Grade
Winter 2026 NewAPI for performance-based payroll
Grade is the API for performance-based payroll. Think of us like Deel or Gusto, but our payouts are for work completed, not hours. Companies use Grade to pay AI agents and contractors based on results: tasks completed, targets hit, work delivered. We handle compliance, tax reporting, and global payouts. Grade powers payouts for AI agents and contractors we are at $452k ARR, $520K+ paid in the last 3 weeks, growing 46% MoM across 23 live companies.
AI Investor Summary
Grade is building the API for performance-based payroll, enabling companies to pay AI agents and contractors based on results rather than hours. With a strong founding team featuring ex-Google/Meta engineers and 2x exited founders, Grade is tackling a massive, growing market driven by AI and the gig economy. They've demonstrated impressive early traction with $452k ARR and 46% MoM growth, positioning them to become the standard for a new era of work.
Key Highlights
- ● Exceptional founding team with strong technical backgrounds and prior exits.
- ● Tapping into a rapidly growing and underserved market for performance-based global payroll, especially for AI agents.
- ● Demonstrated strong early ARR and MoM growth with significant transaction volume.
Risk Factors
- ● Scaling compliance and tax reporting for a truly global, performance-based workforce is complex and requires significant operational execution.
- ● The competitive landscape, while nascent, could intensify with incumbents or new players entering the space.
- ● Reliance on the continued growth and adoption of AI agents and the gig economy for sustained demand.
Founders
Lotanna Ezeike is the co-founder of Grade, a Y Combinator startup focused on improving the college application process. His background includes experience in product management and engineering, with a focus on building user-centric technology solutions. He has a proven track record of driving innovation and scaling products in the tech industry.
2x exited founder and now the CTO of Grade, the API for performance based payroll. Previously, I built and exited my first cryptography startup for over $5M while still in school, built and exited a consumer mobile app PrayScreen, built a rocket engine in my garage, and moved to San Francisco with my cofounder over a year ago. Excited by the future of payroll for the new global workforce and AI agents.
Score Breakdown
Lotanna brings strong PM and engineering experience from Google and Meta, coupled with a Stanford MS. James is a 2x exited founder with a cryptography background and prior Google experience, demonstrating a strong ability to build and exit. This combination of deep technical talent and entrepreneurial success is exceptional for a seed-stage company. [Boost +2: Founder from Google; Founder from Google; Founder with previous successful exit]
The market for paying a global, distributed workforce, especially AI agents and contractors based on performance, is rapidly expanding. This is driven by the rise of AI, the gig economy, and the need for flexible talent acquisition. The TAM is massive and growing, with clear tailwinds from AI adoption and remote work trends. Competitive landscape is emerging but Grade's focus on performance-based payouts offers differentiation. [Boost +0.5: Hot sector: fintech]
The core concept of performance-based payroll is technically differentiated and addresses a clear pain point for companies leveraging AI agents and contractors. The API-first approach suggests scalability and integration potential. Defensibility will come from network effects and data accumulation on performance metrics. UX quality needs to be proven at scale, and the platform potential is high if they can become the de facto standard for this new payment paradigm.
Achieving $452k ARR with 23 live companies and 46% MoM growth is strong early traction for a Winter 2026 company. The $520k+ paid in the last 3 weeks indicates real transaction volume. While impressive for this stage, it's still early, and scaling this to significant revenue will be the next major hurdle. Partnerships and investor interest are positive signals. [Boost +2: Tier-1 VC: accel]
News
Grade is a global contractor payout platform that offers features like a contractor tracking dashboard, global payment processing, tax form automation, and performance-based payment options.
Grade is positioned as an API for performance-based payroll, enabling companies to pay AI agents and contractors based on completed work and achieved targets, while handling compliance and global payouts.
This blog post by Grade's co-founder discusses the benefits of hiring international contractors and explains how Grade was built to simplify the complexities of global contractor payments.
Usegrade successfully raised $500K in a Seed round on January 1, 2026, with Y Combinator as the sole investor.
Grade simplifies global contractor payouts by allowing payments via email, automating tax forms, and tracking earnings, serving over 350 contractors in 190 countries.
Grade offers a platform to pay creators globally, handling compliance, tax forms, and providing a single invoice for businesses, with features like automated payouts and performance-based payment options.
Grade is a performance-based payroll system designed to help companies pay their workers based on results, automating calculations and payouts.
Quick Info
- Batch
- Winter 2026
- Team Size
- 2
- Location
- Unspecified
- Founders
- 2
- Scraped
- 4/10/2026