- Philippines payroll startup Salarium ceased operations after unresolved technical problems.
- The issues resulted in December layoffs despite the firm’s previous $13 million funding as an HR solutions provider.
- Salarium now hopes to ultimately relaunch, though all customer data will be deleted due to the shutdown.
Salarium, a Philippines-based payroll automation startup, announced it has ceased operations effective December 31st after failing to resolve technical problems.
In an email to clients, Salarium cited unspecified “issues affecting its ability to continue operating” that forced the shutdown of its payroll software services.
Layoffs and technical challenges
The suspension resulted in nearly 20 employee layoffs. Salarium founder Judah Z Hirsch confirmed the development, saying they “needed to suspend the services” after facing unresolved technical difficulties that began in mid-December.
The issues seem connected to previous troubles with Salarium’s bank disbursement partner that caused missed and frozen salary payments over the past months.
A September report noted an alleged $4.5 million in losses from the problems, though Hirsch contends the disputed amount is much lower.
Company history and future plans
In 2013, Salarium offered integrated HR solutions like attendance tracking, expense tracking, and automated payroll on a single platform. The startup previously raised funding from Seedstars World and ran a 2018 ICO that netted $13.5 million.
Hirsch hoped to resolve all matters and potentially relaunch services for Salarium’s clients. Due to the suspension, the company will delete all existing customer data from its databases.
