Valeria HR, a Barcelona-based startup and creator of the first AI-native payroll and workforce operations platform designed for frontline employees, announces the closing of its €1.7 million pre-seed round ($2 million), led by VentureFriends with participation from Fortino Capital and 10K Ventures. The company also welcomes Lily Joo to its Board of Directors, bringing invaluable experience and strategic guidance.
Founded by Pau Laporte, Carlos Saiz, and Sergio Morales Bonet, Valeria HR develops pioneering technology for high-turnover, operationally complex sectors such as logistics, hospitality, retail, and services. These sectors face constant hiring and churn, variable shifts, and strict regulatory requirements—challenges traditional tools are not built to handle.
The founding team brings hands-on experience from companies such as Uber, Glovo, and Getir, where they repeatedly encountered payroll systems unable to adapt to operational realities. As Pau Laporte explains: “Payroll is still designed as if teams never change, when in many businesses shifts and contracts change weekly. We built Valeria to reflect this reality, handling variable contracts and schedules while giving finance and operations teams full visibility and control.”
Traction and Adoption
In less than a year since launch, over 100 companies have onboarded Valeria HR, managing more than 25,000 employees and automatically resolving 94% of payroll and HR queries. The company is powered by a world-class team of 18, combining technical expertise, execution capacity, and relentless drive.
Labor Market Transformation
Europe’s labor market is undergoing a structural shift. Workers aged 15–29 are defining a new era of flexible and mobile work, characterized by temporary contracts, variable hours, and continuous onboarding—especially in labor-intensive sectors. Valeria HR positions itself as the solution enabling companies to adapt to this new paradigm, replacing outdated, traditional systems.
Investor Support
“Valeria is tackling one of the most complex and underserved challenges in modern HR software, affecting millions of frontline workers in Europe,” says Lily Joo of VentureFriends. “The team has demonstrated real traction by focusing on operational payroll complexity rather than generic HR workflows.”
With this new funding, Valeria HR plans to expand its team, deepen product automation, and scale to new European markets where labor-intensive companies face similar challenges.
cloud technology axon
Xcalibur Smart Mapping, recognised as the global leader in airborne...
