Gusto: What It Does, Who Runs It, Funding and News
Gusto is a privately held company that sells payroll, benefits, HR and compliance software to small businesses in the US. Josh Reeves, Edward Kim and Tomer London founded it in 2011 as ZenPayroll and took it through Y Combinator in Winter 2012. It is based in San Francisco and says it serves more than 500,000 small businesses.
Gusto, a privately owned company, runs payroll, benefits and HR for small businesses in the US, and in an October 22, 2026 release it said more than 500,000 small businesses use it. Josh Reeves, its cofounder, is CEO. In May 2026 Gusto told Fortune it had passed $1 billion in revenue over the trailing 12 months.
Gusto started life as ZenPayroll and took its current name in 2015. Its shares are not listed on any stock exchange, and its most recent reported valuation is $9.3 billion, from an employee tender offer in June 2025. Below are its key facts, products, leaders, funding rounds, acquisitions and news from 2025 and 2026.
Gusto key facts
Detail | Source | |
|---|---|---|
Founded | 2011, as ZenPayroll | |
Founders | Josh Reeves, Edward Kim and Tomer London | |
CEO | Josh Reeves, cofounder | |
Offices | San Francisco, New York and Denver | |
Team size | 2,400, as listed by YC | |
Customers | More than 500,000 small businesses | |
Revenue | Over $1 billion in the 12 months to February 2026 | |
Latest reported valuation | $9.3 billion, June 2025 employee tender offer | |
Ownership | Privately owned, not listed | |
Accelerator | Y Combinator, Winter 2012 | |
Website |
The YC headcount is the figure on Gusto's YC profile, not a number Gusto has announced recently. Gusto's October 2026 release names offices in three cities without calling any of them the headquarters, and its releases carry a San Francisco dateline. In 2021, Built In described Gusto as dual-headquartered in San Francisco and Denver.
What Gusto does
Gusto sells online payroll to small businesses, along with the services that sit around a paycheck: health benefits, 401(k) plans, HR tools, tax credits and state compliance. YC's page says it processes tens of billions of dollars in payroll a year. Gusto first added health benefits and workers' compensation in September 2015, when it dropped the ZenPayroll name, as VentureBeat reported at the time.
The October 2026 release groups Gusto's products around starting, running and growing a business:
- Starting a business. Owners can form an LLC and open a business bank account in Gusto before hiring anyone. Gusto says it is a financial technology company, not a bank, and its banking services come from Increase Bank, Member FDIC.
- Payroll and contractors. Payroll across state and city lines, same-day off-cycle pay, and payments to US and international contractors.
- Compliance. Gusto Business Compliance handles state tax registration, annual report filings and government mail.
- Benefits. Gusto 401(k), health reimbursement arrangements, voluntary life and disability cover, and an AI benefits assistant called Gus that suggests benefits packages, which a licensed advisor reviews.
- HR. Handbook tools, employment law alerts, fractional HR and a professional employer organization (PEO) option.
- Accountants. Gusto Pro, a dashboard for accounting firms that run payroll for several clients.
Who runs Gusto
Josh Reeves is Gusto's cofounder and CEO, the title he carries in Gusto's April 2026 release and in Fortune's June 2025 report. He founded the company with Edward Kim and Tomer London; YC's page lists all three as founders.
Name | Role | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
Josh Reeves | Cofounder and CEO | |
Edward (Eddie) Kim | Cofounder; CTO as of May 2024 | |
Tomer London | Cofounder; quoted as chief product officer in April 2026 | |
Chris Cosgrove | Chief product officer, quoted in October 2026 |
The sources give the chief product officer title to two different people six months apart. FinTech Global quoted Tomer London as cofounder and chief product officer in April 2026, while Gusto's October 2026 release quotes Chris Cosgrove under that title. Gusto has not announced the change, so Tomer London's current title is unclear.
Gusto funding and valuation
Gusto has raised money in venture rounds since its 2012 launch, and its valuation went from above $100 million in 2014 to $9.5 billion in 2021. These are the rounds with amounts that Gusto, its investors or major reporting published:
Round | Date | Raised and valuation | Investors or detail |
|---|---|---|---|
Seed | December 2012 | $6.1 million | Investors including Google Ventures and the CEOs of Box, Dropbox, Yelp and Yammer (TechCrunch) |
Series A | February 2014 | $20 million at a valuation above $100 million | Led by General Catalyst, with Kleiner Perkins (TechCrunch) |
Series B | April 2015 | $60 million at about $560 million, per Fortune | Google Capital, with Google Ventures, Emergence Capital and Ribbit Capital (Fortune) |
Unlabeled round | December 2015 | $50 million at $1 billion | Existing investors including Google Capital and General Catalyst; disclosed in a securities filing (BuzzFeed News) |
Series C | July 2018 | $140 million at about $2 billion | T. Rowe Price, YC Continuity, General Catalyst, MSD Capital, Dragoneer, CapitalG and Kleiner Perkins among participants (Built In Colorado) |
Series D | July 2019 | $200 million at $3.8 billion post-money | New investors Fidelity and Generation Investment Management, with T. Rowe Price, Dragoneer and General Catalyst (TechCrunch; Crunchbase News) |
Series E | August 2021 | $175 million at $9.5 billion, per Forbes | Led by T. Rowe Price (Built In) |
Employee tender offer | June 2025 | More than $200 million at $9.3 billion | Anchored by Teachers' Venture Growth, part of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan (Fortune) |
The June 2025 tender offer bought shares from current and former employees with at least two years at Gusto, so the money went to them rather than to the company. Sources date Gusto's last valuation from a funding round differently: Built In reported $9.5 billion with the Series E in August 2021, and Fortune in May 2024 tied the same $9.5 billion figure to a round that closed in May 2022. Gusto has not published a total for all the money it has raised.
Gusto has been free cash flow positive since early 2023, Fortune reported in June 2025. Asked about a stock market listing in May 2026, a spokesperson told TechCrunch there was "nothing to share on the IPO timeline front."
Gusto acquisitions
Gusto made two acquisitions between August 2025 and April 2026, one in retirement plans and one in business compliance:
Company | Announced | What it does | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
Guideline | August 27, 2025 | 401(k) provider with about 65,000 customers, more than 1 million savers and $20 billion in assets (Guideline) | Not disclosed; one source told TechCrunch about $600 million, which Guideline said was incorrect (TechCrunch) |
Mosey | April 9, 2026 | Software for state and local business registrations, filings and renewals (Mosey) | Not disclosed |
Gusto had offered 401(k) plans through Guideline since 2016, Finovate reports. When the Mosey deal was announced, Mosey's founder said Gusto would launch Gusto Business Compliance later in 2026, and that product is part of Gusto's October 2026 release.
Gusto news, 2025 to 2026
- June 9, 2025: Gusto opened a tender offer of more than $200 million for employees at a $9.3 billion valuation (Fortune).
- August 27, 2025: Guideline agreed to be acquired by Gusto (Guideline).
- April 9, 2026: Mosey announced it had been acquired by Gusto (Mosey).
- April 23, 2026: Gusto said it had passed 500,000 customers and released nearly 75 product updates at its spring showcase (PR Newswire).
- May 7, 2026: Gusto confirmed to Fortune that in February it passed $1 billion in revenue over the prior 12 months. It also told TechCrunch that AI now generates half of its new code and handles about half of its support cases.
- October 22, 2026: Gusto launched LLC formation, a business bank account, Gusto Business Compliance, AI connectors and a redesigned Gusto Pro for accountants (Gusto release; CPA Practice Advisor).
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Gusto?
Josh Reeves, Edward Kim and Tomer London founded Gusto in 2011 as ZenPayroll. ZenPayroll was part of Y Combinator's Winter 2012 batch, and it changed its name to Gusto in September 2015.
Who is the CEO of Gusto?
Josh Reeves, a cofounder, is Gusto's CEO, as Gusto's April 2026 release names him.
Is Gusto a public company?
No. Gusto has no stock market listing. When asked in May 2026, a Gusto spokesperson said there was nothing to share on IPO timing.
How much is Gusto worth?
Gusto's most recent reported valuation is $9.3 billion, set by an employee tender offer in June 2025. Its August 2021 Series E had valued it at $9.5 billion, according to Forbes.
What was Gusto's old name?
Gusto launched in December 2012 as ZenPayroll and renamed itself Gusto in September 2015, when it added health benefits and workers' compensation.
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