Migrant labor is vital to U.S. agriculture, yet navigating H-2A visa compliance remains a daunting challenge for farms. Founded five years ago, Seso is transforming this landscape by automating visa processes and expanding into a full-service HR platform tailored to the agricultural sector.

Co-founder Michael Guirguis launched Seso after realizing the severe labor shortages farms face—prompted by advice he gave his cousin about her organic farm’s expansion. Beyond streamlining H-2A visas, Guirguis discovered farms also needed modern solutions to handle complex back-office HR tasks, traditionally managed through mountains of paperwork.

“We visited farms and saw thousands of filing cabinets filled with manual records,” Guirguis shared. “Agriculture is one of the most behind-the-times industries. Our goal is to modernize these processes and solve labor challenges simultaneously.”

Seso recently raised $26 million in a Series B round led by Mary Meeker’s Bond, alongside investors like Index Ventures and NFX. The company doubled its clientele last year and now serves 27 of the top 100 U.S. agricultural employers.

Unlike other startups, Seso succeeds by focusing on back-office automation rather than changing farming itself, easing adoption among hesitant farmers. Features include AI-powered processing of handwritten timesheets, allowing field workers to maintain traditional methods while modernizing payroll and compliance.

This hands-on approach earned investor praise, with Index Ventures’ Nina Achadjian highlighting Guirguis’s commitment to understanding farm life firsthand—a key to Seso’s growing impact.

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