EU-supported Armenian start-up develops a solution to automate payroll and human resources policy

An Armenian start-up company – Himnark – has developed a solution to automate payroll and employment policy for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in Armenia by establishing an online system.

The system automates the management of workers’ records, calculation of salaries, sick leave and pregnancy.

Co-founder and director of Himnark, Ruben Osipyan, explains why they decided to develop this system for SMEs.

“As a rule, salaries are not paid according to SME standards, but they need it [our system], because up to 300,000 people are currently working for them. Considering that the market mainly offers solutions for large companies, and small and medium-sized enterprises have never invested heavily in the automation of the HR process, we decided to offer our solution. Due to the lack of such systems, SMEs are losing more resources by hiring people who have to do this work,” he says.

According to Osipyan, EU-funded support played a substantial role in the development of the company.

In 2017, employees at Himnark took part in training at the Armenian Start-up Academy. The Academy operates within the framework of the “Support to SME Development in Armenia” (EU-SMEDA) project.

“This support coincided with the moment when we had just started to work. And this knowledge helped us to enter the market,” says Osipyan. Adding, that they also took part in the Sevan Start-up summit, organised with the support of the EU, and even received a prize.

Himnark is one of six winners of the Innovation Matching Grants offered by the EU-SMEDA project. According to Osipyan, it was very important to receive a grant in order to establish the company. The idea was to develop the system and enter the market with the help of the grant. He says that the support also made it possible to increase the attractiveness for both local and international investors – which the company has already managed to attract.

Around 40 companies have shown an interest in the system already – many at the stage of free demo testing – and 10 companies are already using the system. Osipyan says that the company is holding talks on attracting investments for the next stage, the goal of which is to grow and be able to cover expenses from revenues, in order to become self-sufficient.

Author: Roza Hovhannisyan

Photos by Nazik Armenakyan

Article published in Armenian, Russian and English by Lragir.am