A number of years in the past, Richard Schrems was working as a human sources marketing consultant in Riyadh, and at one level sought to implement a tech-solution for his shoppers to assist them higher their enormous groups, however couldn’t discover a localized answer.
Schrems instructed robotechcompany.com he wanted a system that was employee-focused, however discovered most of the HR software program he interacted with to be “very advanced”, with “numerous options, numerous functionalities centered on making life simpler for HR managers”, however with little regard for ease of use by workers. “This makes adoption onerous,” he mentioned.
His findings weren’t distinctive to him as a current examine confirmed an growing dissatisfaction with HR tech suppliers — half of the respondents mentioned they deliberate to vary their programs for brand spanking new applied sciences that provide higher consumer expertise and take distant working into consideration.
Pushed to bridge the hole, in 2019, Schrems (CEO) teamed up with Christoph Czichna (COO) and Dragan Nikolic (CPO), to launch Palm.hr, based mostly out of Riyadh and whose shoppers embody Hala, Thmanyah, the Saudi Enterprise Capital Firm, Mozn, Jeeny, Rabbit. Schrems says the HR-tech startup has skilled nice progress since launch, doubling its annual recurring income (ARR) each six months.
Following this progress, it’s planning on increasing to Egypt and the UAE, whereas doubling down on Saudi Arabia, towards the backdrop of $5 million pre-Sequence A funding it has raised, in a spherical led by Europe-based VC Speedinvest, which marked its debut into Saudi Arabia, and RAED Ventures, with participation from MENA centered VC agency Wamda Capital.
“We’re on a mission to rework HR tech and worker expertise throughout the Center East and North Africa, and ideally past…by making a cell first expertise,” mentioned Schrems.
Palm.hr is a cell first answer that automates HR administration. Picture Credit scores: Palm.hr
Philip Specht, accomplice, Speedinvest mentioned in a press release: “As EU-based buyers, we have now seen how corporations resembling Personio and Factorial are creating billion greenback outcomes within the HR area. With an identical, however localized strategy, we consider that Palm.hr is poised to turn out to be the main participant within the MENA area, and the broader Arab world. The corporate has an impressive group, a superior worth proposition when it comes to options, integrations and UX, and robust buyer love. We’re thrilled to again Palm.hr, which displays our pleasure in regards to the wider start-up ecosystem within the MENA.”
Palm.hr automates payrolls, tracks leaves and absences, and follows on employees efficiency, along with worker self-service options that make inside communication between employees simple. It additionally automates different workflow capabilities associated to HR together with on or off-boarding of workers, and is configurable throughout borders, making it simple for it to match native labor legal guidelines, and worker rules in numerous markets.
For example, in Saudi Arabia, Palm.hr additionally has built-in with authorities providers resembling Mudad for digital payroll and compliance, mandated by the nation’s ministry of labor; the Basic Group for Social Insurance coverage (GOSI), and Muqeem, the overseas worker’s information platform.
“With Palm.hr, you possibly can absolutely course of your payroll, you possibly can truly do the funds as a result of we’re built-in with the federal government payroll system; apply for visas as a result of we’re built-in with the federal government visa system, and replace folks’s social insurance coverage as a result of we’re built-in with the social insurance coverage system,” mentioned Schrems.
The corporate can also be set so as to add new options and merchandise that can, as an illustration, make it attainable for workers to simply entry loans, asset-financing, and insurance coverage merchandise.
“We wish to merge HR-tech with fintech and insurtech…for workers to have the ability to do every thing like buy or hire belongings, signal as much as well being or journey insurance coverage, inside our answer. We wish to make Palm.hr a part of workers’ each day lives,” mentioned Schrems.
Because it embarks on enlargement and extra product improvement, Palm.hr hopes to seize a large portion of the worldwide HR tech market, which is envisaged to develop at 9.08% CAGR to succeed in $53.3 billion by 2028.
