Kenyan startup FaidiHR is on a mission to fix one of the most persistent bottlenecks for businesses across Africa: manual payroll and HR processes. The cloud-based platform is modernising how companies manage employees, payroll, compliance and financial inclusion—and it could be sitting on a $10 billion opportunity.
“We’re tackling the outdated, inefficient systems that many African businesses still rely on,” said Peter recently at the Safaricom Spark Accelerator Demo Day. “Manual payroll, compliance issues, and casual worker payments in cash are problems that cost businesses millions and leave workers out of the formal financial ecosystem.”
FaidiHR is positioning itself as a scalable, cloud-first solution targeting African businesses, from SMEs to corporates. The platform allows companies to manage HR, process payroll, and onboard casual workers while staying fully compliant with local tax and labour laws. The entire system is built with localization in mind.
“Every African country has its own tax regime. Our platform adapts to each market, offering a fully compliant, plug-and-play experience,” Peter said.
The startup also integrates with M-PESA and banking APIs to improve financial inclusion for casual workers. These are often excluded from formal banking and credit systems due to their cash-based payments.
Built for Africa, Aiming Global
While FaidiHR currently serves over 300 companies in Kenya, Peter says the vision is global. The platform is multi-tenant, meaning it can serve millions of users across various countries, and is already seeing uptake from corporates like Air France, which uses FaidiHR in seven African countries.
“Why would a company as big as Air France not have a working HR solution? Because many of the global products don’t solve the real, day-to-day challenges of African HR teams,” Peter said. “Something as basic as leave tracking across multiple countries becomes a nightmare. With FaidiHR, all that data is in one place.”
The company’s approach is simple: no implementation costs, affordable pricing (from as low as KES 120 per employee), and full self-onboarding from any location.
Early Traction and Road to AI
With just $35,000 in outside funding, FaidiHR has already hit an annual revenue run rate of Ksh 15.5 million (around $150,000). Now, they’re raising $1 million to incorporate AI features and scale customer acquisition efforts.
Upcoming AI tools include predictive attrition analytics and smart shortlisting for recruitment—key features that could significantly reduce the time and cost of hiring.
“Recruitment is a major pain point for most businesses,” Peter said. “With AI, we want to help employers predict staff exits and find the right talent faster.”
Why FaidiHR Might Win
In a crowded HR tech space, FaidiHR says it exists to solve real African problems. The team is led by co-founders Peter and Mike, who have over a decade of experience in fintech and HR tech in East Africa. They’re also obsessed with customer support, providing hand-holding for businesses transitioning from Excel sheets and on-premise software to the cloud.
“African businesses still need support when it comes to cloud adoption. Our customer success team makes sure nobody’s left behind,” said Peter.
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