Investing in Deel | How to Buy Pre-IPO Shares

Deel is an all-in-one human resources service provider. The company offers small, medium, and enterprise-level clientele options that streamline critical tasks such as onboarding and payroll. It combines advanced AI, mobile app support, white label solutions, and more to enhance your business operations.

Today, Deel is the leading global HR platform. Its services are used by over 35,000 companies globally, including many industry leaders like Coinbase. All of this growth has raised interest in Deel shares.

However, the company is privately owned. Consequently, you will need to learn how to navigate the secondary market if you intend to qualify for these assets. Here’s what you need to know.

What is Deel?

Deel was founded in 2019 by Alex Bouaziz, an MIT graduate, and Shuo Wang, a Williams College alum. They recognized the growing challenges of managing global hiring and compliance, and built Deel to streamline international workforce management. They founded the company in 2019 after realizing that the hiring process had expanded globally for many companies. They understood that the majority of firms didn’t have the tools to accommodate these changes.

Deel entered the market promising to streamline critical tasks like recruitment and compliance. Since its launch, the platform has helped companies hire +650,000 workers, and its products and network continue to expand.

Deel HR

Deel HR is one of the company’s core products. It features a suite of tools designed to make managing your HR across international operations easy. It includes helpful features designed to boost employee engagement and retention.

The system creates a personalized profile for each employee. It tracks their compliance and hiring requirements based on their region and can automate many of the hiring procedures. There are also tools designed to lower onboarding costs, such as integrated KYC and background checks that enable you to securely certify employees’ work history.

This strategy ensures that your employees remain compliant despite living in different regions. Additionally, the system integrates VISA submission for international workers, streamlining the process further and saving expenses.

Deel Payroll

Deel Payroll integrates directly into the Deel HR offerings. This platform was built from the ground up to handle the complexities of international payroll. It enables companies to hire from over 120 countries, utilizing fully compliant paperwork.

Source – Deel

Deel Payroll enhances the onboarding process and reduces its overall time. It offers automated global compliance and can be completed by a new hire in less than 5 minutes. These features are further complemented by one-click contracts for outsourcing contractors and more.

Deel IT

Recently, Deel branched into IT services. The Deel IT package allows businesses to integrate high-level communications and encryption to drive security. Gain real-time analytics into your technical capabilities and performance.

Deel IT features a user-friendly interface that allows you to easily determine the permissions and access of every employee based on their position and tasks. It can also help you to visualize any weaknesses in your business model or potential attack vectors.

Deel AI

Every package includes Deel AI features. These protocols are a primary reason the platform has experienced recent growth. They make it easy for business owners to get answers quickly. They provide curated insight into vast amounts of data, creating an unmatched overview.

Deel AI provides around-the-clock answers and can be used to keep track of everything from your payroll to international logistics. The proprietary algorithm learns from your actions and can improve its response based on your strategy.

Consulting Options

Another new product offered by Deel is privacy consulting. This security feature will examine your network and make recommendations to strengthen your security against data breaches, tracking, and other hacks. It integrates global privacy standards and ensures your company abides by them.

Another consulting option is Entity Setup. This product helps companies create their internal operations. It includes everything you need to open in your new location and meet regulatory requirements. In this way, it saves companies time and effort while reducing their legal costs.

Historical Funding Rounds

Summary of Deel Funding:

Total Funding: Deel secured $686M across 6 funding rounds

Largest Round: Deel’s largest funding round secured $428M on September 14, 2021.

Investors: A total of 31 institutional investors and 13 Angel investors back Deel

Latest Round: The latest funding round raised $3M and was a Series D round held on December 13, 2024.

Funding Rounds Breakdown:

• 2 Early-Stage
• 4 Late-Stage

Key Investors:

Deel secured capital from several institutional investors, including Emerson Collective, Andreessen Horowitz, Spark Capital, Y Combinator, Coatue, Altimeter Capital, Spark Capital, Green Bay Ventures, Neo, and more.

Why Invest in Deel?

There are several reasons why investing in Deel is a smart move. For one, the company leads the industry. Its combination of helpful features, AI options, and reputable history has helped it to secure this dominant position. Additionally, it appears that it will continue on this trend moving forward.

Unmatched Overview

Deel provides an in-depth overview of your business. You can see every detail, including employer costs, headcount, turnover, and hardware expenses. You can even integrate work VISA costs and other regulatory and compliance expenses to gain a true vision of your progress.

Simplify Business Operations

Every aspect of Deel was built from the ground up to simplify business operations. This strategy is evident from the 5-minute onboarding options to the advanced AI protocol. Running a global business is a difficult task. However, Deel eliminates a lot of the workload and provides true compliance on a global scale.

Save Money on Tech

Another major advantage that Deel brings to the market is that it reduces hardware costs for major corporations. Outsourcing HR tech tasks is a great way to eliminate thousands of dollars in expenses and reduce technical requirements for your firm.

Gain Insight at every Level of Your Business

Deel brings together your HR, finance, and legal teams, enabling them to operate with greater cohesion. Its AI services can get you the answers to your critical questions in seconds and provide data to back up any recommendations.

Scalable

Another crucial reason why Deel has so much support is that it was designed to scale up to meet the needs of major conglomerates. This scalability enables it to grow in line with its clients as their operations expand. Already, the company has helped firms expand and coordinate their domestic and worldwide workforce.

Funding and Investor data sourced from Tracxn

1. Pre-IPO Secondary Marketplace

Secondary markets are purpose-built exchanges that connect pre-IPO shareholders with potential investors. These marketplaces can offer these assets because they work closely with employees, early-stage investors, and venture capitalists, who are crucial to the company’s pre-IPO growth.

Investing in pre-IPO shares of Deel could offer strong returns if the company’s valuation increases following its IPO. It’s common for company valuations to increase following an IPO. As such, it makes sense to add pre-IPO shares to your portfolio before the firm announces plans to go public.

Secondary marketplaces have many requirements. Here are some concerns you should be made aware of:

Eligibility: This approach requires you to be an accredited investor, meaning you will have to show at least $1M in liquid assets to qualify for access.

2. Private Equity Firms

Private equity firms gain access to pre-IPO shares during investment rounds. They then offer these shares to high-net-worth accredited investors with a commission. Notably, private equity firms are known to have extra stipulations, including blocking the sale of shares for years in some cases.

3. Employee Equity Sales

Many consider employee equity sales as the best way to acquire pre-IPO shares in Deel. This method of acquiring pre-IPO shares requires you to connect with former employees. It’s common for companies to issue shares as part of an incentive package. Notably, this profit-sharing method has become more popular, leading to more pre-IPO share opportunities for investors.

Private Transactions: To complete a private pre-IPO transaction, you will need to navigate several steps, including creating specific legal agreements, conducting valuations, and establishing any limitations on the asset transfer.

Brokerage: Brokers will take a lot of the confusion out of the pre-IPO process. These professionals can guide you through each step, ensuring full compliance and avoiding common errors untrained professionals make.

There are several risks that you should consider before jumping into the pre-IPO shares investment arena. Here are the top concerns:

Liquidity Risk

If you are looking for an asset that you can sell right away, pre-IPO shares are not the best option.

These investments can include sales and transfer clauses that prevent the transfer of the asset until certain criteria, such as the IPO’s completion, are met. It’s even common for pre-IPO shares to require you to wait years before gaining the ability to sell your assets.

Finding a Broker

If you meet the requirements and are comfortable with the risks, several platforms offer access to pre-IPO opportunities:

Forge Global: One of the largest private stock marketplaces, offering shares in late-stage startups like SpaceX, Stripe, and Databricks. Minimums typically start around $100,000.

EquityZen: A popular platform allowing accredited investors to buy into private companies with minimums as low as $5,000. Past offerings have included companies such as Discord and UiPath.

Rainmaker Securities: A full-service broker that helps source and negotiate private share sales, including opportunities in companies like OpenAI, Stripe, and Palantir.

Hiive: A newer platform with live bid/ask pricing for hundreds of private companies. Transparent and low-fee, with minimums starting around $25,000.

MicroVentures: Offers pooled access to late-stage companies through special purpose vehicles (SPVs), including past investments in SpaceX and Instacart.

EquityBee: Allows investors to fund employee stock option exercises at startups, often at discounted valuations, with a minimum investment of around $10,000.

Augment: A digital-first marketplace showing real-time pricing for pre-IPO shares, targeting tech-savvy investors and offering lower transaction fees.

StartEngine Private: Launched in late 2023, this platform offers accredited investors access to Regulation D offerings in later-stage, venture-backed companies. In its first nine months, it generated $16.5 million in revenue, with average investments of around $32,000

Important: Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor before investing in private company shares.

Deel Valuation and Potential IPO Plans

Deel qualified for unicorn status after it secured a $12B valuation on January 23, 2023. The company managed to secure this value by addressing the key pain points associated with international hiring practices. Its services are geared towards a digital economy that continues to expand its technical and legal requirements.

Deel provides companies with a streamlined way to hire internationally while retaining compliance. It also offers a suite of tools that can provide clients with a competitive edge in terms of data management and response times.

Those holding Deel shares seek to capitalize on these factors. If Deel can remain on its current trajectory, there’s a good chance that future share prices will continue to see gains as the company expands its network even further.

Investing in Deel Pre-IPO Shares | Conclusion

Owning Deel pre-IPO shares opens the door for future opportunities. The company leads its sector and provides valuable services to expanding businesses. Its focus on the digital economy and hiring without borders are all reasons why the company continues to succeed.

However, you should always consult a financial expert before you make any pre-IPO investments. For one, these shares have many stipulations, which can include no-sale periods. These factors can increase your risk. For those who complete their research and can qualify for Deel Pre-IPO shares, there’s a lot of future potential.

Learn about Other Pre-IPO Opportunities Now

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Pre-IPO shares are typically available only to accredited investors and carry significant risk. Always perform thorough due diligence and consult a financial advisor or legal expert before making investment decisions.