While developing an app that brings you a car, filters your photo or delivers your food is a way sexier startup concept than geeking out on streamlining the mind-numbing and time-intensive task of enrolling employees for company benefits, two founders decided it was worth the time to figure it out-and it paid off.
Zenefits, a free, cloud-based human resources platform that gives managers and employees a single location to manage all their benefits (health, payroll, etc.) from one platform, announced their expansion to Old Town Scottsdale inside the Galleria.
Their 94,000 square foot space will neighbor tech companies Weebly and Yelp, and they plan to employ 1,300 full-time employees within three years for jobs such as HR specialists, sales reps, account managers, executives and client support.
Read: Weebly expands to Scottsdale, bringing 250 jobs
CEO and co-founder Parker Conrad began developing Zenefits with co-founder Laks Srini at Y-Combinator and created a buzz when they competed at TechCrunch Battlefield NY in April 2013.
Since then, Zenefits’ growth has been off the charts, even by San Francisco standards. They have signed up more than 2,000 companies across 47 states, servicing over 50,000 employees and raised $83.6M from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Institutional Venture Partners and Academy Award winner Jared Leto.
Conrad tells me that they chose to expand to Scottsdale because of the entrepreneurial climate and talent found in Arizona.
“We wanted a location in the West that had a big pool of talented workers and a friendly business climate. We started looking, and Kate and (U.S. Congressman-elect) Ruben Gallego – friends of mine – urged me to look at Arizona. We did, and the officials here were amazing in working with us. I believe that Phoenix is becoming one of the big tech hubs in the country. It was a natural fit for us.”
As for housing next to large companies that also require a large talent pool, Conrad said, “We are excited to join a growing tech community with other like-minded companies that are looking for a smart, talented workforce and a really friendly business climate.”
Conrad is excited to share his company culture with Arizona and contribute to the energy and vibe of the local tech scene.
“We are growing exponentially and we are helping thousands of small businesses around the country grow quickly and succeed, for free, so we are really proud of the work we do on a daily basis,” he said. “Growing this quickly means, of course, we are a hardworking bunch, but like a lot of tech companies, we also try to establish a really tight, cohesive work culture, and we like to play hard too. There is always a ton of energy and excitement at our offices, and we plan to create that at our new Arizona office as well.”
Read about other tech companies in Scottsdale at AZTB.
Graphics courtesy of Zenefits
