Y Combinator alum ZenPayroll raises $6.1 million, rolls out automated cloud-based payroll service

ZenPayroll has launched its automated cloud-based payroll service for businesses eager to quickly and easily pay their employees using a mobile device. Similar to what you might expect if you combined Square with FreshBooks, the service is geared towards helping companies replace their legacy systems for something more modern, fast, reliable, and easy to use.

The company has also raised $6.1 million in its first found of funding, quite possibly making it the Y Combinator alumni with the highest seed round, at least according to ZenPayroll. But the list of investors is practically a founder’s Who’s Who including Box’s Aaron Levie, Yammer’s David Sacks, Dropbox’s Drew Houston, YouTube’s Jawed Karim, Yelp’s Jeremy Stoppelman, Badgeville’s Kris Duggan, and SugarCRM’s Larry Augustin. Other investors include Google Ventures, Salesforce.com, Y Combinator, Sherpalo Ventures, and more.

In the age of traditional business software, the end user is often ignored. ZenPayroll says it’s part of a “new breed” of software companies who take their cues from consumer software and shift the way they work towards something simple, usable, and functional. With more businesses moving services towards the cloud, data can be accessed from practically anywhere and the proliferation of e-file, e-sign, and e-fax technology has helped foster a more paperless workflow.

The one segment that seems to have suffered as a result has been the small and medium-sized businesses who are forced to use legacy services like ADP and Paychex. It appears that this model is one where “one size fits alls”, which doesn’t really benefit everyone. To that end, ZenPayroll claims to be able to save companies time by “automating all payroll tax calcuations and payments, providing direct deposit, and filing all payroll-related government documents paperlessly.”

Joshua Reeves, the CEO and co-founder of ZenPayroll, says that “by fundamentally re-thinking how payroll works with a focus on user experience, we are able to deliver delightful payroll that is easy-to use, secure, and saves businesses time and money.”

Companies will find that the service comes with a whole slew of features, including a dashboard, the ability to run payroll, handle automatic tax payments, give employees access, manage benefits, monitor time off, and much more — basically everything your human resources person might do.

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