Rippling secures $450 million, valued at $16.8 billion, and confirms that YC is a customer.

The human resources technology startup, Rippling, has completed a Series G funding round totaling $450 million, achieving a valuation of $16.8 billion. Additionally, it is conducting a $200 million stock buyback offer to provide liquidity to current and former employees. This fundraising represents a significant increase in valuation compared to last year, when in April 2024, the company was valued at $13.4 billion following a $200 million Series F round led by Coatue, along with a $590 million offering.

The new financing, which had been previously reported to be on the way, includes participation from a group of both new and existing investors. Among the new investors are Sands Capital, GIC, Goldman Sachs Growth, and Baillie Gifford, while previous investors such as Elad Gil and Y Combinator, among others, have also contributed.

Rippling, which graduated from Y Combinator's Winter 2017 cohort, has experienced remarkable growth and has become one of the success stories of this accelerator. Recently, Y Combinator highlighted Rippling as the “preferred” human resources tool of all its founders, even promoting a special offering called “Founder Mode” with discounted services for YC-backed companies.

Moreover, Parker Conrad, co-founder and CEO of Rippling, shared details about the new "Startup Stack," which appears to be a strategy to collaborate with earlier-stage companies. The company already works with over 15,000 startups and has begun offering “six months of Rippling for free” to attract these new businesses.

This expansion and increase in marketing come amid a legal demand that Rippling has filed against its competitor Deel, accusing it of hiring an employee to spy on internal trade secrets. Deel, also a Y Combinator graduate from 2019, has responded with a counterclaim denying the accusations and presenting its own allegations.

With the latest capital injection, Rippling has raised a total of $1.85 billion, boasts over 20,000 clients, and more than 4,000 employees. Recently, the company reached annualized revenues of $570 million. Founded in 2016, Rippling has diversified its product offerings and now has around two dozen, ranging from payroll and benefits to identity management and corporate payments. The new funding will enable the company to accelerate its expansion into new markets, enhance existing products, and support the development of new solutions.