Founders: Parker Conrad (CEO), Prasanna Sankar
Launched: 2016
Headquarters: San Francisco
Funding: $1.8 billion
Valuation: $16.8 billion
Key Technologies: Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, low code/no code software
Industry: Enterprise technology
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 list: 2 (No. 29 in 2025)
Onboarding a new employee has traditionally been a burdensome process involving multiple platforms and departments. There's payroll, devices, building access, benefits, company credit cards. Rippling streamlines this process by wrapping everything onto one platform, automating payroll, while coordinating with security, IT and HR.
Rippling is the brainchild of Parker Conrad and Prasanna Sankar, launched after Conrad's messy exit from Zenefits in 2016. Conrad wanted to build a more complete system around employees beyond HR and benefits. Rippling was also built with a stronger emphasis on operational infrastructure and compliance, according to Conrad, who has said that one of the weaknesses at Zenefits was that a lot was done manually behind the scenes.
Rippling's business is growing, crossing the $1 billion mark in annual recurring revenue in 2025, and last closing a $450 million Series G in May 2025 at a $16.8 billion valuation.
On the product side, the company launched Rippling AI earlier this year. The AI runs directly against structured employee data, translating natural language into actions that execute across connected systems. The company contrasts this with many other AI assistants, which are often bolted onto existing tools. This approach can run into challenges when the underlying systems don't share data. Because Rippling built its HR, IT, and finance applications natively rather than through acquisition, they all run on a single data layer, which makes it easier for the AI to work, the company says. That kind of architecture is hard to replicate, and it's the foundation the company is betting its AI push on.
Conrad posted in April that Rippling AI was the most successful launch the company has ever done, and that Rippling's revenue is growing 78% year over year. "And this growth rate has now increased, every quarter, for three straight quarters," he stated on X.
The company had a turbulent 2025, which included a lawsuit against competitor Deel, alleging it had planted a spy to steal confidential information. Deel countersued, making similar claims about Rippling. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation into Deel earlier this year. But the competition for business between the two remains tight based on investor data and suggests Deel continues growing as well. A funding round for Deel last October valued it at $17.3 billion, ahead of Rippling's most recent valuation.
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