Global payroll provider Deal plans to provide $120 million in cash from its balance sheet to support the startup’s payroll operations in the wake of the closure of Silicon Valley Bank. To support clients, it has tied up with Andreessen Horowitz (A16Z) and Y Combinator – both investors in the deal.
The Federal Reserve just announced that Silicon Valley bank depositors, both insured and uninsured, will be fully protected – causing a collective sigh of relief throughout the tech ecosystem. TechCrunch was interviewing DL co-founder and CEO Alex Bouaziz, whose first reaction to the news was: “We’ll see what happens, you can never be completely sure. But in the meantime, we’re just waiting for our customers.” And we’re ready with customers and we’ll do whatever we can to help.
He later added: “It is amazing that all depositors will be made full. By tomorrow morning when all funds are available, the founders need to be vigilant and be vigilant to ensure that all employees are paid.
Deel, notably, is not a bank with SVB: as it operates in more than 100 countries, it has more than 450 bank accounts and in-house treasury management. Deal paid the fine, Bouaziz said, to withdraw cash from his accounts but expects the fine to be waived.
The deal’s $120 million lifeline is aimed at helping businesses run payroll “with minimal disruptions” for the next two cycles. Companies that need assistance can fill out a request form and apply through Deal, which says it will help with both employee and contractor payroll for current customers as well as some new customers .
“We freed up some of our cash because it’s our responsibility to help other companies, but we have to be very selective,” Bouaziz said. “Because we’re already in the payroll system, we have ways to get good terms.”
Before the decision was announced, dealmakers and companies across the country were working to find ways to help startups make payroll. With the government now promising relief, the efforts are now more useful as a back-up plan in case anything goes wrong between now and Monday morning. The terms of the cash offer of the deal are not yet clear; The alternative has been hard to compare with SVB-banked cash, which is said to be freed up for founders from Monday morning.
It appears that Deal is working on a founder-friendly deal, with Bouaziz saying, “The goal here isn’t for us to make money. It’s about helping people and really earning trust in the market as a payroll leader.” more for.
Brex announced yesterday that it is looking to raise capital for an emergency credit line after receiving $1 billion in interest later this week. CEO Henrik Dubugras declined to comment on how much capital has been committed to the line of credit so far, but, at his last conversation with TechCrunch, said he was trying to lock up funds on back to back calls. have been It is unclear how their fundraising strategy may change after the recent update from the regulator.
Bouaziz said that “the demand isn’t that interesting to us, because what we really want to do is help people.”
The deal, which has raised about $680 million since its 2019 inception and was last valued at $12 billion, claims it has been profitable since September. It has more than 450 bank accounts around the world, according to Bouaziz, citing JPMorgan Chase and Citibank as two of its “primary banking partners”.
In January, the fintech-turned-HR organization revealed that it had reached $295 million in annualized recurring revenue (ARR) by the end of 2022, up 417.5% from the $57 million in ARR it achieved at the end of 2021. At the time, Deal said it had more than 15,000 customers, including Nike, Subway, Reebok, Forever 21 and Klarna. Today, Bouaziz said the company has about 18,000 customers. Also in January, Deal acquired CapBase for an undisclosed amount in a cash and stock deal, marking its entry into the equity management space.