SALT LAKE CITY — Utah startup Everee is finding success in disrupting how companies manage payroll duties and on Thursday announced a $10 million Series A funding round co-led by Origin Ventures and Signal Peak Ventures.
Everee’s platform upends the ubiquitous two-week pay cycle and instead allows client businesses to offer employees wide flexibility in when they get paid, including the options to cash out on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, or something in between.
The company says the benefits of offering employees flexible access to money they’ve already earned should become standard practice and benefits of the system are being highlighted in the ongoing and widespread economic stresses brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The funding is a strong validation of our business model and our mission,” said Everee CEO Brett Barlow in a statement. “The standard two-week pay cycle is broken and unnecessary. It puts too many people in a tough financial position, especially at a time when so many are living paycheck to paycheck.
“I’m thrilled that our new investment partners see our vision to change the way people and companies think about payday. With their financial commitment and domain expertise in early-stage software companies, Origin and Signal Peak will help us execute our vision more rapidly. ”
Flexible payday options managed via smartphone apps have become a hallmark of gig economy businesses, like on-demand transportation companies or networked food delivery services, that have offered contract workers a compensation system that features zero — or near zero — lag time between completing the work and getting paid for it.
Uber and Lyft offer options for drivers to cash out in mere minutes after dropping off their fares. And even nonlabor side hustles like hosting an Airbnb rental feature quick turnaround payouts.
Everee’s platform enables companies to offer similar employee perks with a full-featured payroll platform that provides multiple flexible pay options for employees at no cost to them and no change in cash flow to the employer. Its Pay Your Way feature allows employees to choose when they’d like to get paid and also offers Pay On Demand, which allows employees to draw on all of their earned pay when they need it, at no additional cost to them.
In a Deseret News profile story earlier this year, Ron Ross, Everee co-founder and president/chief operating officer, said the idea behind the company he helped launch in 2018 was brought into focus thanks to his daughter, and some fiscal challenges she encountered while in college.
“My daughter was living off campus with friends while attending UVU,” Ross said. “She earned enough to pay her bills, but kept coming to me month after month for help. The issue was really about mismatched timing of when her bills were due, especially rent, and when she got paid by her employer.
“It put her in a very uncomfortable predicament. Fortunately, she had me for a backstop, but a lot of people don’t have that luxury, and the next stop is often a payday lender.”
Everee says the funding will accelerate the company’s growth to support hiring, advance product development and expand sales and marketing efforts. With the finance round, principals from Origin and Signal Peak will also join Everee’s board.
“Our firm is excited to partner with Everee because we know its leadership team has the experience, insight and commitment to customers that helps companies succeed today,” said Brent Hill, managing partner at Origin Ventures in a statement. “Its mobile-first payroll technology and flexible pay capabilities fits well with our focus on disruptive startups addressing the expectations of a new generation of users.”
Along with Hill, Ben Dahl, managing director of Signal Peak Ventures, will become Everee’s newest board members. Dahl said flexible, mobile device-driven payroll systems are likely to drive the future of payroll operations across business sectors.
“Signal Peak is committed to partnering with the most-innovative tech startups,” Dahl said in a statement. “Everee is well-timed as consumer preferences shift toward more frequent pay with the growth of the gig economy.
“We believe the market will continue to move toward payroll solutions that provide simple, mobile experiences for both employers and employees.”