Preparing for the EU Pay Transparency Directive | Download our E-book for free
The New Business Venture Fund Invests in PayAnalytics
The New Business Venture Fund has invested $525,000 in the software company PayAnalytics.
PayAnalytics has developed an equal pay cloud solution, and has grown rapidly in recent years. Its solution is already helping over 50 companies and organizations in Iceland close the gender pay gap, employing a total of 30,000 staff, or about 14% of the Icelandic labor market.
PayAnalytics' solution is unique in that after measuring the pay gap, the software recommends changes to the pay of individual employees to close the gap as fairly and efficiently as possible. Likewise, the software shows the impact of salary decisions on the pay gap before those decisions are implemented. PayAnalytics' goal is to put a comprehensive pay analysis tool into the hands of executives, HR managers, and advisors to support real-time data-driven salary decisions. This means that the software not only lets companies close demographic pay gaps wherever they appear but also monitors salary data over time to ensure the gaps remain closed. The software works seamlessly with any payroll and human resources management software.
Huld Magnúsdóttir, CEO of The New Business Venture Fund:
Iceland has taken the lead when it comes to gender equality. PayAnalytics is founded in a strong equality environment and has developed a world class solution. With this decision, The New Business Venture Fund has not only made a good investment, but also supports the export of Icelandic knowledge and equality values, which have received international recognition. We are therefore excited about our work with the PayAnalytics team and believe that our strong network and knowledge base will benefit the company's ongoing growth.
Margrét Vilborg Bjarnadóttir, Founder and Chairman of the Board of PayAnalytics:
Our solution is used by most of Iceland's leading companies. At the same time, the regulatory environment is changing rapidly throughout the world. For example, In the UK, companies now need to measure and publish the absolute gender pay gap every year, in France companies will soon be fined if they are not working to reduce the pay gap. At the same time, public opinion is shifting quickly, which creates a further need for our solution. We have enjoyed the support of the Icelandic Technology Development Fund, which has brought us to where we are today. With this investment from the New Business Venture Fund, we can keep our technological advantage and speed our entry into markets abroad, where we are already attracting significant interest.
PayAnalytics was the 2016 winner of the Golden Egg, Icelandic Startups’ business plan competition. In the 2018 Nordic Startup Awards, PayAnalytics was selected as the Best Social Impact Startup and the Best Newcomer in Iceland. In 2019, PayAnalytics won the Wharton People Analytics Conference startup competition, the field’s premier conference in the United States. Also in 2019, Margrét V. Bjarnadóttir was named University Woman of the year in Iceland, in part because of the positive social impact of her research on equal pay, and she won the Global Women Inventor and Innovator Network Award for PayAnalytics.
About The New Business Venture Fund
The role of The New Business Venture Fund is to enable the growth of the Icelandic economy by investing in startups and innovative businesses. The Fund now holds ownership in 25 companies and has invested in over 150 companies over the past 20 years.
