The Barcelona startup Factorial, owner of software that helps manage human resources in small and medium-sized companies, will approach the North American market from the new office it has opened in Salt Lake City, the capital of Utah, where it has so far hired six people. The company, based in 22@, will also launch an office with the same characteristics in Sao Paulo (Brazil) in the coming weeks.
To carry out this international expansion and consolidate the rest of the European markets where it is already present, and Mexico, where it has had a delegation since last April, Factorial has the resources raised in the financing round it closed in September, which allowed it to raise about 70 million euros (80 million dollars). The operation was led by the American investment fund Tiger Global Management, specialized in Internet, software, consumer, and financial technology industries, which has entered the capital with a percentage close to two digits, according to Bernat Farrero, co-founder of the company, along with Jordi Romero and Pau Ramón.
Currently, Factorial provides services to SMEs in Spain, Italy, Portugal, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. These clients are managed from the corporate offices in Barcelona, located on Calle Álava, where 250 people work, out of a total of 370 employees that the company has on staff. In Mexico, the company started in April with six professionals and now has a staff of 30 employees.
The digitalization needs of small and medium-sized companies worldwide, which have become evident during the coronavirus pandemic, have boosted Factorial's business. The startup registers an annual growth of 200% and, monthly, incorporates an average of 400 companies into its client list. "Our goal is to help many SMEs that still have human resources management processes and other administrative aspects in an analog status; therefore, we can reach millions of companies worldwide and help them make the leap towards digitalization," states Bernat Farrero. The entrepreneur insists that in 40% of cases, SMEs still have not digitized their human resources management processes or, at least, only have the most financial part covered.
The company, which has its corporate headquarters in 22@, expects to have a thousand people on staff in 2022In this regard, Farrero explains that to grow, Factorial will seek resources wherever necessary, although right now they are focused on financing rounds and have no plans to go public or sell part of the company. Since its creation at the end of 2016, Factorial has already raised 100 million dollars from investors such asTiger,CRV, Creandum, Point Nine Capital, Columbia Lake Partners, and K Fund.
The expansion across the American continent will be accompanied by an increase in staff, so that by the end of 2022, "with this rate of growth, we will reach a thousand employees," assures Farrero. Of the current 370 workers, about 80 are engineers, 60 perform customer experience functions, and 200 make up the sales team.
The success of Factorial's software is based on "the user experience, that is, on it being very easy for companies to adopt and, therefore, its design is very understandable and accessible to everyone." In this sense, Farrero explains, the increase in the startup's staff will come from engineers, but also, significantly, from designers, "because every detail counts to make the process of managing people within a business structure easy," he states.
The implementation of the platform has a cost for companies of between four and five euros per workerThe co-founder of the firm explains that targeting SMEs requires that the tools Factorial provides them allow them to do without an internal administrative structure. Hence, the platform allows for the management of payrolls, vacations, sick leave, digital signature, hiring, personnel selection, etc.; with a cost for the company "of between four euros and five euros per employee" and the consequent reduction of the internal structure. All processes, obviously digitally, and communicating with the employee also through the platform.
Factorial's software has also allowed SMEs, according to its promoters, to respond to the implementation of teleworking, on the one hand, and to data management, on the other. "Our technology is a help when it comes to determining the business strategy of companies because it facilitates data segmentation on aspects such as absenteeism patterns, productivity versus work area, data by gender, by age...", Farrero determines.
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