Puma Private Equity has completed a €3.7 million investment into HR Duo as part of a €4.5 million round alongside existing investors. HR Duo, the Irish HR tech company headquartered in Dunshaughlin, Co. Meath, will use the investment to accelerate product development, grow its workforce, and drive international expansion.

HR Duo provides HR solutions to SMEs by integrating industry knowledge with the latest technology to deliver the estimated 80% of HR requirements that can be automated. This easy to use, low cost, and up-to-date ‘always on’ availability make it ideal for its target market of SMEs with 50-1,000 employees, acting as a bolt-on support to HR personnel, or indeed as a HR back-up for companies without a dedicated HR department. The company’s services are available online as a cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS), with subscriptions starting from as little as £10 per employee per month, with no up-front costs.

The use of HR Duo’s technology frees up its clients to focus on the key 20% of HR which requires the application of judgement and expertise: namely, critical business decisions and people management. The current approach to HR for many firms relies on either under-resourced in-house HR functions, or impersonal software tools which often go unused and unmanaged. HR Duo provides clients with the opportunity to leverage modern technology to streamline its processes, founded in the Management team’s long-standing HR expertise.

Puma was joined in this round by the original seed investors – including Alan Merriman of Elkstone and Joe Hogan of Openet – underscoring the commitment of the founding investors in the future of the business.

“We are delighted to welcome Puma Private Equity on board, who will provide not only the necessary funding but also the expertise that will help drive our ambitious growth strategy. Our near- to mid-term objectives are rapid revenue growth and staff expansion, not only in Ireland but also in the UK, where we see enormous untapped opportunity for the unique services that HR Duo offers. This is an exciting time for the company, and we look forward to a bright future revolutionising the HR needs of thousands of SMEs worldwide.”

Jerome Forde, CEO of HR Duo

“With the UK’s HR Tech market rapidly growing and SMEs increasingly seeking to improve their employees’ working experience, it’s the perfect time for an innovative and ambitious company like HR Duo to expand into the UK and make its mark. We see significant potential to empower UK SMEs, harnessing established HR experience to enable value creation through workforce engagement. We are thrilled to be working with HR Duo and its management team and are excited to see where this journey takes us.”

Henri Songeur, Investment Manager at Puma Private Equity

The aspirations of HR Duo, allied with this fresh injection of funding, will see the firm considerably increase its headcount in the coming year, across its offices in Ireland, the UK, and Romania. New roles will be primarily in its sales and knowledge teams, with a concurrent expansion of its software development team.

Within only two years of operation, HR Duo has already established itself as a leader in the ‘HR Tech’ space, with revenue growth averaging 57% per annum a strong validation of the appetite for its software and services. Its customers are diverse, ranging from retail to medical devices, hospitality, tech start-ups, and more, with employees numbering from dozens to hundreds of people. This funding round will provide the much-needed resources to reach the next stage of its strategy, with further future funding rounds expected as the company grows internationally.

For more visit www.hrduo.com.