Employment Hero, a payroll, human resource, and employee benefit platform, has raised $181 million in a fresh funding round at a valuation of $1.25 billion.
The round was led by Seek Investments, with support from OneVentures and AirTree Ventures.
Besides announcing fresh funding, the Australian company has also announced its first acquisition, snapping up workforce management and payroll solution KeyPay to complete its holistic employment vision. The value of the acquisition was not disclosed.
Founded in 2014 by Ben Thompson and Dave Tong, Employment Hero is designed to help small businesses manage their workforce and boost productivity in the process. The company connects and empowers businesses across the world with a suite of powerful employment features. Employment Hero currently supports over 80,000 small and medium businesses globally and has more than 750,000 active users on its platform.
Speaking about the platform, Thompson, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Employment Hero, said in a statement:
“Employment Hero’s focus has always been on helping ‘democratise the talent pool’ for SMEs. Small businesses represent some 99% of all businesses, globally, and hire about 70% of all employees. But most business owners still feel anxious, underqualified, and under-resourced as employers.”
Thompson said the valuation is “a recognition” of the hard work his team members have put in over the past eight years or so. It’s also “a testament to our mission of creating as many quality employment opportunities as possible”, he added.
Employment Hero aims to be the number one platform for finding, managing, and motivating employees, regardless of geography.
In July last year, Employment Hero raised $140 million in Series E funding. That round more than tripled its valuation, which sat at about $250 million just three months earlier. With the latest funding, Employment Hero becomes Australia’s latest unicorn.
