Nigeria’s SeamlessHR closes $10m Series A round led by TLcom Capital
SeamlessHR, a Nigerian startup that offers payroll and HR software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, has raised a $10 million Series A round led by TLcom Capital.
Existing investors such as Lateral Capital and Enza Capital also took part in the round. Other investors include Capria, Ingressive Capital, and several strategic private investors.
This latest raise brings the total amount raised by SeamlessHR to $12.2 million, having previously raised $2.2 million seed in October 2020.
SeamlessHR plans to use the money to further grow its team of 130 as it eyes a pan-African expansion with new South Africa and Kenya offices being considered. The company also plans to add new product functionalities around artificial intelligence and HR data analytics, it said, in addition to a new embedded finance product currently being piloted.
Founded in 2013 by Emmanuel Okeleji and Deji Lana as Insidify.com, a jobs aggregator with a recruitment management system that matched employers to job seekers. The co-founders later discovered that job sites could do little to address the fundamental causes of unemployment in Africa.
After several iterations, the founders made a strategic pivot, relaunching in 2018 as an enterprise-grade, cloud-based HR and payroll management SaaS. SeamlessHR is currently used by hundreds of companies in Nigeria, Ghana, and Tunisia, including renowned brands like PwC, Flutterwave, Sterling Bank, TGI Group, Lagos Business School, AXA, and Chapel Hill Denham, according to the company. More than 100,000 employees from these organizations use SeamlessHR monthly.
“Thanks to our customers, we have become the leading cloud HR and Payroll SaaS in Africa in such a short time,” CEO Okeleji said. “We currently serve most of the medium to large-sized businesses [including ten Nigerian banks and five insurance companies] in countries where we’re concentrated, with Nigeria being our focus market.”
Okeleji also pointed out the user-friendliness of SeamlessHR, which has enabled it to capture some market share from other HR management SaaS providers, particularly foreign players Oracle and SAP.
“Some systems are so complex to use that you need to be certified. For SeamlessHR, it’s user-friendly enough to understand with just one training during the onboarding.
“This is only the beginning. We are committed to customer success and this funding will enable us to invest in the continuous optimization of customer experience across all touchpoints, adding new features and functionalities starting from Q2 this year,” Okeleji said.
TLcom Capital partner Andreata Muforo said of the investment, “The strong execution shown by Emmanuel and his team is a vital ingredient required to build a successful business and as they expand their products to include embedded finance and launch their solutions to new markets, we’re proud to partner alongside them and strengthen their push to unlock more value within Africa’s B2B space.”
To expand its client base, the CEO does not rule out expanding SeamlessHR to markets outside of Africa but notes that for now, the focus is on Africa and the team isn’t “distracted”.
“This is only the beginning. We are committed to customer success and this funding will enable us to invest in the continuous optimization of customer experience across all touchpoints, adding new features and functionalities starting from Q2 this year,” Okeleji said.