Google va investir 60M$ dans la start-up ZenPayroll cofondée par Tomer London, ancien étudiant au Technion

[:fr]La compétition BizTEC organisée par le Technion célèbre sa première décennie et le New York Times a que Google Capital va investir 60 millions de dollars dans la start-up ZenPayroll cofondée par un ancien étudiant du Technion, Tomer London, par Joshua Reeves et Edward Kim. Le système ZenPayroll automatise le traitement de la masse salariale pour décharger les chefs d’entreprise de cette tâche récurrente.

ZenPayroll propose une gestion simple, intuitive et interactive de la paie. C’est la deuxième start-up de Tomer London, et elle est valorisée à environ un demi-milliard de dollars. La branche investissement de Google est derrière cette levée de fonds. Tomer London avait eu un premier succès dans le domaine de l’entrepreneuriat en 2009, quand il avait remporté la première place au concours BizTEC grâce à la société qu’il avait fondée quelques mois plus tôt. À l’époque, il était étudiant à la Faculté de génie électrique et afin de développer Vizmo, il avait quitté son emploi chez Intel et s’était associé avec un autre étudiant, Assaf Revach. Tous deux avaient affirmé que le Technion leur avait apporté trois choses : «nous avons fait connaissance l’un de l’autre, le Technion nous a fourni un laboratoire d’innovation et une diversité des services formidables, et nous a intégré au Club des Entrepreneurs. Le Technion symbolise sans aucun doute l’esprit d’entreprise en Israël. »

Les fondateurs de ZenPayroll expliquent : « La mission de ZenPayroll vise à moderniser le secteur de la paie et à créer un lien plus significatif entre les entreprises et leurs employés. Aujourd’hui, les gens pensent à la masse salariale comme à une corvée douloureuse qui oblige les entreprises à faire face à une complexité inutile, des tâches manuelles et de nombreux frais. Rémunérer son peronnel ne devrait pas être une transaction impersonnelle. Il s’agit de récompenser les employés pour leur travail acharné, et qu’ils se sentent appréciés pour leurs contributions. Notre équipe s’efforce d’influencer positivement des millions d’entreprises et des centaines de millions de personnes dans le monde. Cette mission est l’une des principales raisons pour laquelle nos clients apprécient ZenPayroll. »

Selon letank.org :  » En France, un bulletin de paie coûte en moyenne 33 euros par mois. A cela s’ajoute l’instabilité fiscale et règlementaire ainsi qu’une forte individualisation des packages Comp&Ben. Mais ce contexte n’est pas seulement une exception française. ZenPayroll est accessible à tous (employés y compris !) depuis n’importe quel device, les mises à jour réglementaires sont externalisées (donc les risques liés aussi !), écologique (des bulletins sans papier, ce qui est possible en France depuis 2009) et enfin, économique (25$ plus 4$ pour les 10 premiers employés et 2$ pour les suivants). Il est évident que ce SaaS n’est pas transposable en l’état en France et conviendrait davantage à des PME. Mais il existe une volonté politique, tous bords confondus, de simplifier les démarches administratives liées aux RH. Par ailleurs, il faut savoir que ZenPayroll est en plein développement au sein du célèbre accélérateur de start-ups Y Combinator et donc, c’est-à-dire que de nouvelles features (« caractéristiques ») pourront être créées permettant alors de personnaliser le service avec des conventions collectives, des accords d’établissement… »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UivjyQoIkkk[:en]The BizTEC competition is celebrating its first decade, and the New York Times has some very good news: Google Capital will invest $60 million in the new start-up co-founded by a Technion graduate Tomer London, who won first place in BizTEC in 2009, and by Joshua Reeves and Edward Kim.

In early April, the New York Times reported an investment of $60 million in the new start-up of Technion graduate Tomer London. ZenPayroll is London’s second start-up and is already valued at over half a billion dollars. Google’s investment arm is behind this investment.
London’s first success in the field of entrepreneurship was recorded in 2009, when he won first place in the Technion led BizTEC competition with the company he had founded just months earlier. At the time, he was a student at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, and in order to set up Vizmo he left his job at Intel and joined forces with fellow student Assaf Revach. The two outstanding students said at the time that the Technion gave them three things: “First, we became acquainted with each other here. Second – the Technion entrepreneurship and innovation laboratory and the diverse services that it provides. Third – the Technion Entrepreneurs Club. The Technion is undoubtedly Israel’s entrepreneurship incubator and it must stay that way.”

Tomer London isn’t the first to leap from the BizTEC springboard into the world of entrepreneurship. During these ten years, innovative projects in a wide range of fields have been developed as part of the competition. In 2006, the winner was LifeBond, which developed a liquid biological bandage that stops massive bleeding and has raised approximately $30 million since then. The winner in 2007 was PolyTouch, with a technology for streamlining laparoscopic hernia surgery (the company was sold some three years ago for $40 million). In 2008 – DataStrata, an interactive system that allows hotel guests to order services at the hotel and from the outside, (the system is already in operation at various hotels). 2009 – Vizmo, as stated, which developed a system enabling callers to order services during their conversation with the call center. 2010 – Windward, an accurate digital mapping system for oceans and seas, including territorial waters and vessels, which has raised $5 million since then. 2011 – Pixtr, which has developed algorithms for automatically enhancing photos. 2012 – Yevvo, an app that allows sharing of live video by smartphones (last year it raised $3.7 million, and now it has raised $14 million and changed its name to Meerkat). 2013 – Breezometer, an app for monitoring air pollution levels by smartphone (the company raised $600,000, and will open offices in the US this year after the product is launched there). In 2014, the winner was Augmedics, with a support system for surgeons using 3D simulation (three months later, the company joined a leading technology incubator).
The BizTEC competition was established at the Technion in 2005 as a students’ initiative, designed to foster entrepreneurship among students at the Technion, and over the years has become Israel’s leading student entrepreneurship competition. Today, the competition is open to students for all degrees and to recent graduates. Participants include students from around 15 campuses in Israel.

This year, the tenth anniversary of its establishment, over two hundred student-entrepreneurs entered the contest, 60% of them students at the Technion. On March 30, the opening event for this year’s competition was held at the Technion. The keynote lecture at the event was delivered by entrepreneur Ofer Vilenski, who spoke about entrepreneurial motivation and “the road from idea to success story”. Another speaker was Nissan Elimelech, founder of Augmedics and BizTEC winner in 2014. The event was attended by around 200 young entrepreneurs, former participants in the competition and senior industry figures. Out of 80 competing teams, 30 teams were selected. They will participate in a yearlong program that includes lectures, workshops, guidance by industry-leader mentors, working in the accelerator, and a Demo Day, where the winning team will be announced. The prize for the winners: $10,000.

During its ten years of existence, the competition has produced 122 startups, which have raised over $100 million. “Start-up companies rise and fall on the quality of the team,” says competition director Tomer Aharonovitch, “and our job is to help students realize their ideas towards the establishment of a successful company.” Rafi Nave, director of the Bronica Entrepreneurship Center at the Technion, says “all participating teams address a real problem or unmet need, thus, they all have genuine potential to achieve business success. Furthermore, the main thing is not winning the competition, but rather the experience that the teams acquire, that provides them with the skills essential to business success and especially the motivation to initiate and innovate.”[:]