Origin, a platform designed to help human resources teams better align employee benefits with business needs, has raised $21m Series A funding led by Felix Capital.
HR and payroll startups were among the big winners of the 2021-22 tech boom, with leading industry players like UK startup Wagestream and Barcelona’s Factorial raising some of the largest rounds in the sector.
London-based Origin has developed AI software to help HR teams analyse and learn from unstructured data — like internal surveys and feedback, performance reviews and contracts — and determine which benefit policies and leave allowances fit their business best. The platform also helps businesses manage vendor contracts and commissions to improve operational efficiency.
Other investors in the round include American VC Acadian Ventures, London-based Notion Capital, Tudor Havriliuc, former VP of HR at Meta, Laura Modiano, head of startups at OpenAI and Paul Daugherty, former chief technology and innovation officer at Accenture. The round values the startup at $106m.
Origin is led by cofounder and CEO Chris Bruce, who previously launched Romanian online benefit platform Darwin, and cofounder and CTO Peter Craghill, who formerly led technology at HRtech Thomsons online benefits, and later at Visualsoft.
The platform has been co-created with companies like Pfizer, Boston Consulting Group and BP, and has been operating since April 2024, according to LinkedIn.
The new funding will help the startup expand in Europe and the US, and to further develop the software.