Cologne-based Ordio, a People Operating System designed for deskless industries, has raised €12 million in a Series A funding round to launch ‘Payroll Plus’, a fully automated payroll solution for deskless workers.
The round was led by tech investor 3VC, with participation from Swiss family office Wecken & Cie., as well as existing investors Capnamic and Simon Capital.
“This marks the most significant advancement in payroll automation in decades,” said David Keuenhof, Founder and Co-CEO. “Tasks that once required weeks will soon be accomplished in minutes, entirely without human intervention.”
Founded in 2021 by David Keuenhof and Georg Pilz, Ordio innovates day-to-day operations in deskless industries, an area that the company says traditional software fails. Its modular platform digitises and automates every process along the employee lifecycle – from shift planning to payroll. Ordio is now used by over 1.500 companies across hospitality, healthcare, retail, and manufacturing.
The idea for Ordio was born when Keuenhof managed 135 employees at his Sushi Ninja restaurant chain and realised that shift planning, sick leave, and payroll were organisational chaos. According to him, no existing software could keep up with the fast-paced, labor- intensive environment, everything was built for office jobs.
“Ordio is redefining how teams and processes are organised in the hospitality, retail, and service industries. Instead of using individual tools and manually accounting for payroll, users receive a comprehensive cloud solution that automates all processes. We see Ordio as a strong driver for the future of shift work and are excited to support the team,” says Federico Rota Candiani, Investment Manager at 3VC.
According to data provided by Ordio, over 100 million people in Europe work in deskless jobs – from healthcare and hospitality to retail and logistics. Despite a market for digital solutions exceeding €20 billion, Ordio says that these sectors remain underserved. While office software is booming, businesses operating with deskless jobs continue to depend on manual processes, point solutions, and physical paperwork.
Between 2020 and 2023, around 48,000 gastronomic businesses in Germany were forced to shut down. The industry is facing a severe labor shortage, with turnover rates reaching up to 50% in some sectors.
Complex legal requirements further complicate payroll: wages, bonuses, absences, and tax compliance must all be managed accurately, making payroll significantly more challenging than in typical office settings.
Ordio aims to eliminate the frustration of paperwork through smart automation, going beyond traditional HR or shift planning tools. The platform unifies all core operational processes, from onboarding and shift scheduling to automated payroll, in a modular, scalable solution tailored to the realities of the deskless workforce.
With Payroll Plus, launching in summer 2025, Ordio will introduce the first fully automated payroll platform designed for complex wage calculations in deskless jobs. Ordio already automates gross wage calculations, but Payroll Plus will integrate full net payroll processing for the first time.
The company’s revenue reportedly quadrupled in 2024. With this new funding, Ordio will accelerate product development in AI-powered payroll and process automation, aiming to become the backbone of the real-world workforce.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2025/07/german-hrtech-ordio-raises-e12-million-to-innovate-payroll-automation-and-address-operational-chaos/
