Gusto
Payroll, benefits, and HR software for small and mid-sized businesses
Fintech
📍 San Francisco, CA
Founded 2011
Current Valuation
$9.5B
as of 2021-Q3
UNICORN
Gusto (originally ZenPayroll, founded 2011 in Y Combinator) is the full-stack payroll, benefits, and HR platform for US small and mid-sized businesses, serving roughly 400,000+ employers. The company hit a $9.5B private valuation in its August 2021 Series E led by T. Rowe Price and Generation IM and has grown into a roughly $975M-revenue business by 2025, up ~30% YoY. Gusto Embedded — its payroll-as-a-service API — extends the platform's reach into vertical SaaS partners. Widely viewed as one of the most-anticipated 2026 fintech IPO candidates as the SMB-software IPO window reopens.
Company Profile
Growth
~30% YoY in 2025; ~400,000+ SMB customers; one of the most-anticipated 2026 IPO candidates in fintech
Last Round
Series E (extension) — $114M (Aug 2021) · Lead: T. Rowe Price
Founders & Key People
Josh ReevesEdward KimTomer London
Investors
General Catalyst · Generation Investment Management · T. Rowe Price · Y Combinator · Kleiner Perkins · CapitalG · Dragoneer · Fidelity · MSD Capital · Franklin Templeton
Products
- Gusto Payroll (US full-service payroll)
- Gusto Benefits (health, 401(k), workers comp)
- Gusto HR (onboarding, time tracking, performance)
- Gusto Embedded (payroll-as-a-service API)
- Gusto Wallet (employee financial app)
Competitors
ADP · Paychex · Rippling · Justworks · Paycom · Square Payroll · QuickBooks Payroll
FintechPayrollB2BSMBHR TechDecacorn-adjacent
Private-company numbers are not real-time. Reflects publicly disclosed valuations from press releases, news reports, and tender offers as of 2021-Q3. Refreshed quarterly.