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Saudi HR software company ZenHR has raised $6 million in a bridge round led by Impact46, bringing its publicly disclosed funding since 2022 to at least $16 million.
The Riyadh-headquartered company said the capital will go towards expanding its HR platform across MENA, with a particular focus on AI, recruitment, performance management, skills assessments and its ZenEWA earned wage access product.
ZenHR provides cloud-based HR software spanning payroll, attendance, recruitment, performance management and employee administration, with products built around labour laws, payroll requirements and compliance rules specific to MENA. The company currently operates across 11 markets in the region and says its software is used by thousands of organisations.
The new investment follows a $10 million growth round announced in October 2022 and led by Saudi Arabia's Rua Growth Fund, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst and existing investors. ZenHR's other backers include 500 Global, SEEDRA Ventures and Jordan-based DASH Ventures.
At the time of the 2022 round, the company was approaching 1,000 customers and 100,000 users and said subscription revenue had tripled year on year.
The previous growth round was largely geared towards expanding an established HR management product across the region. This time, ZenHR is putting more emphasis on broadening the product itself.
Alongside adding AI across its existing workflows, the company is building out ZenEWA, which allows employees to access wages they have already earned before their normal payday. ZenHR is also investing in tools covering employee management, recruitment, performance and skills testing.
The move puts ZenHR into a wider category of workforce software that extends beyond the traditional HR system of record, with payroll and employee financial products increasingly sitting alongside recruitment and workforce management.
The company was founded in 2017 by Yousef Shamoun and Mohamad Haj Hasan, who had previously co-founded MENA card and board game company Jawaker. Swedish gaming group Stillfront acquired Jawaker for $205 million upfront in 2021, with additional earn-outs attached to the deal.
The original pitch was built around localising HR software for a region where companies often need to manage different labour laws, payroll cycles, social insurance systems and end-of-service rules across multiple markets. Its platform now covers Saudi-specific requirements including GOSI, WPS, Muqeem and Qiwa alongside equivalent systems elsewhere in the region.
The company said the new funding will support its next phase of expansion across Saudi Arabia and the wider MENA region. The original announcement did not disclose a valuation or identify other investors participating alongside Impact46.
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