PALO ALTO, California — Stoke, a pioneer in the freelance management system space, announces today a $15.5 million Series A funding round. This was led by Battery Ventures, with participation from all previous investors and angels including TLV Partners, Dynamic and Loop, and a handful of visionary customers who have experienced its business impact first-hand. To date, the company has raised $20 million. The investment allows Stoke to drive expansion and meet the rapidly growing demand from U.S. companies seeking to work more effectively in the changing workforce which includes both freelancers and full-time employees.
Stoke was founded with the mission to help companies harness the power of the freelance revolution by simplifying the way they collaborate with the non-payroll workforce, which includes freelancers, contractors, consultants, agencies and gig workers. The nature of the workforce is changing, moving from a workforce dominated by full-time workers to one where freelancers are becoming more prominent; projections show that the freelance workforce is expected to grow to over 50% of the total U.S workforce by 2027.
COVID-19 has accelerated the shift further, as companies have quickly realized the need for added agility and flexibility to survive such disruption, leaning on freelance talent to do so. This reality is the fuel behind the company’s incredible growth since emerging from stealth mode, less than a year ago. In the first quarter of 2021, the company more than doubled its customer base and tripled its total revenue.
“The way we do business has changed, the talent we choose to work with needs to change with it,” says Shahar Erez, CEO and Co-founder of Stoke. “But, we can’t expect it when neither side has yet had the proper support. These funds will follow us as we build out our own category and cement a single source of truth for business leaders to manage any and every aspect of freelance talent overhead, and to help them securely leverage the most dynamic kind of workforce.”
“At Battery we’ve made many investments around the future of work. But we believe the comprehensive solution Stoke is building to help companies manage their growing networks of freelancers and independent contractors is really unique—and is obviously very relevant today,” said Itzik Parnafes, a Battery general partner who is joining Stoke’s board. “Having one tool that can source, onboard, manage, pay and ensure compliance with this extended workforce helps companies become more productive and stay agile without adding risk. We are thrilled to partner with the team and look forward to helping Stoke scale its operations, including in the U.S., in the months and years to come.”
Stoke is a secure all-in-one platform that enables companies to hire top talents quickly, set up automated onboarding workflows aligned with government guidelines, pay multiple invoices across 190 countries, all while ensuring management, finance and human resources teams have full visibility and control over budgets, in addition to automatic legal and tax compliance.
To learn more about the company, visit www.stoketalent.com.
