• UAE-based HR technology startup Bayzat, has raised a $25 million Series C round led by DisruptAD alongside Ischyros New York, bringing the total amount raised by the startup to date to over $60 million.
• Founded in 2013 by Brian Habibi, Talal Bayaa and Tarek Bayaa, Bayzat enables its corporate clients to digitise administrative HR processes including payroll, employee onboarding as well as health insurance, among other functions. 
• Bayzat will use the funds to grow its customer base across its markets in the Middle East, with a focus on Saudi Arabia.
• Currently, Bayzat serves over 127,000 employees in more than 1,500 companies in the GCC.

Press release 

The region’s leading employee benefits platform, has successfully closed a Series C funding round, raising $25 million. The funding round was led by DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform, alongside Ischyros New York, a global hedge fund. To date, Bayzat’s has raised more than $60 million in funding by receiving backing from leading investors such as Mubadala Capital, and Point72 Ventures.

Founded in the UAE in 2013, Bayzat is a technology company that helps organisations deliver world-class employee experiences by automating and enhancing their insurance, payroll, and HR administration processes. Over the past three years, the company has recorded more than 100 per cent annual growth and has grown its workforce to almost 350 employees across the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the wider region.

From the pivot to hybrid work and the globalisation of the talent pool, to the influx of millennials and Gen Z professionals into the workforce, Bayzat now sees its value proposition being more relevant than ever. “In today’s economic climate, employee experience is a business imperative and organisations can no longer pay lip service to discussions around this topic,” said Talal Bayaa, CEO and co-founder at Bayzat.

“Whether it is to empower employees with self-serve HR, streamline payroll, optimise group insurance plans, or unlock exceptional employee benefits, our customers are seeing tremendous value from the Bayzat platform. Furthermore, our focus on hyper-localisation sets us apart as one of the only providers in the market with an offering that is finely tuned to the regulations, requirements and nuances of the region. This is what we call the Bayzat Effect, and it is a movement that is gaining momentum and fuelling our growth across the GCC,” said Bayaa.

Amer Al Ameri, Head of Venture Capital and Technology Investments at ADQ, said: “Our investment in Bayzat represents our long-term commitment to enhance the UAE’s innovative ecosystem. Funding innovative platforms helps grow the local start-up community and accelerate the pace at which companies can expand globally from the UAE’s capital. Ultimately, we act as a long-term partner to the founding teams of tech driven companies and deploy capital in start-ups at all stages with the highest potential. We are extremely impressed with Bayzat’s journey and how they are building a long-term sustainable business model. We believe Bayzat is well positioned to become the undisputable leader as the HR & Insurtech platform of refence for companies in Middle East.”

Bayzat will use the funds to expand its customer base across the Middle East, with a particular focus on Saudi Arabia. This focus on innovation has enabled the company to establish itself as the category leader in the UAE, as pioneers in InsureTech, HR and payroll automation, and employee benefits through a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform.

Currently, Bayzat serves 127,000+ employees in over 1,500 companies in the GCC including Deliveroo, Zomato, Saudi Icon, Grant Thornton, Eyewa, and The Giving Movement. The company’s online HRMS platform receives more than 2 million employee logins per month.