About Barley
Barley is a Technology company based in Toronto (Canada) founded in 2021 by Jafar O and William Mainguy, and was acquired by Workleap in July 2025. It operates as a cloud-based compensation management software for businesses is provided. It operates on a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) model. Barley has raised $4 million across 1 funding round from investors including Golden Ventures, Union Capital Company and Workleap. Barley offers products and services including Barley Compensation Platform, Pay Bands, Compensation Analytics, Total Rewards, and Benchmarking Data. Its focus areas include Software and HR Technology. Its legal entity is Barley Inc. Its competitors include Gusto, Justworks, Earnin, Paylocity and Payflow and 5 more; 9 of its 10 listed competitors have raised funding.
Company details
Barley is established as a provider of compensation management software tailored for HR and Total Rewards teams. Solutions are offered to streamline pay structures, compensation reviews, and analytics across organizations. Integration with HRIS platforms is supported to enhance data synchronization. Focus is placed on pay equity, transparency, and benchmarking using market data. Services are designed to reduce manual processes, mitigate risks, and control spending for businesses of varying sizes.
- Total Equity Funding$4M (USD)
in 1 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$4M (USD), Seed
Mar 2023
- InvestorsGolden Ventures
& 2 more
- Acquired byWorkleap
(Jul 2025)
Products & Services of Barley
Barley offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Barley Compensation Platform, Pay Bands, Compensation Analytics, Total Rewards, and Benchmarking Data.
Compensation management software for HR and rewards teams.
Tool for creating tailored pay structures across roles.
Analytics to identify pay issues and risks proactively.
Portal to visualize and communicate employee total rewards.
Market data integration for informed compensation decisions.
Funding Insights of Barley
Barley has successfully raised a total of $4M through 1 strategic funding round. The most recent funding activity was a Seed round of $4 million completed in March 2023. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $4M
- Total Rounds 1
- Last Round Seed — $4M
- First Round $4M
(Mar 2023)
- Investors Count 2
All 1 funding rounds of Barley with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 2023 | $4M | Seed | – | Golden Ventures |
3 investors in total: 3 institutional.
Investors in Barley
Barley has secured backing from 3 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Golden Ventures, Union Capital Company and Workleap.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Seed-stage investments are directed toward North American startups. | – | golden.ventures | Toronto, Canada | |
- | – | unioncapital.com | - | |
HR platform providing tools for engagement, feedback, performance, and employee development. | 2006 | workleap.com | Montreal, Canada |
Investor details for Barley
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Barley
3 people are tracked at Barley (2 in leadership, 1 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Jafar O | Co-Founder | Leadership |
William Mainguy | Co-Founder | Leadership |
Janelle Tan | Customer Success Manager | Team |
Complete people profiles for Barley
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Barley
3 dated milestones of Barley across 4 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Barley is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $4.0M.
- Exit Acquired by Workleap.
Competitors of Barley
Barley has 10 listed competitors in our database, 9 of them funded. They include Gusto, Justworks, Earnin, Paylocity and Payflow, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gusto.com | 2012 | San Francisco, United States | $718.35M | 5,876 | Cloud-based HR and payroll solutions are offered for small businesses. | |
| justworks.com | 2012 | New York, United States | $147.52M | 55,459 | Benefits administration and payroll management are provided for businesses. | |
| earnin.com | 2012 | Palo Alto, United States | $190.1M | 242 | Real-time access to earned wages is provided fee-free. | |
| paylocity.com | 1997 | Arlington Heights, United States | $37.28M | 4,150 | Cloud-based payroll and HR solutions are provided for businesses. | |
| payflow.es | 2020 | Alcobendas, Spain | $58.23M | – | Payflow is recognized as a financial wellness application for employees. | |
| zenefits.com | 2013 | Tempe, United States | $598.27M | 242 | Cloud-based HR and payroll management solutions are offered. | |
| papayaglobal.com | 2016 | New York, United States | $440M | – | Cloud-based payroll management solutions are offered for businesses. | |
| ultimatesoftware.com | 1990 | Weston, United States | – | 10,754 | Cloud-based payroll and talent management software is offered to businesses. | |
| pagarbook.com | 2018 | Bengaluru, India | $24.84M | 456 | Provider of staff attendance, payroll and biometric attendance tools for small to medium enterprises | |
| pave.com | 2012 | San Francisco, United States | $175M | 132 | Cloud-based payroll management is enabled for compensation planning and benchmarking. |
Detailed competitors of Barley
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
- Competitive positioning
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Top companies in HR & Workforce Technology
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Barley (HR & Workforce Technology), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Anonymous employee reviews and job search platform are operated. | 2007 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 201.5 M | – | 1,695 | |
Cloud-based LMS platform for IT industry | 2004 | Farmington, Utah, United States | USD 235.41 M | USD 4.95 M | 1,774 | |
Employee health benefits are facilitated via a cloud-based platform. | 2007 | Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania, United States | USD 228.3 M | – | – | |
Business spends, payments, and rewards are streamlined by automated workflows. | 2011 | Hyderabad, Telangana, India | USD 13.75 M | USD 149.43 M | 431 | |
Reward-based crowdfunding is facilitated for content creators and musicians. | 2013 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 412.1 M | – | 1,218 | |
Virtual physical therapy and digital pain care solutions are provided. | 2015 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 854.44 M | – | 1,746 | |
Cloud-based HR and financial software is delivered to enterprises. | 2005 | Pleasanton, California, United States | USD 352.3 M | USD 9.53 B | 21,000 | |
Businesses are connected with freelancers via an online marketplace. | 1999 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 140 M | USD 787.78 M | 600 | |
Tech-enabled mental health solutions for employers are provided. | 2016 | New York, New York, United States | USD 473.73 M | – | 3,902 | |
SaaS-driven credit card and spend management solutions platform for businesses | 2017 | Draper, Utah, United States | USD 1.2 B | – | 5,356 |
Unlock complete access to The Company Check
Get unrestricted viewing across everything we track — from companies and brands to investors, funding rounds, acquisitions, financials, and more.
- Unlimited viewing on all profiles Companies, investors, financials, funding, acquisitions & directors
- Full access to every database India & global coverage, advanced filters and rich profile details
- Always-on access from your team account Single premium plan for everything you see on the portal
Related news about Barley
Complete news archive for Barley
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- Brand-specific news history
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Frequently Asked Questions about Barley
Barley was founded in 2021 and raised its 1st funding round 2 years after it was founded.
Barley is headquartered in Toronto, Canada. It is registered at Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Barley is a funded company, having raised a total of $4M across 1 funding round to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Seed of $4M, raised on Mar 2023.
Barley is established as a provider of compensation management software tailored for HR and Total Rewards teams. Solutions are offered to streamline pay structures, compensation reviews, and analytics across organizations. Integration with HRIS platforms is supported to enhance data synchronization. Focus is placed on pay equity, transparency, and benchmarking using market data. Services are designed to reduce manual processes, mitigate risks, and control spending for businesses of varying sizes.
Barley offers Barley Compensation Platform, Pay Bands, Compensation Analytics, Total Rewards, and Benchmarking Data.
Barley has 3 investors. Key investors include Golden Ventures, Union Capital Company, and Workleap.
Barley operates through Barley Inc..
Yes. Barley was acquired by Workleap in July 2025.