Salarium

Salarium was founded in 2013 by Judah Hirsch as a SaaS payroll-automation platform for Philippine businesses, handling timekeeping, payslip generation, and statutory compliance calculations before later expanding into blockchain-based remittances.

The company raised $500,000 from Seedstars World in 2014 and $1.2 million from Future Now Ventures in 2016 to grow its payroll SaaS business, then in 2018 launched SALPay, a blockchain remittance token, through an initial coin offering that raised $13.5 million — one of the largest early cryptocurrency raises by a Philippine company at the time.

Salarium suspended operations indefinitely on December 31, 2023, after a service incident led to widespread customer complaints that payroll funds had become inaccessible, alongside allegations of financial mismanagement. The company has not relaunched, and its stage here is recorded honestly as shut down rather than active.

Philippine businesses needed payroll software that correctly handled local statutory compliance (timekeeping, payslips, contributions) without manual calculation, and — via its later SALPay product — Filipino workers and OFW families needed a lower-cost way to send remittances than traditional channels.

Philippine businesses using Salarium's payroll SaaS product, and remittance senders and recipients who used its later SALPay blockchain-based transfer product.

Salarium was an early mover in pairing a genuine SaaS payroll business with a blockchain remittance product (SALPay), raising one of the larger crypto-token sales by a Philippine company at the time ($13.5 million in 2018). That same ambition to combine payroll infrastructure with a token-based remittance rail is also central to how the company's later collapse unfolded — the shutdown followed a service incident specifically involving inaccessible payroll funds, not simply a slow wind-down.

Suspended operations indefinitely as of December 31, 2023, after a service incident triggered widespread customer complaints over inaccessible payroll funds and allegations of financial mismanagement. The company has not relaunched since.