Rise

Name

Rise

Legal name

Rise Works, Inc.

Website

https://riseworks.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Global Payroll Software

NAICS

Payroll Services (541214), Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (52232)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Payroll & Contractor Payments (Crypto) (FSADAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Employer of Record (EOR) & Global Payroll (FSAMAKAB), Global Payroll & Multi-Country Payroll Management (BPACAHAC), Contractor / Freelancer Payments (FSAMAKAC), International Payroll & Contractor Payments (FSAMAIAC), Cross-Border Payouts & Mass Disbursements (Pay-outs) (FSAMAIAJ)

Keywords

• Crypto payroll platform
• Global contractor payments
• Employer of record services
• Stablecoin payment infrastructure
• Web3 workforce compliance

Headquarters

HQ city

Beachwood

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Global Contractor Pay: Monthly subscription per contractor covering automated compliance, multi-currency payroll, crypto/fiat payouts, and tax documentation. Fixed per-worker pricing for predictable scaling costs.
2. Agent of Record (AOR): Monthly subscription per contractor providing legal buffer against misclassification risk, compliance-first engagement, employment contracts, background checks, and year-end tax reporting.
3. Employer of Record (EOR): Monthly subscription per employee covering full employment compliance, payroll administration, benefits management, and local labor requirements across supported countries. Rise acts as legal employer.
4. Direct Payroll: Run payroll directly from Rise balance without external providers, creating streamlined experience from funding to payment execution.
5. Rise Earn (Yield Product): Rise earns 1% commission on yield generated through Aave lending pools on idle USDC. Revenue accrues only when interest is earned and withdrawn, no deposit or holding fees charged.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Rise provides a hybrid fiat-crypto payroll and global workforce compliance platform that enables businesses to onboard, manage, and pay international contractors and full-time employees across 190+ countries. Employers can fund payroll in USD, USDC, or USDT while workers independently choose per-cycle withdrawals in 90+ local currencies or 100+ cryptocurrencies across multiple blockchain networks. The platform combines Agent of Record (AOR), Employer of Record (EOR), and Global Contractor Pay services with automated KYC/AML, tax documentation, and worker classification compliance.

Product overview

Rise is a hybrid payroll and compliance platform that enables businesses to automatically onboard, hire, and pay global teams in local currencies, stablecoins, or cryptocurrencies. The platform operates on a modular architecture consisting of Agent of Record (AOR) for contractor compliance and Global Contractor Pay for flexible international payments, complemented by Employer of Record (EOR) for full-time employee management across 8+ countries. Additional modules include Rise Earn for yield generation on idle payroll funds, Rise ID for on-chain professional identities, Direct Payroll for streamlined fund management, and Daily Payroll for flexible payment scheduling. The platform supports 90+ local currencies and 100+ cryptocurrencies across 190+ countries, processing over $1.5 billion in lifetime payroll volume.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Rise V2: Platform version launch featuring Employer of Record, Direct Payroll, Daily Payroll, and Rise Earn products.
• Global Contractor Pay
• Agent of Record (AOR)
• Employer of Record (EOR)
• Rise Earn
• Rise ID

Products and services

• Agent of Record (AOR) Compliance-first contractor engagement solution that insulates companies from misclassification risk while ensuring every contractor is onboarded, paid, and managed compliantly across 190+ countries. Handles employment contracts, background checks, NDAs, tax reporting, and worker classification audits.
• Global Contractor Pay Hybrid payroll solution for hiring and paying contractors in 190+ countries with automated compliance, tax documentation, and flexible payout options supporting local currencies, stablecoins, and cryptocurrencies. Enables one-time, milestone-based, or recurring payment schedules.
• Employer of Record (EOR) Service enabling companies to hire full-time employees internationally without establishing local legal entities. Rise acts as legal employer handling employment compliance, payroll administration, benefits, and local labor requirements. Currently live in 8 countries expanding to 30+ by end of 2026.
• Direct Payroll Capability allowing companies to run payroll directly from their Rise balance without relying on multiple systems or external providers, creating a streamlined payroll experience from funding to payment execution.
• Rise ID On-chain professional identity system enabling team members to mint verifiable decentralized credentials for identity verification, transaction security, and tamper-proof records of employment.
• Rise Earn

Quantifiable outcome

• 60% reduction in administrative overhead for client companies
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration20 records

AI capability1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CirclecoreTechnology or Integration · 11 June 2025Official Circle/USDC partnership to expand stablecoin adoption in global payroll. Rise integrates Circle's USDC stablecoin as primary payment rail with native infrastructure for both payroll funding and withdrawals. Circle provides institutional-grade settlement and reserve transparency. Partnership enables over $1B in payroll volume processing with 80% of crypto payments on USDC.
• AavecoreTechnology or IntegrationAave powers Rise Earn, enabling yield generation on idle USDC held for upcoming payroll through Aave lending pools on Arbitrum. Employers earn variable yield between funding and disbursement.
• PolygoncoreTechnology or IntegrationPrimary blockchain infrastructure for Rise's stablecoin payroll, achieving 2.1-second transaction finality and $0.002 average fees. Polygon leads in stablecoin payment volume with $3.47B+ USDC supply and 409% growth in payment processor volumes during 2025.
• SumsubcoreTechnology or IntegrationKYC verification partner for automated identity verification during contractor onboarding across 190+ countries.
• ChainalysiscoreTechnology or IntegrationAML compliance partner providing blockchain analysis for transaction monitoring and suspicious activity flagging across crypto payment rails.
• ArbitrumcoreTechnology or IntegrationL2 blockchain infrastructure supporting Rise Earn yield generation and USDC settlement for hybrid payroll operations.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Deel: Deel is a global payroll and Employer of Record platform enabling companies to hire, onboard, and pay contractors and full-time employees worldwide — the most direct competitor to Rise's AOR, EOR, and Global Contractor Pay products.
• Remote: Remote is a global HR platform offering EOR, contractor management, and international payroll across 80+ countries, competing head-to-head for the same mid-market and enterprise global-hiring customers as Rise EOR.
• Papaya Global: Papaya Global provides a global workforce management platform with EOR, payroll, and contractor services across 160+ countries, directly comparable to Rise's EOR and Global Contractor Pay offerings.
• Multiplier: Multiplier offers EOR and global contractor payroll services targeted at startups and SMBs hiring internationally, overlapping with Rise's EOR expansion roadmap and Global Contractor Pay product.
• Bitwage: Bitwage is the longest-running crypto payroll specialist enabling employees and contractors to receive portions of pay in bitcoin and stablecoins, the closest niche competitor to Rise's hybrid fiat-crypto payroll value proposition.
• Toku: Toku provides crypto-native payroll, token compensation, and equity administration for DAOs and Web3 organizations, targeting the same Web3/crypto-native employer segment as Rise's primary customer base.
• Velocity Global: Velocity Global is an established EOR and global payroll provider operating in 185+ countries, directly comparable to Rise's EOR service on country breadth and enterprise-targeting motion.
• Oyster HR: Oyster HR provides EOR and global contractor management for distributed companies, a direct comparable to Rise on the global hiring and contractor compliance product layer.

Broad incumbents

• Rippling: Rippling is a unified HR, IT, and finance platform that includes global payroll as a module within a much broader workforce-management suite, competing with Rise on EOR/payroll while also bundling adjacent categories Rise does not address.
• Wise: Wise (formerly TransferWise) operates a broad cross-border payments and multi-currency business-account platform, adjacent to Rise for international payout/borderless-payroll use cases but not offering EOR or payroll tax compliance.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rise_pay
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/riseworks
• Facebookfacebook.com/risefreelance

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors11 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Rise