Last month, pay and HR software company Gusto announced it had agreed to obtain guidelines, a startup offering retirement plans to small businesses.
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed, but Gusto paid around $600 million, according to sources familiar with the transaction, but TechCrunch couldn't confirm how much cash or how much stock of this was.
The guidelines were last valued at $115 billion when they raised a $200 million Series D funding round in 2021. Since its founding in 2015, it has raised a total of $340 million. While the acquisition price is below the startup's private valuation, early-stage investors in the company, including Felicis, Tiger Global and NEA, will likely make a profit. The Atlantic General, who led the company's Series D, is expected to make a small profit on the investment, sources said.
Founded by former TaskRabbit co-founder Kevin Busque (pictured above), the guidelines help small businesses easily set up and manage their 401(k) plans. Charge per employee fees rather than traditional models that charge a percentage of managed assets. CNBC reported that the annual repeat revenue (ARR) for the Guidelines, a metric that measures predictable annual revenue from subscriptions, was $140 million as of this January.
Founded in 2011 and valued at $9.3 billion, Gusto offers its customers a 401(k) retirement plan through partnership with guidelines since 2015. Customers can also set up guidelines retirement plans through other payroll providers such as ADP, Intuit, Paylocity, Trinet, and Rippling.
According to three sources familiar with the deal, Gusto is about to sell its guidelines accounts related to rival payroll companies. The proceeds from these sales will be shared between Just and Guidelines shareholders, said one person is familiar with the transaction and could further increase investors' returns.
Gusto declined to comment on the transaction price and its plan to sell it.
TechCrunch Events
San Francisco | October 27-29, 2025
A spokesperson for the guidelines characterized the $600 million price tag as false without providing more information, and said there were no plans to say goodbye to any of its customers as part of the sale to Gusto.
This appears to be a beneficial transaction for shareholders of the guidelines, but the company's rationale for sale remains unknown. The company has made profits for more than a year, a spokesperson confirmed. But it faces many competitions from human interest, including the closest rivals supported by SoftBank and Bailey Gifford. Jeff Schnebble, the company's co-founder and CEO, is expected to see human profits increase by the end of the year, with profitability expected by the end of the year. Human interest is raising $200 million at a $3 billion valuation, double the valuation they had been in for a year ago, the information reports. Schneblu declined to comment on the company's fundraising plan.