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Try now for freeBrussels, May 14, 2025 – The Belgian scale-up Shyfter, specialized in SaaS workforce management solutions, announces a €1.5 million fundraising round to accelerate its international growth.
After achieving profitability in 2024 while recording 70% growth that same year, Shyfter could have continued expanding without raising new capital. However, the company has chosen to step on the accelerator. This funding round, deliberately limited to necessary needs, will help strengthen Shyfter's leadership position in Belgium and support its development in Europe. The company also plans to boost its R&D efforts with several new features in the pipeline.
Shyfter currently serves nearly 1,800 clients and aims to double that number every year until 2027 – targeting an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of €10 million – with a return to profitability by the end of 2026.
In 2024, Shyfter proved that strong growth and profitability can coexist. With a 70% growth rate and a break-even milestone reached, the company had a healthy financial base that allowed continued growth without external capital. Still, in a spirit of controlled acceleration, Shyfter chose to raise €1.5 million – part of which is non-dilutive – to support European expansion, product development, and internal structuring.
"Achieving profitability without slowing growth is possible – we proved it in 2024. But profitability is not an end in itself: we want to move faster, go further, while maintaining a healthy, scalable, and responsible model. We could have raised much more, but we chose to raise only what we need to stay agile and focused on creating real value" says Lionel Hermans, CEO and co-founder of Shyfter.
This strategic choice stands in contrast to flashy mega-rounds. Shyfter is betting on capital efficiency, operational performance, and a long-term vision. The funds raised will support an already strong growth trajectory, while keeping ambitions realistic.
Today, the startup claims nearly 1,800 clients – from SMEs to large organizations – and plans to double this number annually until 2027, with an ARR target of €10 million. While this fast growth requires substantial investments (international expansion, hiring, marketing, R&D), Shyfter expects to return to profitability by the end of 2026. A clear demonstration that growth and profitability can coexist.
This fundraising round brings together long-term, committed partners. Mike Vandenhooft, early investor and co-founder of Newpharma, strengthens his equity stake. He is joined by welovefounders, a VC fund investing in Shyfter for the first time.
All share the founding team’s vision: ambitious but controlled growth, anchored in long-term performance and impact.
With this new financing, Shyfter accelerates its European expansion in a targeted and strategic way. Already well established in Belgium – where its solution is used by hundreds of companies, including major brands in the hospitality and retail sectors – the startup aims to reinforce its local presence and solidify its national leadership.
Internationally, France is not uncharted territory: Shyfter has already been active there in a "light" mode since last year, validating a winning formula to enter this demanding market. Buoyed by this experience and strong growing demand, the founders decided to allocate a significant portion of the funds raised to speed up operations in France.
Meanwhile, two high-potential markets are being deployed: Spain and the Netherlands. These countries, rich in multi-site businesses and workforce management needs, are a logical next step in Shyfter's expansion strategy.
The goal: replicate Belgian success in France this year, while laying the foundation for a sustainable presence in two new promising markets. Shyfter aims to become a key European HR Tech player, moving deliberately, with a clear vision and precise execution.
Shyfter offers a solution adapted to many sectors but pays special attention to Horeca and Retail, where flexibility, shift management, and HR optimization are critical. With a tailored approach and strong field knowledge, Shyfter supports international chains such as Burger King, KFC, and Quick, as well as premium groups & franchise networks.
This diversity of clients proves the platform's flexibility and robustness, capable of adapting to complex operational environments and organizations of all sizes.
Shyfter strengthens its central role in the HR ecosystem by building strategic partnerships with major payroll actors. Shyfter becomes the "master" data source for employee information: time worked, absences, leave, overtime... All validated data in Shyfter syncs automatically with payroll tools.
Shyfter’s goal is clear: remain fully independent from any specific payroll provider. That’s why Shyfter can integrate with any of them, ensuring full compatibility without locking users into a closed ecosystem.
This openness also applies to the temp staffing sector, with active integrations with players like AbsoluteYou, enabling companies to centralize both internal and temporary staff management in Shyfter in a fluid and unified way.
"Our ambition is to make Shyfter the unique and independent HR cockpit, capable of interacting with any of the company’s tools, regardless of chosen partners or providers."
Beyond geographic expansion, product innovation remains core to Shyfter’s strategy. A significant part of the funds will go to R&D, aimed at delivering new features that are unique in the market: intelligent automated scheduling, advanced time-tracking tools, deeper payroll integrations, and more.
Shyfter aims to differentiate through continuous value addition to its platform. In a highly competitive HR software market, fast and smart innovation is crucial. The startup wants to maintain a tech edge by anticipating users’ emerging needs.
“Our clients are our best R&D partners. Every validated suggestion can become a Shyfter feature used by thousands of others – that’s the power of a participative app built with its community” adds Lionel Hermans.
This unique collaborative approach allows Shyfter to constantly fine-tune its product to closely match field expectations, fostering user loyalty and attracting new ones with genuinely differentiating features.
Founded in 2019 by Lionel Hermans and Vincent Baille, Shyfter is a Belgian startup specialized in smart staff scheduling and workforce management. Its SaaS platform allows companies to plan team schedules in a few clicks, manage time tracking (punching, overtime, leave), and automate many HR and payroll tasks through advanced integrations.
Shyfter helps hundreds of employers across all sectors save time and optimize their HR processes, while improving employee satisfaction. Today, over 250,000 users (managers and staff) connect to Shyfter around the world. Headquartered in Brussels, the company has about 20 employees and continues to expand in Europe.
Founded in 2023 by four tech entrepreneurs, welovefounders is a European venture capital fund based in Brussels and Paris. It focuses on supporting early-stage B2B SaaS startups, investing initial tickets of €500,000 to €1 million, along with operational support. Learn more at www.welovefounders.vc.
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