Deel, the all-in-one HR and payroll platform for global teams, announces its further expansion into India. The move underscores Deel’s commitment to empowering businesses in one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
Deel’s team in India has increased by 45% in the past year and now makes up well over 12% of Deel’s global workforce, with job functions spread across sales, partnerships, finance, engineering, product, and support. The team all work remotely and are fully distributed across the market, with people based in over 20+ cities.
India boasts the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem, with over 140,800 active startups. This vibrant ecosystem and the rapidly accelerating economy have driven a surge in overseas expansion by Indian businesses, so the need for efficient and streamlined global workforce solutions has never been greater. As India’s businesses look to tap into international talent pools and employ people in other countries, Deel offers a comprehensive solution that simplifies the complex processes involved in onboarding, managing, and paying international workforces. With local experts in over 100+ countries, Deel ensures that businesses are operating compliantly and that teams have a seamless work experience anywhere in the world.
“India’s dynamic business environment and the global aspirations of many of its start-ups present an incredible opportunity,” said Mark Samlal, General Manager for the Asia-Pacific region at Deel and founder of APAC payroll giant PayGroup. “Our AI-enabled platform is designed to address the unique challenges faced by Indian businesses as they expand internationally, providing them with the tools they need to build, manage and pay world-class teams across borders.”
In 2022, Deel acquired PayGroup, a leading payroll and human capital management company, operating across Asia Pacific and India. The acquisition extended Deel’s presence in APAC and brought to Deel two decades worth of experience working in the Indian market, significantly enhancing its capabilities and understanding of the region. PayGroup’s clients in India include Clariant, Watlow, Albonair, Edifecs, Cotmac, GRT Hotels, SPIC and HDFC Life Insurance.
Deel has rapidly established itself as the fastest-growing global leader in modern workforce solutions, serving more than 35,000 organizations, including global industry giants like BCG, Nike, Forever21, Shopify, Klarna, Reddit, and BBC Studios. Deel’s India-based customers already include CleverTap, Xebia, Celebal Tech, Captain Fresh, Pocket FM, and Pixis, and fast-growing global companies like TerraPay, which have a large presence in India.
Deel’s impressive growth is highlighted by its $12 billion valuation and over $650 million in funding. Deel has been profitable since 2022. In March this year, it announced it had achieved an annual recurring revenue of $500 million, reinforcing its role as the go-to global platform for efficient HR and payroll processes.
This year to date, Deel has made three further acquisitions. In March, Deel acquired African-based payroll and HR company PaySpace, further deepening Deel’s native payroll infrastructure and global coverage. Deel now has over 50 native payroll engines – arguably the most of any payroll provider in the world. It owns the full HR stack: entities, local teams , and local payroll engines across six continents. Deel can be the system of record for HR organisations worldwide, giving its customers a simple and single interface to manage their global teams. All of this results in greater efficiency and control for companies, faster payroll cycles, more localised compliance insights relevant to their workforce, plus the ability to make changes to their payroll at any time.
Also in March, Deel acquired the German people enablement company, Zavvy. Since then, Deel has launched Deel Engage, a product that combines Zavvy’s AI-backed learning, development and performance tools with the best of Deel HR.
In July, Deel announced that it has acquired Hofy, a leading employee onboarding and device management supply company. This expands Deel’s equipment offering and will soon enable Deel to launch Deel IT, its end-to-end global IT services platform. Along with device supply and management, Deel IT will offer a suite of IT services like software provisioning, app access management, and integrations with mobile device management and identity tools. Deel will be the first HR and payroll company to offer a solution this robust and fully in-house.
“Deel began with a core expertise in global talent solutions and payroll, but we’ve continuously evolved by listening to customers along the way and adding new products and services to help ease pain points associated with building, scaling, and managing global teams. Our strategic acquisitions ensure that Deel is the most comprehensive HR and payroll solution, one that can provide EOR, payroll, contractor, people, and device management solutions. Currently, many customers have to use four-plus different tools to manage the same capabilities that Deel has in a single unified AI-enabled platform,” added Samlal.