Happl, a global employee benefits operating system, has raised $11 million in a Series A round led by Portage Ventures. Y Combinator, 6 Degrees Capital, Haatch and Ventures Together also participated. Founded in 2022 by Ben Towers MBE, Happl provides an AI-powered platform that helps HR and finance teams manage employee benefits eligibility, compliance and administration across over 160 countries. The system replaces fragmented country-by-country processes with unified infrastructure designed for multinational employers. The London-based company, which also operates in New York, serves enterprise clients including Moelis, Kainos and Hootsuite. The funding will support product development and international expansion as demand grows for modernised benefits management infrastructure amongst global organisations.

The fact that Paul Graham personally has billions of dollars at stake with OpenAI doesn’t mean that his public opinion on Sam Altman’s trustworthiness and leadership is invalid. But it certainly seems like the sort of thing that ought to be disclosed when quoting Graham as an Altman character reference.

Deel grew from $0 to $500M ARR in 5 years. Here's a breakdown of why VCs invested.