Braintrust, a network for freelance technical and design talent has announced that it has raised $18 million in new funding.

The funding round was led by ACME and Blockchange Ventures, joined by new investors Omidyar Technology Ventures, Pantera, Multicoin, Hashkey and Variant. The company intends to use the funds to further accelerate the marketplace’s growth.

Founded by serial entrepreneurs Adam Jackson and Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski, Braintrust is expected to be the first user-controlled talent network that provides enterprises with skilled technical and design talent that they need. Its network model – enabled by a blockchain token – aims to allow talent to retain 100% of their market rate, and enables organizations to spin up flexible teams and cut out the middlemen.

Braintrust only charges the companies doing the hiring— freelancers won’t have to pay to join or to bid on a project, and Braintrust won’t charge a fee on their project payments. In addition, the startup is using a cryptocurrency token that it calls Btrust to reward users who build the network, for example by inviting new customers or vetting freelancers. Apparently, the token will give users a stake in how the network evolves in the future.

According to Jackson, most of the talent on the platform consists of career freelancers, but with many people losing their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, “we’ve seen an influx of talent coming looking to join the ranks of the freelancers.”

He added that the startup already became profitable after raising its $6 million seed round, so the new funding will allow it to build the core team and also bring in more work.

Braintrust is a fully distributed network with a presence in 15 countries around the world. The platform has thousands of active workers completing projects for clients, and many thousands more in its talent vetting pipeline.