Deel, Inc. is a San Francisco-based HR and payroll company founded in 2019 by Alex Bouaziz and Shuo Wang. It lets businesses hire, pay, and manage employees and contractors in 150+ countries without their own local entities. Deel passed $1.5 billion in ARR in the first half of 2026 and was valued at $17.3 billion in October 2025.
What does Deel do?
- Employer of Record (EOR): Deel's local entity employs a worker for the client and handles contracts, payroll, taxes, and benefits.
- Contractor management: compliant contracts, tax forms, invoicing, and payouts, with optional Deel Shield classification protection.
- Global Payroll: payroll for companies' own entities in many countries from one system.
- Deel HR: a free global HRIS for org charts, time off, documents, and onboarding.
- Immigration, Deel IT, and security: visa support, equipment logistics (from Hofy), and identity and deepfake screening (from Clarity).
How does Deel make money?
Deel charges recurring fees per worker. Published list prices start at $599 per employee per month for EOR and $49 per contractor per month for contractor management. It adds fees for global payroll, immigration, PEO, and equipment, and earns from currency conversion and payout products such as the Deel Card. Deel does not disclose revenue by product.
Deel revenue and valuation
| Date | ARR |
|---|---|
| End of 2021 | ~$57 million |
| End of 2022 | $295 million |
| December 2024 | $800 million |
| June 2025 | $1 billion+ |
| H1 2026 | $1.5 billion+ |
Key rounds: $425 million Series D at $5.5 billion (October 2021, led by Coatue), $12 billion valuation (May 2022), and a $300 million Series E at $17.3 billion (October 2025, led by Ribbit Capital with Andreessen Horowitz and Coatue). Deel says it is profitable and processes about $22 billion in payroll a year for 40,000+ businesses.
Who runs Deel?
Co-founder Alex Bouaziz is CEO and co-founder Shuo Wang is Chief Revenue Officer. Former Intuit executive Joe Kauffman became CFO in November 2025, and founding CFO Philippe Bouaziz moved to executive chairman and chief strategy officer.
Acquisitions
Deel has made about 15 acquisitions, including Zeitgold (2021), Legalpad (2022), PayGroup (2023), Hofy and Zavvy (2024), Safeguard Global's enterprise payroll division (2025), and Clarity (2026).
Competitors
Deel competes with Rippling, Remote, Oyster, Papaya Global, Globalization Partners, Velocity Global (Pebl), and Multiplier, and with ADP and Workday for enterprise payroll.
The Rippling lawsuit
In March 2025 Rippling sued Deel and several executives, alleging Deel paid a Rippling employee to spy on it. Deel denies wrongdoing and filed counterclaims. The Wall Street Journal reported in January 2026 that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation. In September 2026 a federal judge denied Deel's request to bar the alleged spy's testimony and dismissed or sent to arbitration some of Deel's counterclaims. The case is pending.
