LONDON and SAN FRANCISCO–Oyster®, the company that makes hiring talented people around the world compliant, human, and delightful, today announced it has raised a $50 million Series B funding round, led by Stripes with the continued participation of some existing investors.
On the heels of the announcement of Oyster’s $20M Series A just this past February, this new Series B investment allows Oyster to expand its HR platform to more countries around the world and continue to empower globally distributed companies to succeed on the world stage.
Spurred by the surging demand from companies of all types and sizes eager to conveniently and confidently hire remote employees in multiple countries, Oyster® has experienced dramatic growth in the last year. The team has grown 5X and the customer base has grown 8X so far in 2021. Revenue increased by 8X since the beginning of the year, from a growing number of Distributed HR offerings, including multiple modes of employment (for both Contractors and Full-Time Employees), and an assortment of Benefits catering to the special needs of distributed teams. Oyster® has also expanded its country coverage to 91 countries which account for more than 95% of the employable knowledge workers of the world. Those countries include India, Egypt, Peru, the Philippines, Lebanon, Thailand, Nigeria among others from the developing world.
“Oyster enables companies eager to employ and retain talented employees around the world. With Oyster, companies are building their distributed teams remotely with ease and confidence, with a powerful single-source platform for managing local legal compliance, payroll, benefits, and other critical human resource needs specific to each country,” said Tony Jamous, CEO and co-Founder of Oyster. “As a B-Corp, Oyster is on a mission to remove the barriers to global employment so that talented people across the world can increase their employability no matter where they are.”
According to a recently published study by the Korn Ferry Institute entitled The Global Talent Crunch, the United Statescan expect to lose out on $162 billion by 2030 due to sector skills shortages. The same study estimates that 1.5 billion knowledge workers are set to enter the workforce over the next 10 years, mostly from emerging economies. The study estimates that the global talent shortage is forecasted to reach above 85 million people by 2030.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Stripes for the next chapter of growth and positive impact for Oyster,” said Jack Mardack, co-Founder of 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.”
“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,” said Saagar Kulkarni, Partner at Stripes. “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.”
“The Oyster team has impressed us from Day One with their drive and commitment to democratizing access to both talent and careers globally,” said Addie Lerner, Founder & Managing Partner of Avid Ventures, and Tali Vogelstein, Founding Investor. “As a fully distributed company themselves, Oyster is an incredible example of the kind of explosive growth and value creation that is possible when a company can access the very best talent anywhere in the world.”
“We at PeopleTech Partners are thrilled that Oyster is now able to further their vision of enabling companies to hire the best talent, wherever it is,” said Cara Brennan Allamano SVP, People, Places and Learning at Udemy and Co-founder of PeopleTech Partners. “Our advisors represent the most innovative People function leaders in the world and we see this as the true future of work.”
“Oyster’s mission to provide everyone access to great job opportunities, regardless of location, is important to the modern work revolution we’re all living through right now,” said Joe Thomas, Co-founder & CEO at Loom. “Over the coming decade, people-first companies are going to win with globally diversified talent, and we’re excited for Oyster’s momentum.”
About Oyster
Oyster is the HR platform for globally distributed companies. It enables growing companies to give valued international team members the experience they deserve, without the usual headaches or expense. Oyster empowers hiring anywhere in the world with reliable, compliant payroll and great local benefits and perks. Founded in Jan 2020 by Tony Jamous and Jack Mardack, Oyster is itself a fully remote company with a diverse, globally distributed team.
