Deel vs Starling Bank: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
A full-year revenue figure is unavailable here for Deel. Starling Bank had ~$1.2B of annual revenue in FY2026.
Latest financial snapshot
Deel
- Latest annual revenue
- Unavailable here
- Net income
- Unavailable here
- Net margin
- —
- Revenue growth
- —
Starling Bank
- Latest annual revenue
- ~$1.2B (FY2026)
- Net income
- Unavailable here
- Net margin
- —
- Revenue growth
- +25.1% a year, FY2023–FY2026
Financial summary
Deel
Deel is private and does not publish audited financials, but it discloses ARR milestones. ARR rose from about $57 million at the end of 2021 to $295 million at the end of 2022 (TechCrunch), $800 million by December 2024, more than $1 billion by June 2025, and more than $1.5 billion in the first half of 2026. Deel says it recorded its first $100 million revenue month in September 2025 and describes itself as profitable, without disclosing margins. Funding includes a $425 million Series D at $5.5 billion (October 2021), a $12 billion valuation in May 2022, a $12.6 billion secondary sale in early 2025, and a $300 million Series E at $17.3 billion (October 2025) led by Ribbit Capital with Andreessen Horowitz and Coatue. In November 2025 it hired former Intuit executive Joe Kauffman as CFO, a move widely read as IPO preparation.
Starling Bank
Starling's profits come mainly from net interest income: it funds mortgages and SME loans with low-cost deposits. That made it a big winner from higher UK interest rates, with pre-tax profit peaking at ~$397M (£301.1M) in FY24. As rates eased, profit settled at ~$295M (£223.4M) in FY25 and ~$287M (£217.1M) in FY26, and reported revenue slipped from ~$1.24B (£940.0M) to ~$1.17B (£887.4M). Deposits still grew to ~$16.8B (£12.7B), and Engine by Starling's revenue rose 25% in FY26, adding a fee-based line that depends less on interest rates. Starling Bank is a highly disruptive, digital-only challenger bank in the UK, maintaining a massive private market valuation estimated over $3 billion.
Revenue and profit by year
Deel
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 run-rate | $1.5B | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2025 run-rate | $1B | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2024 run-rate | $800M | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2022 run-rate | $295M | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2021 run-rate | $57M | — | — | — | Source |
Starling Bank
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | ~$1.2B | — | — | +24.3% | Source |
| FY2025 | ~$942.5M | — | — | +4.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$900.5M | — | — | +50.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$597.7M | — | — | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Deel
- Employer of Record (EOR) fees
Not disclosed
Monthly per-employee fees (list price from $599) for employing staff abroad through Deel's local entities.
- Contractor management subscriptions
Not disclosed
Monthly per-contractor fees (from $49) for contracts, compliance, and payouts; Deel Shield is priced on top.
- Global Payroll and HR modules
Not disclosed
Per-employee fees for payroll on clients' own entities, plus paid HR, immigration, and PEO services.
- Deel IT, payouts, and FX
Not disclosed
Equipment provisioning fees and income from currency conversion and worker payout products such as the Deel Card.
Starling Bank
- Business banking
Not formally reported
Accounts and lending for British small and medium-sized businesses. This is the main source of profit.
- Retail banking
Not formally reported
Free personal current accounts, which bring in customers and low-cost deposits that fund mortgages and SME loans.
- Engine by Starling
About $92.4 million committed ARR
Starling's cloud banking software licensed to other banks. GBP 70 million.
Business model and strategy
Deel
How it makes money
Deel sells recurring, per-worker services. When a company wants to hire someone in a country where it has no legal entity, Deel's local entity becomes the Employer of Record: it signs the employment contract, runs payroll, withholds taxes, and provides statutory benefits, while the client directs the work and pays Deel one invoice.
Growth strategy
Deel is expanding from international hiring into running payroll and HR for a company's whole workforce. Levers include Global Payroll for clients' own entities (strengthened by buying Safeguard Global's enterprise payroll business in March 2025), domestic US payroll and PEO services, a free HRIS that pulls in small and mid-size companies, and acquisitions;
Competitive advantage
Deel's advantage is owned coverage plus product breadth. It operates its own entities and payroll capability in most of the countries it serves, so it can onboard workers quickly and control compliance instead of relaying work to local partners.
Starling Bank
How it makes money
Starling earns money in three ways. Retail banking offers free personal current accounts, which bring in customers and deposits. Business banking serves British small and medium-sized businesses and is its main source of profit.
Growth strategy
Starling is growing through software sales and lending rather than by opening consumer banks in new countries, which is expensive and heavily regulated. It sells its Engine platform to existing banks, including in Asia and the Middle East, and it is expanding mortgage and commercial lending in the UK, funded by its deposit base of about $16.8 billion (GBP 12.7 billion).
Competitive advantage
Starling's advantage is its own core banking software. It built its banking infrastructure in the cloud from the start, while older banks run on decades-old mainframe systems that cost far more to maintain. That keeps Starling's cost per account low. Its founder, Anne Boden, came from traditional banking, which helped the company work through UK banking regulation and obtain a full licence.
Questions about Deel vs Starling Bank
Which company has higher revenue — Deel, Inc. or Starling Bank?
Starling Bank had ~$1.2B (FY2026). A comparable annual revenue figure for Deel, Inc. was unavailable here.
How does revenue per employee compare for Deel, Inc. and Starling Bank?
Starling Bank generates $335k / employee in revenue per employee. A comparable figure for Deel, Inc. requires matching employee and revenue data from the same reporting period.
How do Deel, Inc. and Starling Bank make money?
Deel, Inc. and Starling Bank generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Deel, Inc.: Deel sells recurring, per-worker services. Starling Bank: Starling earns money in three ways.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Deel vs Starling Bank overview