What Solar Staff does

Solar Staff is a private Russian fintech founded in 2014 (legal entity ООО «Солар Стафф Рус», operating from Moscow with corporate domicile in Limassol, Cyprus) that provides a single-window SaaS platform for businesses on the Russian general taxation system (ОСНО) to engage, document, and pay freelancers and contractors across three tax statuses — physical persons, self-employed (самозанятые), and individual entrepreneurs (ИП) — in 190+ countries. The platform's workflow covers freelancer invitation, task creation and lifecycle management, automatic generation of closing documents (acts, invoices, VAT-accounting documents) under electronic document management standards (ЭДО), multi-currency payment routing (RUB, USD, EUR), and compliance with the Russian advertising marking law (ОРД). Solar Staff serves over 3,000 Russian client companies across e-commerce (Ozon, Joom), education (Skyeng), media (Rambler&Co), logistics (Boxberry), publishing (ЛитРес), gambling (Лига Ставок), biotech (Genotek), travel (Туту), influencer marketing (Perfluence), and banking sectors, with named case studies citing payment-cycle reductions from two weeks to one day and cost reductions of 4%.

Name

Solar Staff

Legal name

ООО «Солар Стафф Рус»

Website

https://solarstaff.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Solar Staff is a Russian B2B fintech platform enabling companies on the ОСНО tax system to onboard, document, and pay freelancers, self-employed persons, and ИП contractors across 190+ countries via web, mobile, and REST API.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Limassol

HQ country

Cyprus

HQ region

Europe

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. Transaction Commission: Solar Staff charges a 6% service fee plus 22% VAT on transactions. For example, to pay freelancers 100,000 rubles, clients need to deposit 129,320 rubles. This is the primary revenue stream from facilitating freelancer payments and document management for businesses on ОСНО (general taxation system)

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Solar Staff provides a B2B platform that enables Russian companies on the general taxation system (ОСНО) to hire and pay freelancers, self-employed individuals, and individual entrepreneurs across 190+ countries. The service consolidates contract management, automated tax-compliant document generation (acts, invoices, VAT documents via ЭДО), multi-currency payments (RUB, USD, EUR), and advertising marking law (ОРД) compliance into a single workflow.

Product overview

Solar Staff is a single unified platform — not a multi-product suite — designed for Russian businesses (companies on the main tax system, ОСНО) to manage work with freelancers, self-employed persons (самозанятые), physical persons, and individual entrepreneurs (ИП) across 190+ countries. The core offering combines a web-based management interface, a REST API (v2) for programmatic integration, a mobile app for freelancers, and a partner/referral program. The platform's central workflow covers inviting freelancers, creating and managing tasks, automated document generation (acts, invoices, VAT-accounting), payment processing with multi-currency support (RUB, USD, EUR), tax status management, and Russian advertising law (маркировка рекламы) compliance. The Solar Staff API is the integration layer enabling external software to embed the platform's payment and document workflows via White Label, as demonstrated by the MBonus cashback service case study.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Freelancer Management Platform (Web Interface) Web platform for businesses to invite freelancers, create and manage tasks, approve work, and process payments across 190+ countries. Supports physical persons, self-employed, and individual entrepreneur tax statuses with VAT deduction, electronic document management, and ad marking compliance.
• Solar Staff REST API v2 Programmatic API enabling developers to integrate freelancer management, task creation, payment processing, document handling, and webhook notifications into external systems. Uses JWT authentication with sandbox testing, available in Russian and English.
• Solar Staff Mobile Application Mobile app for iOS and Android allowing freelancers to register, receive tasks, manage deadlines, add payment instruments, and withdraw earnings.
• Partner Program (Referral Program) Referral program enabling partners (agencies, consultants, influencers, platforms) to recommend Solar Staff to businesses and earn 20% commission on client fees or fixed rewards from 15,000 rubles per connected company.

Quantifiable outcome

• Payment cycle reduced from 2 weeks to 1 day for hundreds of freelancers (Rambler&Co)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments10 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• CPA Networks and Cashback ServicesminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorPlatform partners including CPA networks, cashback services, niche platforms, mailing services, call tracking services, and exchanges that refer businesses to Solar Staff in exchange for commission on client transactions
• Consulting Companies and IntegratorsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLead generator partners including consulting companies, software developers, integrators, accelerators, marketing agencies, HR agencies, and business services that recommend Solar Staff to their clients
• Influencers and Community LeadersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAgent partners including intermediaries, independent consultants, influencers, bloggers, community administrators, and active professional community participants who earn referral commissions
• МБонус (MBonus)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeep API integration partnership where МБонус embedded Solar Staff functionality into their cashback application. Solar Staff handles all payments and document management while МБонус provides user interface. Partnership enabled МБонус to launch and scale to 8,600 users and 4,000 partner outlets

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Deel: Global HR and payroll platform for hiring and paying contractors/employees across 150+ countries. Most direct international competitor to Solar Staff's freelancer payment and compliance offering, with similar API-first architecture and white-label ambitions.
• Payoneer: Cross-border payments platform widely used by freelancers and SMBs to receive payouts globally. Comparable to Solar Staff in multi-currency freelancer payments and marketplace payouts.
• Remote: Global HR platform for international contractor and employee management, including compliant payments and document handling in 80+ countries. Direct competitor on contractor compliance and payment orchestration.
• Tipalti: Global payables automation platform that handles freelancer/contractor payouts, tax compliance, and document management for marketplaces and SaaS platforms. Comparable API-first B2B GTM and integration depth.
• Papaya Global: Global payroll and workforce payments platform with contractor payment automation across 160+ countries. Comparable focus on compliant international freelancer payouts.

Broad incumbents

• Wise (TransferWise): Established cross-border payments provider offering multi-currency accounts and business payouts globally. Broader incumbent competing on the payment layer underlying Solar Staff's value prop.
• Gusto: US-focused payroll, HR, and contractor payment platform serving SMBs. Comparable contractor payment functionality, though broader HR scope and US-centric.
• ADP: Global payroll and HR services giant with contractor payment solutions via ADP TotalSource and RUN Powered by ADP. Provides overlapping compliance and payment functionality as part of a much larger suite.

Regional players

• Tochka Bank (Modulbank group): Russian digital business bank offering integrated contractor payment, tax, and document services for ИП and self-employed. Direct regional competitor bundling similar functionality into business banking.
• Kontur: Russian accounting and compliance SaaS platform (Kontur.Elba, Kontur.Buhgalteriya) that handles contractor payments, document flow, and reporting. Adjacent regional competitor targeting the same Russian SMB compliance workflow.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/9502614

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Solar Staff