Warp's $85 million was already counted. The new move is an HR agent after the offer is signed

Warp’s $85 million was recirculated this week as funding news, but the New York payroll and HR startup had already reported that cumulative total in June. The September development is Warp Agent, a customer-facing HR automation tool the company says can start from an accepted offer and handle state registration, payroll setup, benefits, equipment and employee accounts.

When Warp announced a $60 million Series B led by Battery Ventures in late June, SiliconANGLE and the company's own announcement both put its total funding at $85 million, following an earlier $25 million round led by Sound Ventures, according to a US Tech Automations review of that coverage. SiliconANGLE's report on the September launch gives the same total, "including a $60 million round in June." Dealroom described the $85 million as a Series C; the June record is consistent with a cumulative figure rather than a new round.

On Sept. 25, Warp launched Warp 2.0 and its Warp Agent, which the company says can handle onboarding, tax compliance, benefits administration and employee questions, SiliconANGLE reported in an exclusive. Warp previously ran AI agents behind the scenes to automate its own compliance and administrative work; the release hands those agents to customers.

Customers configure what Warp calls "agent routines" in natural language, set to run on a schedule or in response to an event such as an accepted job offer. From that single trigger, a company could have agents register to do business in a new state, set up payroll and benefits, order equipment and create employee accounts. Chief executive Ayush Sharma pitched the interface as a replacement for workflow builders that often need technical staff or consultants to configure. "You can literally take an internal document from the company, upload it and tweak it in plain English," he said.

The controls are where the design shows its caution. Administrators decide what information an agent can see, which actions it can take on its own and which need approval, Sharma said. The platform logs who created a routine, when it was approved, when it last ran and when it runs next. Payroll and payments carry extra restrictions, and anything outside the agent's authority goes to an administrator. "You can assign exactly the permissions that you want to give the routine," Sharma said.

Onboarding is where Warp claims the clearest payoff. The company estimates that high-growth companies spend 10 to 20 hours managing each new hire in the first 30 days; customers report that the same work now typically takes less than two hours, according to SiliconANGLE. Both figures come from Warp and its customers. The agent is available through an early-access program, with limited usage included in every subscription, larger allocations on higher tiers and extra capacity for purchase. Prices start at $35 per person per month.

Warp's operating claims are all self-reported: revenue up 700% year over year, $200 million in tax penalties saved for customers, and more than $2 billion in payroll volume on track for this year, according to TradedVC and People Matters. The penalties figure has moved quickly. Warp's homepage cited "$100M+ in penalties saved" in early September, according to the US Tech Automations review. In June the company said it had doubled annualized recurring revenue in the first quarter and served companies ranging from five to 5,000 employees, among them AI startups Bland AI, Serval and Campfire.

The competitive framing is explicit. Warp positions itself against ADP and Rippling, Fundraise Insider reported, and Sharma reached further up the market. "We believe we are building what comes after Workday," he told SiliconANGLE. "I think there's going to be a shakeup. The AI rebuild is happening for all employee operations."

The company selling automated HR administration is itself hiring fast, in person. Warp said in June that it had grown from 15 to more than 50 employees in six months, all in New York, and that it planned to use the Series B to build deeper AI agents, expand its automated tax and compliance infrastructure and reach 200 employees within a year.