US unicorn Deel wants to ‘revolutionise’ HR function in Hong Kong, help firms hire and pay remote contractors and employees
- The potential and opportunities in Hong Kong are huge, co-founder says
- San Francisco-based unicorn recently raised US$50 million and is valued at US$12 billion, according to media reports
Deel, a US unicorn that helps companies hire and pay remote contractors and employees in more than 150 markets globally, is launching in Hong Kong.
Founded in 2019, the San Francisco-headquartered start-up provides a “tech-enabled self-service” platform that speeds up the employer of record service that certain companies have been providing over the past decade.
Employers of record are firms that help businesses hire employees in countries where the employer does not have a local entity. As the legal employer, the employer of record ensures that employees are hired in compliance with local regulations and handles their payroll.
“The potential and opportunities in Hong Kong are huge, even though it’s a small place,” said Shuo Wang, Deel’s co-founder. “A lot of the companies in Hong Kong are very global, and are open to hiring talent internationally.”
Deel’s automated service is expected to help those companies in Hong Kong that have been directly hit by a brain drain that began in 2019 with the city’s political unrest and intensified during the coronavirus pandemic.
What differentiates Deel from other traditional employers of record is that the start-up’s product streamlines the process end to end, Wang said. “We aim to achieve 95 per cent automation so that companies do not need to check payroll on spreadsheets,” she said.