Deel sets sights on IPO with former Intuit executive named CFO
Payroll startup appoints Joe Kauffman to lead financial strategy as it prepares for a public listing, following a $17.3 billion funding round and record revenue growth.
Deel, the Israeli-founded HR and payroll platform, has appointed Joe Kauffman, a former Intuit executive, as its chief financial officer. The announcement, made Monday, comes as Deel, valued at $17.3 billion following a $300 million Series E round last month, positions itself for a potential initial public offering.
Kauffman succeeds founding CFO Philippe Bouaziz (father of Israeli CEO Alex Bouaziz), who will transition into a newly created role as executive chairman and chief strategy officer.
"We don't have an exact timing in place now, but IPO is definitely the intent," Kauffman told Reuters. "With two IPOs under my belt, I'm looking for a hat-trick." His prior roles include serving as CFO of TAL Education Group, where he oversaw its public offering, and leading Credit Karma, Intuit’s financial platform, as CEO. At Credit Karma, he drove international expansion and scaled revenue from just over $100 million in 2014 to $2.3 billion by fiscal 2025.
Founded in 2019, Deel provides services that allow companies to hire and manage international employees and contractors in compliance with local labor laws, while automating payroll processing across multiple jurisdictions. In September, the company recorded its first $100 million revenue month and now generates roughly $15 million to $17 million in EBITDA. The firm currently processes $22 billion in annual payroll for 37,000 clients across 150 countries.
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Deel’s recent funding and executive appointments underscore its aggressive growth strategy. Last month’s $300 million Series E round, led by Ribbit Capital with participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Coatue Management, propelled the company’s valuation to $17.3 billion. The round followed a $300 million secondary transaction earlier this year, which valued the company at roughly $12 billion, and came despite the high-profile corporate espionage litigation with Rippling, which has accused Deel of racketeering, trade-secret misappropriation, and unfair competition. Deel filed a defamation suit against Rippling in April.
“We’re at the right trajectory where we should be top line driven,” Kauffman said, emphasizing that the focus is on reinvesting in growth rather than cost-cutting. “It’s about how do we reinvest to really go back after the opportunity and drive top line even more.”
In addition to Kauffman, Deel has recently expanded its executive leadership team, appointing Harish Sharma as chief risk officer, Anthony Luis Rodriguez as compliance chief, and DeAnn Work as general counsel. Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO of Deel, described Kauffman’s appointment as a “strong validation of the company we’ve built and the leadership position we hold in the market.”
