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§ Private Profile · Berlin, Germany
API provider offering a unified API for software companies to integrate with 100+ HR, payroll, LMS, and recruiting systems.
Kombo has raised $33.7M across 3 funding rounds.
Key people at Kombo.
Kombo was founded in 2022 by Aike Hillbrands (Founder) and Alexander Kübel (Founder) and Fabian Rothfuß (Founder).
Kombo has raised $33.7M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Kombo, based in Berlin, Germany with a New York City hub, provides a unified API for software companies to integrate with over 100 HR, payroll, LMS, and recruiting systems. Operating on a B2B SaaS model, the company has achieved over $10 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR) and serves hundreds of customers, processing data for 10% of Germany's workforce. Since its 2022 founding, Kombo has raised over $25 million in funding post-Y Combinator Summer 2022 batch, scaling to over 50 employees. Its platform simplifies connections for HR tech clients like job boards, ATS, and HRIS, with investors including Y Combinator, Acadian Ventures, and 486. The company was founded by Aike Hillbrands, Alexander Kübel, and Fabian Rothfuß. Its business model centers on B2B SaaS model selling API integrations to software companies.
Key people at Kombo.
Kombo was founded in 2022 by Aike Hillbrands (Founder) and Alexander Kübel (Founder) and Fabian Rothfuß (Founder).
Kombo has raised $33.7M in total across 3 funding rounds.
Kombo's investors include Acadian Ventures, Sean Cantwell, 468 Capital, Earlybird Venture Capital, Kreos Capital, La Famiglia, Lakestar, LEA Partners, Plaid, Ravelin Capital, Saga, Y Combinator.
Kombo has raised $33.7M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $25.0M Series A in February 2026.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 18, 2026 | $25M Series A | Acadian Ventures, Sean Cantwell | — | Announced |
| Nov 1, 2022 | $8M Seed | — | 468 Capital, Earlybird Venture Capital, Kreos Capital, LA Famiglia, Lakestar, LEA Partners, Plaid, Ravelin Capital, Saga, Y Combinator, Bastian Nominacher, Hanno Renner, Michael Pennington | Announced |
| Mar 1, 2018 | $740K Seed | — | 50 Partners, Flint Capital, Partech Ventures, Frédéric Mazzella, Jean David Blanc | Announced |
Kombo offers a unified API that integrates HR, payroll, and recruiting software systems, enabling software companies to connect seamlessly with multiple HRIS (Human Resource Information Systems), ATS (Applicant Tracking Systems), and payroll providers through a single integration point. This solution serves HR tech companies, talent acquisition platforms, B2B fintech, benefits providers, and others who require reliable, compliant, and automated data flows between their products and customers' HR systems. By simplifying integrations, Kombo helps its clients improve operational efficiency, automate employee data provisioning, and enhance candidate and customer experiences.
For an investment firm, Kombo represents a company focused on streamlining HR and recruiting software interoperability, addressing a critical pain point in enterprise software ecosystems. Its mission centers on enabling seamless data connectivity across fragmented HR and payroll platforms. The company targets sectors including HR technology, recruiting, payroll, fintech, and benefits administration. Kombo’s impact on the startup ecosystem lies in accelerating innovation by removing integration complexity, allowing startups and scale-ups to focus on core product development rather than building and maintaining multiple APIs.
For a portfolio company, Kombo builds a developer-friendly unified API product that serves software companies needing to integrate with diverse HR and recruiting systems. It solves the problem of costly, time-consuming, and error-prone integration efforts by providing a single, standardized API that covers 100+ HRIS, ATS, and payroll systems. Kombo has demonstrated growth momentum by partnering with global innovators and achieving measurable customer success, such as expanding integrations for Apploi and increasing candidate applications for CV-Library by 300%[1][2][3][4].
Kombo was founded in 2022 by Alexander Kübel, Aike Hillbrands (Co-Founder & VP Engineering), and Fabian Rothfuß, emerging from the Y Combinator Summer 2022 batch. The founders brought expertise in software engineering and product development, identifying the fragmentation and integration challenges in HR and recruiting software ecosystems. The idea arose from the need to simplify and unify the complex landscape of HRIS, ATS, and payroll integrations, which often require companies to build and maintain dozens of individual APIs.
Early traction came from securing partnerships with leading HR tech and talent acquisition companies, demonstrating Kombo’s ability to reduce integration overhead and improve data synchronization. This pivotal moment validated the market need for a unified API approach and set the stage for rapid growth and expansion into multiple HR-related verticals[2][3].
Kombo rides the trend of API unification and integration simplification in the HR tech and recruiting software markets, which are highly fragmented with many specialized platforms. The timing is critical as enterprises increasingly demand seamless data interoperability to improve employee experience, compliance, and operational efficiency. Market forces such as digital transformation, remote work, and the rise of SaaS HR solutions drive demand for unified integration layers.
By enabling software companies to connect effortlessly with multiple HR and payroll systems, Kombo accelerates innovation and reduces time-to-market for new HR and recruiting features. This influence extends to the broader ecosystem by fostering better data flow, improving automation, and enabling fintech and benefits providers to build more integrated, user-friendly products[1][3][5].
Looking ahead, Kombo is well-positioned to expand its API coverage further and deepen integrations with emerging HR technologies and global payroll providers. Trends such as AI-driven recruiting, employee experience platforms, and compliance automation will shape its product roadmap. Kombo’s influence is likely to grow as more companies seek to outsource integration complexity and focus on core product innovation.
The company may also explore strategic partnerships or vertical expansions into adjacent HR and fintech domains, leveraging its unified API as a foundational layer. As HR and recruiting software ecosystems continue to evolve, Kombo’s role as a critical integration enabler will become increasingly vital, reinforcing its mission to simplify and unify complex HR data flows[1][2][3].
