Copenhagen-based automated payroll platform Pento raises $15.6 million in Series A round

Real-time automated payroll software platform Pento has raised $15.6 million in a Series A round led by General Catalyst. The round also saw the participation of a host of varied parties including Avid Ventures, LocalGlobe, Point Nine Capital, Moonfire Ventures, Hustle Fund, and Seedcamp. Angel Investors include Thairu and Diede van Lamoen, Tom Blomfield, Matt Robinson, Eric Yuan, Freddy Macnamara, and Des Traynor. The funding will be used to expand the talent pool, enter new markets, and further refine the product offering. To date, the firm has raised $18.4 million.

“Despite being so business-critical, payroll is one of the least digitally advanced services across the globe,” says General Catalyst’s Adam Valkin. “It’s also one that has garnered a reputation for being too complex, too convoluted and too out of reach for those who aren’t payroll specialists, leading many to consider expensive outsourcing as the only route to go. Pento dispels this myth because it’s built purely with HR and finance teams in mind, by business leaders who truly understand the frustrations involved. It’s easy-to-use, transparent, flexible, secure and affordable. It’s what payroll should be in a modern company and it represents the future of employee compensation.”

Founded in 2016 by Emil Hagbarth Rasmussen and Jonas Bøgh Larsen, Pento eschews the error-prone methodology of spreadsheets, PDFs, emails, etc. and provides employers with a set of cloud-based tools, real-time calculations, and overall greater transparency when it comes to payroll.

“So much of payroll is still stuck in the dark ages. Companies waste too much precious time and resources attempting to manage payroll and responding to avoidable payroll errors,” comments Larsen. “This makes it seem much more complex and closed-off than it needs to be, which fuels the myth that outsourcing is the only viable solution. We want to change that. We’re giving companies the confidence and tools to do it themselves; to make it flexible and easy to get paid in a way that enables everyone to choose for themselves how and when they want it done, without compromising on security, transparency, or speed.”

Pento counts over 700 companies in its roster including Pleo, Cuvva, Honest Burgers, Lacoste, and Beauty Pie.