Today, Factorial, a Barcelona-based startup that has developed a platform that gives SMBs access to the same tools used by much larger businesses to manage their human resources responsibilities, announces some funding to strengthen its own position. The company got $80 million, which it will use to keep adding features to its product and to grow its business in more places, especially in Latin America.
Factorial has experienced a tremendous growth spurt over the past 18 months, according to CEO Jordi Romero, who co-founded the company with Pau Ramon and Bernat Farrero. Factorial has more than 75,000 users spread across 65 countries.
Romero stated, “We have a wide definition of SME,” in describing how the company first had a target of having 10-15 employees but is currently operating in the size range it is at. However, that is the upper limit. The part that requires the greatest assistance is this one. SMEs seek solutions with as much data centralized as feasible.
Tiger Global is leading Series B, and prior investors CRV, Creandum, Point Nine, and K Fund are also taking part. According to our sources, the valuation for Series B is over $500 million post-money. Up until this point, Factorial has raised $100 million, including a $16 million Series A investment in early 2020, just as the COVID-19 epidemic was beginning to spread globally.
As we have seen, the pandemic significantly altered where and how many of us work. Offices virtually vanished overnight in the world of desk jobs as people began working from home in compliance with shelter-in-place orders to stop the spread of the virus.
The growth of Factorial is a part of a much larger, longer-term trend in which the corporate technology industry has finally begun to focus on how to take solutions that were initially designed for larger enterprises and right-size them for smaller customers.
But investors approached the business, which was not actively seeking money when it chose to move forward with this Series B, for three reasons: the significant industry fragmentation, the abundance of potential clients, and Factorial’s own quick growth.
Romero specifically mentioned that the fundraising process changed significantly between the two rounds, with the first requiring him to travel across the globe to meet people and the second taking place via video links while he was still recovering from COVID-19.
