Senegalese human resources tech startup Socium has recently completed a $5 million seed round funding, aiming to deeply explore the market of 21 French-speaking countries in Africa. As a pioneer in the region, Socium is leveraging its unique advantages to tap into this vast market opportunity.
Samba Lo, co-founder and CEO of Socium, stated in an interview with TechCrunch: "Focusing on French-speaking Africa is very appealing to us. This region not only has a unified economic community, similar regulatory frameworks, and a common currency, but also a huge potential in the human resources software market. For these reasons, we have chosen to concentrate on the French-speaking African market."
Socium was initially founded in 2021 by Lo and Serigne Seye as a recruitment website. As the business developed, the demand from clients for payroll management, attendance management, and performance management grew, prompting the team to start building an all-in-one human resources management platform in 2023, aimed at serving multiple countries from Morocco to Cameroon and the Congo.
A major highlight of the platform is its payroll calculation engine specifically developed for the local market. Lo stated that this allows Socium to establish a new market presence within two weeks, much faster than the deployment speed of similar foreign solutions. The platform significantly reduces the workload of human resources and payroll management by automating routine tasks. Additionally, with the help of AI technology, it achieves smart resume matching and job description generation, enabling HR managers to focus more on core tasks such as team management and support.
Looking ahead, Socium plans to integrate with tax authorities to provide automated tax and regulatory document filing services for businesses. Lo said, "Our core mission is to help HR simplify their daily work so they can focus more on the company's most important asset—its talent."
The collaboration between Lo and Seye began at École Polytechnique (Polytechnic Institute of Paris). After graduation, Lo briefly worked in data science before moving into investment banking and joining the French startup Skeat. Deep reflection during the COVID-19 pandemic prompted him to decide to launch a SaaS business in Africa.
Currently, Socium serves over 100 active clients across 15 countries and covers 10 industries. This round of funding was led by Breega, with participation from several investment institutions including Partech, Orange Ventures, and Chui Ventures, while Raisers Partners acted as financial advisor.
It is worth noting that Socium is one of the few African human resources tech companies that have recently secured funding. Previously, Kenyan startup WorkPay also completed a $5 million Series A funding round led by Visa, and currently has over 1,000 clients in 20 African countries.
