Zenefits offers a free HR dashboard that simplifies payroll, benefits onboarding and insurance administration for employers, monetizing primarily through commissions from insurers. The company has signed up more than 10,000 companies and manages over $700 million in health insurance premiums. Zenefits reported $20 million in annual recurring revenue in January and said it is on track to hit $100 million ARR by January 2016. It has scaled rapidly, growing headcount to around 1,000 employees from about 500 at the end of 2014 and planning significant continued hires. The company expects to lose more than $100 million in 2015 as it prioritizes fast growth. Zenefits launched in April 2013 and has expanded valuation and investor support over successive funding rounds. Zenefits offers a free SaaS HR platform focused on simplifying payroll, benefits, and personnel management while generating revenue as an insurance broker. The company launched just over a year before the article and has experienced rapid growth, expanding headcount from 15 to 120 employees in the year. Since early 2013 it has grown at least 30% month-over-month, now serving more than 2,000 small and medium-sized businesses and over 50,000 of their employees. Zenefits has broadened its customer mix beyond tech — tech customers fell from 96% to under half — and 60% of new clients now come from outside California. With significant cash and rapid user growth, the company is positioned to continue aggressive expansion. Zenefits is a human resources software company and insurance brokerage that helps companies obtain and manage employee benefits. The company helps businesses get affordable benefits—from healthcare to 401k—in minutes. Zenefits then manages ongoing HR work, automatically handling payroll, healthcare, COBRA, 401k, commuter benefits, and more. Customers can outsource existing HR functions with a single click. The article reports Zenefits raised $15 million in Series A financing led by Andreessen Horowitz. The company is presented in the article from San Francisco, CA. Zenefits operates a digital insurance-broker platform that automates setting up and managing group health, dental and vision plans, benefits administration and payroll for startups and small businesses. The product enables companies to create plans, get quotes, add or remove employees, sync coverage data and handle payroll-related onboarding and deductions. The company recently added payroll services that generate offer letters, IP agreements, onboarding flows and configure employee deductions. Zenefits offers its service for free and is paid commissions by insurance companies for each new employee or plan added, but must obtain state-by-state broker approvals to operate. Since launching out of Y Combinator and expanding at TechCrunch Disrupt, Zenefits signed over 110 clients and was adding about 10 customers per week, and has grown its team to 12. The company expects to move quickly beyond California and New York as Affordable Care Act changes take effect and broader state expansion becomes possible.

Total raised

$584M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

May 2015