Launched in 2016 in Paris, HR tech PayFit is one of French tech’s early success stories.
The company, which provides a platform to automate HR processes and payroll for SMBs, has raised a total €433m to date. It reached a valuation of €1.82bn in its latest funding round — a €254m Series E closed in 2022 and led by US firm General Atlantic.
It’s not all been plain sailing. PayFit was reported to have carried out two rounds of layoffs in 2023 and 2024 in which more than 300 employees were let go, according to French business publication Les Echos.
Today, the company says it has 850 employees across offices in France, Spain and the UK.
In a recent LinkedIn post, founder Firmin Zocchetto wrote that more than 60 former PayFit employees had now launched their own company. Using LinkedIn data, Sifted tracked 18 alumni who have launched a tech startup in Europe — and found companies across France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.
Sifted reached out to each founder for confirmation.
Louis Pauler — Beans
HQ: Paris
Founded: 2023
Beans is a platform that enables food brands to sell unsold stock and consumers to buy it at discounted prices to reduce food waste. It was launched by Louis Paulet, who worked at PayFit as an account manager between 2019-21. Paulet is also an alum of German grocery delivery startup Gorillas. Beans is currently closing a fundraising round, Paulet tells Sifted.
Arnaud de Turckheim — CastorDoc (according to LinkedIn)
HQ: Paris (founding location); New York (HQ)
Founded: 2020
Arnaud de Turckheim was head of data at PayFit in 2019-20 before cofounding CastorDoc, a data catalog platform for businesses intended to simplify access to and search through data for employees within an organisation. It has raised $26m to date.
Antoine Figuier — Flatmaters
HQ: Tarragona
Founded: 2024
Flatmaters is a platform designed to support international students in Latin America as they search for accommodation. It was cofounded by Antoine Figuier, who was part of PayFit’s business development team in Barcelona for nearly a year between 2023-24.
Jean-Baptiste Boubault — Gococo
HQ: Barcelona
Founded: 2019
Gococo is a mobile app that enables users to scan the barcodes of food items in supermarkets to find out their nutritional value. It was created by Jean-Baptiste Boubault after he left PayFit in 2019, where he had spent a year as country manager for Spain.
Luc Fernandez — Heep
HQ: Paris
Founded: 2024
Luc Fernandez spent one year at PayFit between 2021-22. He created several companies after he left, with his latest project, Heep, launched in November 2024. Heep is an AI assistant for social media platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger that is designed to take actions, like make reservations, in addition to reply to prompts. The startup is currently raising a seed round, Fernandez tells Sifted.
Victor Ronchin — Hydra
HQ: Berlin
Founded: 2024
Hydra is a platform that matches blockchain developers with companies. It was cofounded by Victor Ronchin, who was a data analyst for PayFit for three years, first in Paris and then in Berlin. Hydra has raised a €100k seed round from global VC Antler.
Julien Tarrisse — Immocompare
HQ: Paris
Founded: 2023
Julien Tarrisse spent more than a year with PayFit’s go-to-market team before leaving to launch Immocompare, an online comparator for real estate providers. Tarrisse is also launching a new project dubbed Statera — an asset management platform for young investors. He is currently raising funds for Statera, and plans to launch the company at the start of 2025.
Francesco Scalambrino — Jet HR (according to LinkedIn)
HQ: Milan
Founded: 2023
HR-tech Jet HR, a platform to support the management of HR processes and payroll, was launched by Francesco Scalambrino, who led PayFit’s product development for the Italian market between 2021-22. It has raised more than €15m to date.
Korbinian Deiner — Kewano
HQ: Berlin
Founded: 2023
Korbinian Deiner worked for PayFit in Germany as part of the sales development team for nearly two years. Kewano, which he founded in 2023, is a software tool designed to improve productivity for manufacturing companies by reducing procurement and optimising production plans. The company is bootstrapped.
Ale Pintaudi — KomboAI
HQ: Barcelona
Founded: 2023
Ale Pintaudi spent three years at PayFit as global director of product based in Spain, before working for Spanish hospitality startup Amenitiz for two years. He launched KomboAI in 2023, which develops an AI-powered learning tool to improve the skills of sales professionals. The startup has raised a €700k pre-seed round.
Laurent Thillaye du Boullay — L’élan
HQ: Paris
Founded: 2024
Laurent Thillaye du Boullay spent two years at PayFit as an account executive, followed by two years at Google, before launching L’élan this year. The startup, which is bootstrapped, uses AI to support users with mental health, from managing stress to quitting smoking.
Malo Beaudouin — LocalRanker
HQ: Paris
Founded: 2021
Malo Beaudouin worked at PayFit between 2018 and 2021, first in sales and then in growth marketing. In 2021, he launched LocalRanker, which provides SEO services for small, local businesses. The company is bootstrapped and makes €500k-1m in annual revenue, according to Beaudouin.
Maud Etienne and Aurélie Moussier — M2A Care
HQ: Paris
Founded: 2024
Maud Etienne and Aurélie Moussier both worked at PayFit for over two years as payroll management specialists before launching M2A Care earlier this year. The startup has developed a software tool that can analyse a number of indicators to provide HR professionals with a view of their employees’ work environment, from their perceived quality of life at work, to gender parity in teams.
Paul Borensztein — Omi (according to LinkedIn)
HQ: Paris
Founded: 2019
Paul Borensztein, who worked at PayFit as a site reliability engineer, cofounded Omi — an application that enables e-commerce brands to create 3D visuals for their products — in 2019. The startup has raised €19m to date.
Stephan Weber and Niklas Prieß — Project B
HQ: Munich
Founded: 2023
Project B was cofounded by Stephan Weber and Niklas Prieß, who spent four years working at PayFit in Germany, respectively as head of product and head of engineering. The startup is in stealth for now, but Weber says that it is building an AI-powered product to streamline payroll processes.
Axel Poitral — Qobra (according to LinkedIn)
HQ: Paris
Founded: 2020
Qobra provides a platform that automates the calculation of compensation plans and commissions for sales teams. Axel Poitral, who worked at PayFit as a product builder, cofounded the startup in 2020; it has raised €15m to date.
Quentin Parenti — Stealth company
Quentin Parenti was a product builder at PayFit for nearly two years before working in the payments team of French HR tech Swile between 2021-23. He launched a new startup last year, which is operating in stealth.
Omar Zafar — TalentLynk (according to LinkedIn)
HQ: London
Founded: 2023
Former PayFit senior account executive Omar Zafar launched TalentLynk last year. It is an AI-powered tool for recruiters that can transcribe conversations, centralise data and generate replies.
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/the-payfit-founders-factory/
