How This Gurugram-based SAAS Startup is Transforming the Future of HR Industry

Traditional HR practices and operations are observed as transforming. They are varying from workforce engagement to successfully carrying out the work processes and facilitating employee-friendly resources. This challenging metamorphosis from the traditional approach to tech-friendly digital HR has been pretty much very challenging.

The process not only focuses on HR but involves organizations as a whole. HR digital transformation continues to be a hot topic for many HR professionals. And for a good reason, since digital technology has the potential and ability to transform HR as we know it.

We recently engaged in an exciting conversation with Mayank Kumar (CEO) And Ajay Singh (CTO), the Founders of an HRTech Startup – Zimyo, and learned about their views on digitizing HR with Zimyo SaaS-enabled HR technology.

Zimyo came into being on 15th January, 2018. We are publishing an interview with its founders:

Q.: What is the problem you are trying to solve? Please share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?

Ans: Startups and small businesses find it challenging to attract and retain talent as they can’t provide employee benefits like what their bigger enterprise counterparts can offer — for instance, payday loans, health insurance, and other investment options. Zimyo offers SMBs a platform for HR, Payroll Software, and other relevant benefits to cater to every need of an employee of the concerned organization. I identified this as a massive drawback while working in micro-finance, which was around the year 2016.

The absence of formal credit for employees came to me as a surprise. Considering that the employees had worked their lives in factories and had a PF account as well as investments to show, no banks were willing to lend them money in times of dire need. They wished their organizations cared about them like they did, giving away their youth and countless career opportunities during their tenure. I wanted to help that person and that organization too. Nobody should feel helpless watching their employees suffer like that. And, this is what prompted me to start Zimyo.

Q.: Please tell us about the founders.

Ans: Zimyo was founded by us both – Ajay Kadyan (CTO) and Kumar Mayank (CEO).

To tell you more about ourselves:

• Kumar Mayank | Ex-AVP [Payments, Bank], IIM Lucknow, Scindia: I hold an experience of 5+ years in product management with MFIs. The process helped me to understand the market well enough and launch a payday loan business in India.
• Ajay Singh Kadyan | CTO | Ex-Tech Lead, AuthBridge | MDU: With an extensive HR Tech experience, Ajay has led the technology department in HR businesses for 10+ yrs.

While working in tandem with each other in an HR Tech-enabled company, we realized we are both cut-throat product-passionate individuals. And that there is a lot we could grow and achieve together. What and how we would do that then became a matter of future discussion. Which we eventually had, when in 2018 we built Zimyo.

Q.: List all the names of the core team members, along with their designated roles. How do you see them evolving? What would be each of their skill sets? – Elaborate also, if any of the team members have specific domain expertise.

Ans: There are 6 of us in the core team for now (including Ajay and me):

• Ashish – Is the National Sales Head. He efficiently runs our sales engine with his team-group of unrelenting hustlers. His domain expertise in HR and proficiency in negotiation & outbound selling is a boon to the company.

• Jaspreet – Our Customer Success Head who leads our customer management team. The process involves onboarding and support functions. Indeed an expert in client presentations and engagement.

• Vinay & Pawan – Our respective Tech Leads. They head their separate segments in the tech department. A bonus – they are gifted in logical reasoning and establishing a smooth workflow for their products.

Q.: Tell us more about the product/solution you offer? How did you get your first customer? Explain how you went about establishing the product-market fit process.

Ans: We have around 18 product modules at the moment, all in HR-Tech space that cover areas from recruiting to separation. We got our first customer by pitching to a potential lead right after we met at an event. We are horizontal SaaS the product-market fit was already there. Zimyo SaaS HR Technology helps to track business performance as well as employee issues.

SaaS-enabled HR Technology helps to track business performance and employee issues, both. It also helps in increasing the productivity of the Human Resources Department on many fronts.

Q.: What is your USP? What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Kindly state the uniqueness of your startup.

Ans: FinTech Riding over HR Tech is our innovation and unique proposition. We are a FinTech SaaS Employee Experience Platform that allows employee-centric organizations to offer one-of-a-kind workplace experience. They facilitate their employees with modern HR solutions, such as regular employee feedback, surveys, and polls, life-cycle management, etc. Additionally, the technical platform offers financial benefits like payday loans, medical insurance, and tax-saving investments among others. The model is unique not only in India but in other countries as well.

Q.: What were your assumptions when you entered the market, learning that you have? Who in your mind is your ideal customer? Do you have at least one of them signed up?

Ans: Our assumption for the market was that “a pie is too big for everyone to eat.” We knew this fact since, because we were building horizontal SaaS, the product will always be in demand.

Our Ideal customer/ICP is a tech-based product company. We only sell to ICPs.

Q.: What has been your biggest failure as an entrepreneur, and what did you learn from it?

Ans: We tried handing out our HR SaaS platform free-of-cost to make revenue from the FinTech. We tasted failure in doing so as people in India don’t value a free product or servicer. They undermine the value.

Q.: How are you pricing the product? What is the logic behind it? What is the model you are following – Free /Freemium/ Premium etc. ? Explain your thought process.

Ans: It is a Freemium model for SaaS and interest/charges based model for Fintech. We opted for the standard pricing models prevalent in the market, not experimenting much here.

Q.: Please tell us about the investors (if any).

Ans: Our initial investors were my bosses from past organizations I worked with to gain relevant experience. They trusted me with their money by gauging my performance and rapport I had built with the firms.

Q.: Since inception, give us a sense of the value of business done by your venture? Please explain in detail. (e.g., What is the current turnover? From Launching till date total no. of visitors on website/persons registered/inquiries and enrollment etc.)

Ans: Launched in 2018, Zimyo serves more than 200 organizations at present and over 40 thousand employees nationwide. Each month, we process a turnover of INR 40 crores of payroll.

Q.: What is the big picture aimed at your startup? Is this product/service leading to something bigger? If so, how?

Ans: The big picture is that we are secretly heading towards achieving our vision of being the biggest FinTech startup in the country.

Q.: Who do you perceive as your competition? How do you differentiate yourself from them?

Ans: No competitors exist at the moment in FinTech SaaS.

Q.: What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months? Any other information you would like to share?

Ans: We would like to reach 100K ARR in the next six months.

Q.: What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs?

Ans: Lots. People might say that greatness is for a selected few, but it is for everyone. You have just got to work for that. Never stop trying.

Q.: Why is it essential to have customized HR models for startups, and how do they help in cutting costs and a competent workforce in a short period?

Ans: Working in a startup can be chaotic, even as a Founder. What you need to do is streamline things, especially for your employees.

Q.16: Recruitment is a tedious process. How is Zimyo trying to create a secure and effective platform for recruiters?

Ans: We have built seamless integrations within our HRMS and outside for recruiters.

Q.: Why Saas by Zimyo is a must-have for startups? How will it impact the growth pattern for them?

Ans: Making efforts to keep your employees motivated never goes for a toss. Either you offer a group insurance or payday, the employees will trust and work for you with blood and sweat.

Q: You will find all startups bootstrapped these days. Is investment in the initial round for Saas justified or not? Kindly elaborate.

Ans: It is justified. One can plan better by taking their mind off the ongoing debt issues.

Q.: Where do you see Zimyo five years from now?

Ans: We wish to be one of the most prominent HRMS players in the world, not just India.

While it’s one thing to talk about digital HR transformation, it’s an entirely different thing to implement it!

In today’s article, we dived more in-depth into the phenomenon of HR digital transformation with Zimyo: what is it, why is it necessary, and how is SaaS-based HR Tech enabling organizations to simplify departmental functioning and employee engagement. You can browse through various fan-favourite HR Tech models available on www.zimyo.com to gain better understanding and insights or schedule a demo to get a tour of their products from here.