded finance. By providing salary assurance and enhanced wage access, they are breaking down barriers to financial inclusion across the continent. We are pleased to partner with SeamlessHR on this exciting journey and look forward to accelerating their impact across Africa in its next phase of growth,” he said.
