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Venture Capital News: ZenPayroll Raises $20M in Series A

2014-02-19
SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Leading modern, cloud-based payroll provider, announced today that it has raised a $20 million Series A round of financing.
ZenPayroll, Inc., the leading modern, cloud-based payroll provider, announced today that it has raised a $20 million Series A round of financing from General Catalyst Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). ZenPayroll will use the funding to accelerate its rapid growth, expand coverage to new geographies and grow its team, as the company continues to re-imagine payroll for the modern business. ZenPayroll previously raised a $6.1 million seed funding round in April 2012 from the CEOs of Yelp, Box, Dropbox, Yammer and others, as well as Google Ventures and Salesforce. ZenPayroll's total funding to date is $26.1 million.

Since launching publicly in December 2012, ZenPayroll has set itself apart from incumbent, traditional payroll providers by introducing the most modern, affordable and easy-to-use payroll solution for small businesses. In 2013 the company released numerous features for employers, such as 'autopilot' payroll and spot bonuses, as well as employee-facing enhancements like self-onboarding, visually informative pay stubs and ZenPayroll Giving, which enables people to donate to nonprofit organizations directly from their paychecks.

Today, ZenPayroll is processing over $400 million in annual payroll for small businesses of all kinds, including bakeries, law firms, flower shops, hotels, dentist offices, restaurants, and more. Word of mouth has been a primary driver of growth; in a recent survey, 87% of ZenPayroll's customers have already recommended the service to another business owner.

Quotes:

'We're thrilled to welcome Hemant and Randy to the ZenPayroll team as VC partners who share our values, have a wide breadth of expertise, and are focused on the long term. Their experience advising fast-growing companies will help ZenPayroll become a fundamental part of how every business is run,' said Joshua Reeves, CEO and co-founder of ZenPayroll. 'Our mission is not only to modernize payroll, but also to make sure people feel rewarded for their contributions. Compensation should not be an impersonal, transactional event. By removing layers of bureaucracy and complexity, we can unearth the human side of compensation and help people take pride in the work they do.'

As part of the Series A financing, Hemant Taneja from General Catalyst will be joining the ZenPayroll Board of Directors.

'There's a major shift taking place with small businesses embracing software to help them compete effectively in the 21st century,' said Hemant Taneja, Partner at General Catalyst. 'ZenPayroll's growth is a rocket ship and it's extremely rare to find a company as mission-driven as they are. I'm thrilled to join them on this journey to re-imagine compensation and expand their business.'

'Small businesses in particular have struggled with doing payroll manually or using overly complex, expensive software,' said Randy Komisar, General Partner at KPCB. 'ZenPayroll is transforming compensation from the unloved, bureaucratic process it is today, to an opportunity to improve the employer and employee relationship. I am excited to support Josh, Eddie and Tomer, people who I have known and admired for many years, and the ZenPayroll team, as they revitalize the industry.'

Now processing over $400 million in annual payroll, ZenPayroll is on a mission to provide delightful payroll to businesses everywhere. Sign up at zenpayroll.com.

Additional Resources:
ZenPayroll Introduction Video: http://youtu.be/UivjyQoIkkk
ZenPayroll Customer Spotlight: www.zenpayroll.com/customers
ZenPayroll Investors: www.zenpayroll.com/investors

About ZenPayroll, Inc.
ZenPayroll provides a modern cloud-based payroll service that is simple and delightful to use. Customers can run payroll and administer benefits in minutes from any connected device. All government payroll reporting is done automatically and paperlessly, providing the easiest way for business owners to manage payroll taxes and compliance. ZenPayroll is headquartered in San Francisco. To learn more and get started with 2 months free, visit: www.zenpayroll.com. Follow ZenPayroll at www.twitter.com/zenpayroll.

About General Catalyst Partners
General Catalyst Partners is a venture capital firm that makes early-stage and growth equity investments. The firm backs exceptional entrepreneurs who are building innovative technology companies that transform industries, including KAYAK, Demandware, Stripe, Airbnb, The Honest Company, Warby Parker, Datalogix, BigCommerce, Snapchat and HubSpot. The General Catalyst partnership leverages its broad experience to help founders build market-leading businesses. General Catalyst has offices in Cambridge, MA, Palo Alto, CA and New York City. For more information, visit: www.generalcatalyst.com or www.twitter.com/gcvp.

About Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB)
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) has backed entrepreneurs in more than 700 ventures leading to nearly 200 IPOs, over 375,000 jobs and a deep strategic network. The firm has partnered with pioneering companies like Align, Amazon, Electronic Arts, Genentech, Genomic Health, Google, Intuit, Juniper Networks, Netscape, Symantec, VeriSign and WebMD. KPCB partners serve on the boards of Amazon, Apple, Bloom Energy, Flipboard, Foundation Medicine, Google, Hewlett-Packard, Nest, Square, Tesaro, Twitter and Zynga, among others. KPCB accelerates the success of entrepreneurs with a team of partners delivering company-building services including strategy, operational scaling, recruiting, business development, product delivery and marketing communications. The firm invests in all stages from seed and incubation to growth companies. KPCB operates from offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Shanghai and Beijing. For more information, visit: http://www.kpcb.com and www.twitter.com/kpcb.
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