Deel’s valuation reaches $17.3 billion after raising $300 million from big-name venture capital firms

Although it’s been amusing for the tech industry to watch Decacorns’ two payroll rivals, Deel and Rippling, sue each other over a corporate espionage scandal, it’s clear that top-tier venture capital firms aren’t too scared. Deel announced Thursday that it has raised a $300 million Series E round co-led by Ribbit Capital and Andreessen Horowitz’s Series A round, with participation from existing investors such as Coatue Management and General Catalyst.

Deel says it has been profitable for three years and exceeded $1 billion in ARR, including a month — September — that hit $100 million in revenue. Deel’s business model focuses on serving global companies, handling the complexities of currency regulation and staffing for remote international teams. It says it has now grown to more than 35,000 customers with more than 1.5 million workers in more than 150 countries.

These are the kinds of numbers that attract investment, whether lawsuits are pending or not. (Ribbit’s lawsuit filed in California against Deel does not yet have a trial date, and is in the discovery phase, according to court records.) In fact, Ribbit founder Micky Malka and a16z founder Ben Horowitz gave their full support to Deel in the announcement. In prepared remarks, Malka said Ribbit has been a “fan” of the HR company for a long time, because it is a “trusted corporate brand,” and Horowitz said a16z was “blown away” by Deel’s work to build “the best HR platform” for global companies.

However, the lawsuits haven’t slowed Riebling’s fundraising efforts either. In August, Ripling raised a $450 million Series G funding round at a $16.8 billion valuation.