Venture

Rippling Reaches Unicorn Status With $145M Series B

Illustration of a "nerdy" unicorn.

Employee management software startup Rippling has raised $145 million for its Series B, bringing its valuation to $1.35 billion.

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While the Series B is certainly large and the San Francisco-based company will likely use some of the funding for research and development, CEO Parker Conrad said Rippling, for the most part, won’t be changing anything about its plans as a result of the fundraising.

“I think what the fundraising buys us more than anything is peace of mind and sort of the confidence and the ability to execute on the existing plan with a lot more confidence,” Conrad said in an interview with Crunchbase News. “And sort of insulate the company from whatever might happen in the next six to 12 months before things return to normal.”

Rippling, which was founded in 2016, aims to be the “system of record for employee data,” per a blog post from Conrad announcing the Series B. Its software helps companies manage employees’ payroll, benefits, devices, etc., all from one place. The company says it now processes $3.5 billion in annual payroll, and had its highest sales quarter ever in the last three months–even after slashing its marketing budget in half.

This isn’t Conrad’s first rodeo with a unicorn or a human resources software. He’s likely best known for co-founding and serving as CEO of Zenefits, before resigning amid a regulatory compliance scandal.

Rippling wasn’t looking to raise money. In fact, Conrad said, the company was committed to not raising money for the next year or so. But Founders Fund reached out with an offer compelling enough for Rippling to take it.

Founders Fund led the new round with participating investors including Greenoaks Capital, Coatue Management and Bedrock Capital. Existing investors Kleiner Perkins, Y Combinator and Initialized Capital also returned for the Series B. Rippling last raised money with its $45 million Series A in April 2019.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias

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