Payflow, the Spanish startup offering financial well-being, has closed its first funding round of €1.6 million in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, with investment from top-level local and international players, including Rocket Internet, Lanai Partners, Itnig, Abac Nest, Michael Benabou and Clement Benoit. Only three months old, Payflow already has more than 30 companies that trust in its innovative social benefit. With the fresh capital from this round, Payflow intends to improve its product and to expand its team by hiring the best talent.
According to Benoît Menardo: “Raising capital during the COVID-19 crisis has been a
challenging task, and we are very grateful for the confidence of our investors. In 2020, we
will focus on establishing ourselves in Spain, and thanks to this investment round we will
begin our international expansion in 2021.”
Founded in February 2020 and launched two months later by Benoît Menardo and Avinash Sukhwani, Payflow allows employees to instantly collect the portion of their salary
corresponding to how much they have worked, through a mobile app. All this without the
need for their companies to have cash flow in the middle of the month, and while keeping the process of payroll settlement incredibly simple. Employees state that this solution enables them to face unforeseen events and better manage their personal finances. Companies claim that they have observed significant increases in motivation and productivity thanks to improved financial well-being among their workers.
Suffering from financial stress is quite a common societal phenomenon, not just in Spain, and this number is currently increasing due to the COVID-19 crisis. Payflow’s mission is to eliminate financial stress and say goodbye to loans, overdrafts and microcredits. Everyone should be able to face an unforeseen event and short-term financial challenges. Currently, millions of Spaniards enter their bank account every few hours at the end of the month, to see if the payroll has finally arrived – with Payflow, this will no longer happen.
The Payflow founders believe there is an opportunity for a fairer solution, that gives people more financial freedom. If people work every day, and spend every day, why should they only get paid once a month?
Jordi Romero, CEO and co-founder of Factorial HR and Itnig spokesperson, explains
his commitment to Payflow: “Payflow is solving a growing problem, which is the general lack of financial flexibility. With an excellent product and a young and highly energetic team, I am convinced that they will succeed. They show strong commitment to the digitalisation of human resources and to the promotion of widespread financial well-being.”
Payflow is private, instant and comfortable, and employees can withdraw fractions of their salary, several times a month, in small amounts of around €70- €80. It is not really a payroll advance, but a tool which allows you to access what you have already earned. In addition, the solution is seamlessly synchronised with the HR management systems of their collaborators, in such a way that the implementation of Payflow entails no administrative burden whatsoever, even for companies which have thousands of employees.
For HR teams of larger companies Payflow’s social benefit might actually help in retaining talent, while giving them more financial flexibility. As a result, Payflow hopes that corporates will be delighted to drive the adoption of Payflow among their employees.