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Key Points
- Workpay raises $5 million in Series A funding, led by Norrsken22, Visa, and Plug & Play, boosting its expansion and strengthening its position in Africa.
- This follows a $2.7 million pre-Series A raise in 2023, supporting Workpay’s transformation from payroll to a comprehensive HR and financial services platform.
- In the past 16 months, Workpay has added nearly 500 new businesses, serving over 1,000 clients in 20 African countries, with plans for broader expansion.
Workpay, a rapidly growing HR and payroll technology firm founded by Kenyan entrepreneur Paul Kimani, has successfully raised $5 million in Series A funding to bolster its expansion and solidify its presence in Africa’s burgeoning HR and benefits management sector.
The $5 million funding round, which significantly advances the startup’s previous $2.7 million pre-Series-A capital raise in 2023, was spearheaded by Pan-African venture capital firm Norrsken22. Visa and Plug & Play also made substantial contributions, alongside support from existing investors. This comes as Workpay seeks to enhance its offerings and deepen its reach.
Strategic evolution and service expansion
Paul Kimani, co-founder and CEO of Workpay, underscored the company’s strategic evolution to meet evolving customer demands. “We’ve transformed our platform from a strong payroll solution into a comprehensive HR service,” Kimani stated. “We also see potential to integrate financial services into our HR offerings. Given that companies already use our platform for employee payments, we are well-positioned to introduce services such as medical and vehicle insurance, and collaborate with partners to offer lending, savings, and investment options.”
Despite the competitive landscape featuring global players, Kimani perceives these competitors as a sign of the market’s vast potential rather than a deterrent. “The presence of international competitors highlights the significant opportunities within the market. Developing a continent-wide payroll solution is challenging due to diverse regulations and requirements across African nations,” he added.
Enhancing workforce management for diverse African markets
Founded in 2017, Workpay provides cloud-based solutions for employee management and payroll, designed to streamline workforce administration and ensure timely remuneration. The platform facilitates time tracking, HR management, and payroll processing, with bulk salary payments directed through employees’ bank accounts or mobile wallets, thereby aiding companies in attracting and retaining talent.
Under Paul Kimani’s guidance, the company—previously a former Equity Bank executive—has catered to two main customer segments: local businesses with 20–100 employees in single jurisdictions and larger firms with 100 to 1,000 cross-border employees. Workpay also maintains compliance across multiple markets.
In the past 16 months, Workpay has expanded its reach, adding nearly 500 new businesses and serving over 1,000 clients across 20 African countries. While the company has delayed its planned expansion into Francophone Africa—potentially extending its reach to 40 countries—it remains committed to scaling its operations continent-wide. In addition to the latest Series A funding, Workpay previously raised $2.1 million in seed funding in 2021 and $2.7 million in its pre-Series-A round in 2023 from a mix of global and Africa-focused investors.
