WorkFlex, an Amsterdam company that automates compliance for employees working across borders, has acquired the customer portfolio of rhome GmbH, a Stuttgart startup that made software for workations, business trips and foreign assignments. WorkFlex announced the deal on October 20, 2026.
Financial terms were not disclosed. WorkFlex bought rhome's customer contracts rather than the whole company, and its announcement did not say whether rhome's staff or technology would move with them.
rhome's customers, who include Pernod Ricard and Haufe Group, are moving onto the WorkFlex platform. WorkFlex said the deal is part of a plan to use some of the €37 million (about $43 million) Series B it closed earlier in 2026 to consolidate Europe's fragmented market for global mobility compliance.
What rhome built
rhome was founded in Stuttgart in 2022 by Julia-Sophie Fuchs. Its software helped employers manage the rules that apply when staff work from another country for a while, travel for business or are sent on assignment. One of its features was automated applications for A1 certificates, the document that shows which European country's social security system covers a worker temporarily posted abroad.
The startup was backed by Haufe Group Ventures, the corporate venture arm of one of its customers, as well as by Plug and Play Germany and several business angels. Deutsche Startups reported that Haufe Group Ventures held 15% of the company. rhome did not disclose how much money it raised.
"We built rhome around one conviction: working abroad should never be a compliance risk," Fuchs said.
“We built rhome around one conviction: working abroad should never be a compliance risk.”
Why WorkFlex is buying
WorkFlex and rhome were competitors. WorkFlex combines software with an in-house team of compliance experts, and covers remote work from abroad, business travel, assignments, duty of care for travelling staff, and visa and immigration. It says it has added a product line every year since 2022, has filed more than one million compliance documents and has assessed close to 1.9 million working days abroad.
"Cross-border compliance is complex enough, and the rules are constantly changing," said Pieter Manden, WorkFlex's chief executive and co-founder. "Our customers shouldn't need a separate provider for A1, visas and duty of care."
Manden said the two companies had been founded with the same mission of helping businesses send employees abroad simply and in line with the rules, and that the Series B lets WorkFlex keep investing in that.
Fuchs said rhome had always known that WorkFlex was working toward the same goal. "With the rules now changing faster than ever, joining forces is what serves customers best," she said.
The buyer
WorkFlex was founded in 2021 by Manden and Patrick Koch, according to its announcement, and is based in Amsterdam with about 150 employees. It says it serves more than 500 companies, including BioNTech, Covestro, Flix and Güntner. Its investors include Spectrum Equity, Visionaries Club and s16vc, Deutsche Startups reported.
WorkFlex says its platform is ISO 27001 certified, keeps customer data in the European Union and is built and hosted there. Its duty-of-care product, WorkFlex SOS, won a 2026 EMMA award for agility and crisis management after the team supported clients through the Middle East crisis earlier this year, according to the company.
The rhome deal is WorkFlex's first acquisition. The company said consolidating the market is one of the planned uses of its Series B money, but it did not name other targets.
What happens to customers
For rhome's clients, the main change is a new provider. The rhome team told Deutsche Startups that little changes for customers while a lot improves, as they gain access to WorkFlex's wider range of products.
"I'm proud of what our team achieved, and glad our customers have found their new home at WorkFlex," Fuchs said.
Jasper Roll, managing director of Haufe Group Ventures, said the investor had always believed in the market. "When compliance gets easier, everybody wins," he said.
