Josh Wymer
| Josh Wymer | |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur, software engineer |
|---|---|
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Central |
| Education | Virginia Tech (BS, 2007–2010) |
Josh Wymer is an American entrepreneur and software engineer who is the co-founder and CEO of Central, a startup that provides AI-driven payroll, benefits, compliance, and back-office services for other startups. Central was part of the Y Combinator Summer 2024 batch and is based in San Francisco.[1]
Early life and education
Wymer attended Virginia Tech, where he earned a bachelor's degree between 2007 and 2010.
Career
Wymer began his career as a software engineer at Yardsellr. He subsequently joined Mixpanel, where he held roles including staff software engineer and engineering manager, contributing to core analytics and product infrastructure. He later worked at Facebook (now Meta Platforms) as a senior software engineer before returning to Mixpanel, where he served as staff tech lead manager from March 2019 to April 2023.
In April 2023, Wymer co-founded Central alongside Nilay Modi. The company participated in Y Combinator's Summer 2024 batch. Central describes itself as an "autonomous back-office platform" for startups, using a combination of AI agents and human experts to handle payroll, benefits administration, state compliance, accounting, and taxes. Unlike traditional HR and payroll software platforms that provide dashboards for users to manage these tasks themselves, Central positions its service as doing the work on behalf of its customers, operating primarily through Slack-based automation.[2]
In August 2025, Central announced an $8.6 million seed funding round led by First Round Capital, with participation from Y Combinator. The company stated at the time that over 500 startups were using its platform and that it saved customers an estimated ten or more hours per month on administrative tasks.[1]
Central operates in the fintech, B2B, HR tech, and payroll sectors. Its services cover U.S. employees, global contractors, one-time payments, payroll taxes, and reimbursements.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Central – Y Combinator". 'Y Combinator}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.
- ↑ "Central – AI-Native Payroll, HR, Benefits and Compliance". 'Central}'. Retrieved 2026-03-18.