Crypto Payroll Startup Toku Raises $20M

Toku, a token-based payroll and tax compliance project, has raised $20 million in a funding round led by Blockchain Capital. The investments will accelerate Toku’s global expansion and scale the platform to better fit the entire crypto ecosystem.

Investments in the crypto industry have slowed to a drip this year due to the bear market, but infrastructure projects have remained relatively strong. Projects that can survive potential regulatory actions have proven particularly popular.

Other backers in the round included Protocol Labs, GMJP, OrangeDAO, Orrick, Reverie, Quantstamp, Next Web Capital, Alchemy co-founders Nikil Viswanathan and Joe Lau.and a number of angel investors.

Toku systems include token-based payroll, employment and tax compliance, and WorkDAO – a set of employment and compensation services tailored toward decentralized autonomous organizations (DAO). The tax compliance part covers 100 countries globally. Toku’s customer list has included Aragon, Astor, Filecoin Foundation and Protocol Labs, among others.

“There are clear laws and regulations around how people get employed and compensated that have been around for hundreds of years,” said Toku co-founder Ken O’Friel in a press release. “These laws aren’t going away, and organizations need to follow them for the industry to grow. Our vision is to make it simple for organizations, from traditional companies to DAOs, to compensate their employees and contractors with tokens globally.”

Read more: U.S. Lawmakers to Reintroduce Crypto Tax Reform Bill