In the wake of the digital revolution, a lot of companies and sectors have moved their operations to the digital space. The aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a rise in the adoption of the online world. African economies were not left out as many areas embraced the move to digital space. However, a large part of the internal systems on which companies and organizations run like accounting and HR remains offline, making use of simple software like spreadsheets and good old paper and filing systems.
This presents an opportunity for startups that can build software to cut down operation costs in these areas and increase productivity and satisfaction for employees. The Nigerian startup, SeamlessHR is one among other African brands that saw this opportunity and took it. SeamlessHR which was founded in 2018 currently operates in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa and is looking to expand across Africa and beyond.
Earlier in the year, the African startup raised $10m in a Series A fundraising round, making it the largest raise in the sector to date and it plans to use the capital to build more products and roll out services in other developed markets.
About SeamlessHR
The CEO Emmanuel Okeleji stated that the HR software provides services to the middle market and large enterprises by African standards, this means companies with employees ranging from 10 to 20,000 and above.
The performance management tools available on the platform are one of the most popular services it renders, this allows employers to track their employees across several different performance metrics. The easy onboarding tool is another key service.
As a source of new revenue, the company is looking to include financial services in its core platform. Beyond this, the goal of SeamlessHR is to create different products that will make life better for people working on the continent.
New Target Markets
After years of operating within Africa, the CEO wants to take the software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform to global markets like Europe and the US. For him, there is no reason why African software cannot compete with and supersede global equivalents.
In a statement, The CEO said, “We’re going to provide a lot of innovation. “We are putting things together in different ways. It’s an evolutionary advantage that we have – we are building things more deeply. By the nature of the African market, we have to do more. Thus, Africa will come to the global market with products that are more robust, more durable.”
He commented that the market may not be mature enough to “invent” totally new products, but it will excel at innovating in already established fields.
