TechCrunch was proud to host Pebl at Disrupt 2025 in San Francisco. Here’s an overview of their Builders Stage session.
As startups scale across borders, the biggest bottleneck isn’t finding talent, it’s paying them. Legacy payroll and banking rails weren’t built for a distributed, digital-first workforce, leaving founders stuck with slow, expensive, and fragmented systems. At the same time, skyrocketing H-1B visa fees and uncertainty in U.S. immigration policy are pushing startups to rethink their hiring strategies. For many, building global teams is no longer optional—it’s survival.
A new wave of fintech innovation is unbundling payroll from banks leveraging digital wallets, stablecoins, and crypto rails to move money instantly, globally, and at lower cost. In this Builders Stage session, Pebl explored how founders and investors should think about payroll as the next frontier of financial infrastructure where payments meet compliance, and startups can turn global talent into a competitive advantage.
Presented by:
- Francoise Brougher – Chief Executive Officer, Pebl
- Aileen Lee – Founder & Managing Partner, Cowboy Ventures
