Six years after Personio was founded, it has achieved a valuation of $6.3 billion, making it one of Europe’s most valuable startups.
Personio focuses on providing small and medium-sized companies software that simplifies HR processes and management.
CEO Hanno Renner adds that the process to becoming successful was not a straight line. In 2015, he cofounded Personio with the help of Roman Schumacher, Arseniy Vershinin and Ignaz Forstmeier.
The company began after Renner’s friend explained how he was struggling to manage HR processes due to a lack of software at a company where he served as chief technology officer.
The four cofounders set out to find a solution to this issue and started building the company’s first software product.
After retaining more customers, they utilized the newfound revenue to purchase software licenses, rent an office space, and hire a small team. In July 2016, Personio raised €2.1 million in a seed funding round.
Since then, the company raised over $500 million from investors, with its latest funding being used to develop new software called People Workflow Automation.
Currently, the company has over 1,000 employees and is continuing down a path of growth.