How one enterprise client nearly broke, and built PaidHR

May 17, 2025 - By 4idiotz

Article Summary

PaidHR is a Nigerian HR tech startup that has grown from a small payroll tool to a comprehensive HR platform serving over 200 customers, including enterprise giants like Oando. Founded by Seye Bandele and Lekan Omotosho, PaidHR initially focused on solving HR tech problems for Nigeria’s small and medium-scale businesses. However, they quickly pivoted to an enterprise-focused model after securing Transport Services Limited (TSL) as their first client. Despite macroeconomic challenges, PaidHR has achieved significant milestones, including a rebrand and cross-border payroll expansion. The company is now profitable and continues to attract attention from larger players in the industry.

What This Means for You

PaidHR’s growth showcases the potential of Nigerian startups in the HR tech space.
Adapting to market needs and client feedback has been crucial for PaidHR’s success.
Entering the cross-border payroll market has helped the company increase dollar revenues and attract foreign investors.
Strong marketing and founder-led storytelling have played a significant role in PaidHR’s growth.
Rebranding can be an effective strategy for startups to realign their focus and strengthen their market positioning.

Original Post

At last year’s Moonshot event, I met Seye Bandele, CEO of Nigerian HR tech upstart PaidHR for the first time. He was much taller in person than I imagined, and had a self-assuredness about him. Before that meeting, I had interacted with him a few times: once at the launch of the startup’s cross-border payroll products and at another during its Employee Wage Report (EWA) launch.

Bandele is precisely where he likes to be for this conversation: his own turf. He’s never been a fan of remote work, preferring the certainty of his Lagos office. It’s also how I think about his hands-on approach that has defined PaidHR’s journey since day one.

Before founding PaidHR, Bandele was a business development, strategy, and marketing professional. He’d previously held chief of marketing roles at Konga and Yudala, and ran a marketing consulting agency alongside Chikodi Ukaiwe (now CEO of Salad Africa). During his consulting days, Bandele worked with companies like Flour Mills and, notably, HR tech competitor SeamlessHR. When I ask whether his time at SeamlessHR revealed a market gap that inspired PaidHR, Bandele says he’s not ready to speak publicly about that transition.

Instead, Bandele’s nudge to start an HR company came from his longtime friend and co-founder, Lekan Omotosho. Omotosho, bored of building software for the government, was itching for a new challenge, a problem they could solve together.

Bandele did notice problems. While working at DealDey, he observed how companies struggled with a broken flow of information and communication between management and the wider team. Bandele encountered this problem at multiple organisations. And it inspired the idea for PaidHR, initially ideated as an employee engagement and feedback tool.

The rest of the original post discusses the growth and challenges faced by PaidHR, including their pivots, rebrands, and search for profitability. To read the full article, click on the source link provided at the end of the cleaned-up HTML version.