US-based payroll solutions provider Deel is opening shop in SA to bring remote working solutions to the country.
This, after the company last week announced it has raised $156 million in Series C funding led by the YC Continuity Fund.
The San Francisco-based firm says remote working has become the norm for many not directly on the front lines.
“What’s been particularly noticeable is that this is changing the mindset for a lot of businesses which have realised the opportunity to hire directly from the global talent pool. This is acutely the case in South Africa, with an abundance of global-quality skills at competitive rates on an international scale,” says the company.
It says remote working has become synonymous with online tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom as enablers, but the reality is that it is not easy to hire.
To tap this market, Deel has expanded into SA, providing its platform for payroll, compliance tools and other services to help businesses do all these functions in a seamless way.
It is positioning SA as the gateway to the rest of Africa.
Deel says its strategy is to disrupt the payroll market globally and to scale as quickly as possible – prior to SA, it similarly established a footprint in Latin American markets with bases in three countries and reach across 20 South and Central American markets.
“We built Deel to be the solution for companies wanting to hire anywhere around the world, from Argentina to Botswana,” says Deel CEO and founder Alex Bouaziz.
“We set out to solve a problem that many businesses found inherently daunting, and with Deel, we were able to consolidate everything into a product people trust and enjoy using to hire, pay and give their global team members the best experience possible. Now with this third sizable investment within a year, we can’t wait to open even more doors for businesses, employees and contractors around the world.”
He says the timing of the launch is perfect for SA, noting the country was recently ranked the top global business services/process location for 2021.
According to the firm, this is a sector that is rapidly expanding locally and is exporting call centre and related services to other parts of the world.
“Deel plays to South Africa’s strengths in sectors such as IT software development, app development, business process outsourcing, telecommunications, customer service, telemedicine and legal outsourcing.
“Furthermore, Deel sees its establishment in Africa as a stepping stone to other tier one markets and it is already establishing a presence in Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria.”
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