A few years ago, Richard Schrems was working as a HR consultant in Riyadh and at one point looked to implement a technology solution for his clients to help them improve their huge teams, but was unable to find a localized solution.
Schrems told TechCrunch that he needed an employee-centric system, but found that a lot of the HR software he interacted with was “very complex,” with “a lot of features, a lot of functionality focused on making HR managers’ lives easier.” human Resources”. , but with little regard for ease of use by employees. “This makes adoption difficult,” he said.
His findings were not unique to him as a recent study showed growing dissatisfaction with HR technology providers: half of those surveyed said they planned to switch their systems to new technologies that offer a better user experience and take remote work into account.
Driven to close the gap, in 2019, schrems (CEO) partnered with christopher czichna (head of operations) and Dragan Nikolic (CPO), to launch palm.hr, based in Riyadh and whose clients include Hala, Thmanyah, Saudi Venture Capital Company, Mozn, Jeeny, Rabbit. Schrems says the HR tech startup has seen tremendous growth since launch, doubling its annual recurring revenue (ARR) every six months.
Following this growth, it plans to expand into Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, while doubling down on Saudi Arabia, against the backdrop of the $5 million pre-Series A funding it has raised, in a round led by VC Speedinvest based in Europe, which marked its debut in Saudi Arabia, and RAED Ventures, with participation from MENA-focused venture capital firm Wamda Capital.
“We are on a mission to transform HR technology and the employee experience in the Middle East and North Africa, and ideally beyond…by creating a mobile-first experience,” said Schrems.
Palm.hr is a mobile first solution that automates human resource management. image credits: Palm.hr
Philip Specht, partner at Speedinvest, said in a statement: “As EU-based investors, we have seen companies like Personio and Factorial deliver multi-billion dollar results in the HR arena. With a similar, but localized approach, we believe that Palm.hr is poised to become the leading player in the MENA region and the Arab world in general. The company has an exceptional team, a superior value proposition in terms of features, integrations and UX, and a strong love for the customer. We are delighted to be supporting Palm.hr, which reflects our enthusiasm for the broader ecosystem of start-ups in MENA.”
Palm.hr automates payroll, tracks leaves and absences, and tracks staff performance, plus employee self-service features that facilitate internal communication between staff. It also automates other HR-related workflow functions, including onboarding or leaving employees, and is configurable across borders, making it easy to match local labor laws and employee regulations in different markets. .
For example, in Saudi Arabia, Palm.hr has also integrated with government services such as Mudad for digital payroll and compliance, mandated by the country’s labor ministry; the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), and Muqeem, the foreign employee data platform.
“With Palm.hr, you can fully process your payroll, you can make payments because we are integrated with the government payroll system; apply for visas because we are integrated with the government visa system and update people’s social security because we are integrated with the social security system,” Schrems said.
The company is also ready to add new features and products that will, for example, make it easy for employees to access loans, asset financing, and insurance products.
“We want to merge HR-tech with fintech and insurtech… so that employees can do everything, like buy or rent assets, sign up for health or travel insurance, within our solution. We want Palm.hr to be part of employees’ daily lives,” said Schrems.
As it embarks on expansion and further product development, Palm.hr expects to capture a sizeable share of global HR technology. marketwhich is projected to grow at a CAGR of 9.08% to reach $53.3 billion by 2028.
