A Canadian financial technology firm with an office in Scottsdale has landed a new round of capital just six months after a previous raise to expand its earned wage access platform nationwide.
ZayZoon, which is headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, announced Tuesday it closed a $15 million series B extension led by Viola Fintech with participation from Intuit Ventures and existing investors Framework Venture Partners and Export Development Canada.
ZayZoon provides workers with early access to wages they’ve already earned at the push of a button. The platform also offers educational resources and tools to help workers break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, according to the company.
The series B extension will support worker recruitment as well as product development and adoption among small and medium-sized businesses, Tate Hackert, co-founder and president of ZayZoon, told the Business Journal.
“It was an opportunistic round. We have a lot to execute on and the additional funds and strategic partners are welcome,” Hackert said. “With this investment, ZayZoon will explore ways to partner more closely with the QuickBooks ecosystem while continuing to execute on our goal of saving 10 million people $10 billion dollars.”
ZayZoon’s series B extension follows a $34.5 million round in equity and debt financing that the company closed in September, bringing its total amount raised to $49.5 million. That round was led by Framework Venture Partners and Export Development Canada.
In 2017, ZayZoon opened an office at 4250 N. Drinkwater Blvd., Suite 300 in Scottsdale to better serve the U.S., which is the company's target market.
“By empowering individuals to have better control and flexibility, ZayZoon not only alleviates financial stress but also cultivates stronger relationships between employers and employees in the SMB space,” said Noam Inbar, partner at Viola Fintech, n a statement. “We believe that the company will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of financial well-being and we are committed to supporting that journey.”
National franchises drive robust customer growth
ZayZoon reported more than 400% in year-over-year customer growth in 2023, driven in part by increasing popularity among national franchises using its platform, including Dunkin’, McDonald’s and Amazon. The company has more than 10,000 businesses on its platform, Hackert told the Business Journal in September.
Hackert’s idea for ZayZoon was sparked after noticing an increasing number of people with steady jobs didn’t have access to traditional lending products. If they fell on hard times, they were forced to rely on predatory lenders, potentially leading them to fall deeper into debt.
After making money working on a commercial fishing boat, Hackert — who at the time was 16 years old — lent his personal capital to workers via Craigslist and the Canadian classified ads site Kijiji.
His business idea later evolved into ZayZoon and in 2014, he co-founded the company with Jamie Ha and Darcy Tuer to provide workers with on-demand, interest-free advances on wages they’ve already earned from employers. Rather, customers pay a flat fee for ZayZoon's services.
In 2023, ZayZoon increased its headcount from 55 employees to more than 100.
Hackert said ZayZoon will continue hiring to support its growth, but he did not provide a specific number of how many people the company expects to recruit in the near future.
As of March 27, ZayZoon had three job listings on its website for customer service and sales representatives, all of which are remote positions.
