Mark Samlal
General Manager APAC at Deel
Mark Samlal is a Fijian-Australian entrepreneur and Asia-Pacific payroll veteran. In 2006 he co-founded PayAsia — the foundation business for ASX-listed PayGroup — building it from a secondhand desk in Singapore with his wife Samantha into one of the region’s leading payroll, HCM and treasury providers. In 2022 PayGroup was acquired by the global HR company Deel in an all-cash deal worth about $120M, and Mark has stayed on to help scale Deel’s payroll business across APAC. He grew up as part of one of the only Indian families in a small Perth township and is a passionate advocate for Asian entrepreneurs.
In their own words
From From a Secondhand Desk to a $120M Exit: Mark Samlal's Story · Perspective XIt is a completely different level of accountability, because it is your own baby.
Career
- Now General Manager APAC · Deel
- 2006–2022 · Startup Co-founder; later Executive Chairman & Managing Director · PayGroup (PayAsia)
- 2008–2014 Chief Executive Officer · VicPlas Ltd
- 2006–2008 Executive Director · Omni Industries
- 1999–2003 Director & General Manager, Asia · ADP
Sources: dynamicbusiness.com, rocketreach.co
Key moments
Jump straight to the part of From a Secondhand Desk to a $120M Exit: Mark Samlal's Story you want.
- 0:00 Cold open: race, accountability, and the "4 or out the door" origin story
- 1:55 Younger Mark: born in Fiji, his father's journey from teacher to social worker
- 9:23 University, meeting Samantha, and the early grind in real estate
- 15:56 Into telecom, then payroll software — learning on the job
- 21:43 Meeting mentor Phil Cave and turning around Lendlease Employer Services
- 32:40 Racism growing up and being "the only brown person in the room"
- 37:59 The move to Singapore and building the Sharks Basketball community
- 43:13 Running multiple businesses at once and bootstrapping PayAsia with Samantha
- 51:25 Skipping VC/PE, and what it is really like leading a public company
- 1:05:36 COVID, 3 acquisitions, and the road to the Deel deal
Connections
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Spot something wrong? Suggest a correction Updated 25 September 2026
Produced by W2D1 Media
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