- Palo Alto-based company Hourly announced it raised $7.15 million in a seed round of funding
Hourly — a Palo Alto-based company that simplifies workers’ comp insurance, payroll, and time tracking for small business owners — announced it has raised $7.15 million in a seed round of funding. This round was led by Aya Peterburg and Haim Sadger of S Capital with participation from Inovia Capital, J-Angels and 22 angel investors, including Amir Faintuch (SVP at Global Foundries) and Francoise Brougher (COO of Pinterest).
Launched earlier this year, Hourly is considered the only workers’ comp, payroll and time tracking platform purpose-built for small businesses. And Hourly can save employers thousands of dollars on workers’ comp insurance by partnering with insurance providers and leveraging real-time payroll data. And the Hourly platform also ensures accurate reporting down to the penny and helps avoid over- or underpayment of workers’ comp insurance premiums.
Hourly co-founder and CEO Tom Sagi is a serial entrepreneur who has years of experience in the SMB segment.
“I have seen business owners spending an entire day each week reconciling payroll, figuring out workers’ comp premiums and struggling with processing payroll. I thought, there has to be a better way,” said Sagi. “I wanted to liberate folks from that weekly ordeal, and with the incredible support of our investors, we’re well on our way to making employee management better for small business owners.”
And Sagi co-founder and CTO Shay Litvak is a technologist with 20 years of experience. They built Hourly as a mobile-first platform that empowers small businesses with the tools to manage all aspects of the workforce from their phones or computers. And Hourly’s focus on ease, convenience, and transparency helps business owners save time and money and build trust with employees.
“Small businesses with hourly employees have complex and unique needs, which legacy, rigid and inflexible software platforms are underserving,” commented Ayala (Aya) Peterburg, a founding partner of S Capital. “Hourly is well-positioned to add another dimension of flexibility and expediency to managing that segment, and ultimately create a much more efficient workplace.”
Faintuch — who has been an advisor to Hourly — joined as Executive Chairman of the Board. And this round of funding will be used for expanding rapidly into new markets.
“There’s a significant gap in the payroll and workers’ comp market, because many small businesses rely heavily on outdated tools and services,” explained Haim Sadger, founding partner of S Capital and a 21-year veteran of Sequoia Capital. “Tom, with his sharp business acumen, and Shay, with his strong technology background, have come together to solve this problem in a way that is transforming the industry. We’re proud to be part of the team bringing game-changing technology to the hands of small business owners.”
