Barley, a Toronto, Canada-based compensation management platform that makes it easy for companies to structure, analyze, and manage pay, launches with $4 million in seed funding.
The round was led by Golden Ventures, with participation from Union Capital, an investor collective that includes prominent technology leaders at Facebook, Google, Shopify, and Uber.
The funds will be used for product development and to expand its go-to-market teams.
Barley is tackling one of the biggest issues facing businesses today: how to make better compensation decisions, which employers feel confident about and employees can understand. Barley improves the clarity and transparency of the compensation process, helping HR teams and managers make data-driven decisions that result in more equitable pay for all employees.
"Compensation is a company's biggest expense, but comp management is often treated as a mere admin task. In 2023, companies have software tools for every important part of their business, but pay decisions are still made in scattered spreadsheets and email threads. That leaves leaders wondering if they are missing the big picture and employees questioning if they're being paid fairly," said Barley CEO Jafar Owainati. "Barley was built to help companies create and execute equitable pay strategies, giving people teams and managers the insights and guardrails for what they pay."
The company established a strong market foothold while in private beta, bringing on early customers such as Affinity, Flinks, and Properly, and launching integrations with popular HR and ATS platforms such as ADP, BambooHR, Greenhouse, and Lever.
Barley streamlines the entire compensation process, enabling companies to create consistent salary ranges, conduct pays equity analyses, and manage salary reviews. With robust integrations and access controls, Barley improves communication around compensation, while helping businesses save time, avoid mistakes, and optimize their budget.
Company: Barley Inc.
Raised: $4.0M
Round: Seed Round
Funding Month: March 2023
Lead Investors: Golden Ventures
Additional Investors: Union Capital
Company Website: https://www.barley.io
Software Category: Compensation Management Software
About the Company: Founded by Jafar Owainati and William Mainguy, Barley is compensation management software that makes it easy to structure, analyze, and manage compensation—and keep a pulse on changing pay trends in the market. Barley's comp tech platform enables employers to make data-driven decisions around salaries, pay ranges, and raises, which bolsters employee trust and improves retention. Forward-thinking businesses use Barley to simplify and optimize their approach to compensation, enabling them to attract more top candidates, reduce turnover, and improve pay transparency and pay equity. Barley has been named a Top HR Tech Company to Watch for This Year.
Source: Rebecca Scanlan