Oyster raises US$50m in Series B funding
Remote hiring management platform Oyster announced earlier this month that it has raised US$70 million in a Series B round led by Stripes with the participation of existing investors Emergence Capital and The Slack Fund, as well as new investor Avid Ventures. The successful funding round comes less than six months after Oyster announced a US$20 million Series A round in February. Its total valuation is now approximately US$475 million. According to the announcement, the fresh funding will go towards developing its product and expanding into more countries.
Oyster was founded in January 2020 by Tony Jamous and Jack Mardack with the objective of addressing the hiring needs of companies growing internationally. It is headquartered in the US and currently makes its platform available in 91 countries whose population accounts for 95 percent of the knowledge workers worldwide, according to the company.
Company figures show that Oyster grew significantly in the last year, recording 8x revenue growth, 8x customer base, and 5x team growth in 2021.
Saagar Kulkarni, Partner at Stripes, said: "The transition to remote work is one of the most fundamental macro trends in business today and COVID-19 accelerated that transition by 10 years. Oyster makes it seamless for any company to hire the best person for each job, removing location as a barrier. Tony and the team have built the best software product in the market and are poised to build a market-defining company. We are thrilled to join the entire Oyster team on their mission to level the playing field for the global workforce."
Mardack said of the successful round: "We're thrilled to partner with Stripes for the next chapter of growth and positive impact for Oyster. Investors like Stripes, Emergence, Slack Fund, Avid, and PeopleTech Partners among others, who share in our passion for the Oyster mission and vision for the future of work, give us the rocket fuel we need to change the world by unblocking access to job opportunities for everyone."