Deel and Rippling's espionage fight keeps escalating
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Deel and Rippling are scheduled for a California court hearing in September, to begin hashing out their dueling charges of corporate espionage.
- Until then, it seems the HR software unicorns plan to keep escalating.
The latest: Rippling yesterday filed an amended complaint against Deel, which includes claims that Deel also illicitly targeted four other competitors (only one of which was named).
- It also gets more explicit in accusing Deel CEO Alex Bouaziz of orchestrating the alleged plot, and adds a RICO charge with references to the defendants as part of a "criminal syndicate."
Catch up quick: This comes just days after Deel filed its own amended complaint, having countersued in April, alleging that a Rippling employee impersonated a Deel customer to access some of Deel's systems.
- There are some parallel legal proceedings in Ireland, which could impact the California timeline.
Why it matters: There's a ton of venture capital at stake.
- Deel has raised $680 million, most recently in 2012 at a $12 billion valuation.
- Rippling has raised $1.85 billion, most recently last month when it raised $450 million at a $16.8 billion valuation (with a $200 million tender to follow).
Why it matters less: This fight doesn't seem to be hurting either company in the eyes of customers or investors.
- Deel recently announced that it surpassed a $1 billion revenue run rate in Q1 2025, plus 75% year-on-year revenue growth between April 2024 and April 2025. It's also been profitable for the past three years, and the board continues to support Bouaziz.
- Rippling remains unprofitable, but did just manage to score that new funding.
- One source close to Deel suggests that the rivalry is more intense in court than in the marketplace, arguing that Deel focuses more on companies with global workforces whereas Rippling targets startups and other companies that are predominantly domestic. There is overlap in both areas, as the lawsuits have shown, but it's not constant.
The bottom line: Neither side seems to have much appetite to settle their beef behind closed doors, let alone back down.
