Hiring from anywhere is an emerging trend associated with the success of remote working during the pandemic.
However, to do this successfully and compliantly, employers need HR tech tools.
Meet HR startup Oyster, which provides a full suite of HR tech products to support distributed teams, and has raised $50 million in a Series B.
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Pandemic-enforced remote working has transformed companies attitudes towards hiring. Instead of focusing their recruitment efforts on areas near to where they have offices, full-time working from home has allowed them to hire from anywhere.
Oyster, which is itself distributed across more than 20 countries, is tapping into this new market for globally distributed teams and the urgent need for tools to manage them.
The company and its HR platform for distributed companies has experienced significant growth over the past year. Its customer base and revenue has grown eight fold and it now covers more than 91 countries globally.
Now less than six months after closing a $20 million Series A, Oyster has raised $50 million in a Series B.
The round was led by Stripes with new investor Avid Ventures, as well as existing investors Emergence Capital and the Slack Fund, also participating.
Oyster plans to use this latest influx of funding to continue to expand its HR offerings for distributed teams. Currently, Oyster’s platform helps companies to hire, onboard, pay and provide benefits to their distributed teams in a compliant way.
It also provides a cost calculator that is country specific so customers know exactly how much it will cost to hire a contractor or a full time employee there.
In a blog post, Oyster co-founder and CEO Tony Jamous wrote: “We’re on a mission to remove the barriers to global employment so that talented people across the globe can increase their employability no matter where they are.
“As a mission-driven company, the support of investors will allow us to expand our services and offer an end-to-end human experience.
“Investors like Stripes, Emergence Capital, Slack Fund, Connect Ventures, and Avid Ventures, among others, share in our passion and vision for the future of work and we are honored to partner with such forward-thinking companies.”
Investor interest in Oyster
Stripes partner Saagar Kulkarni noted: “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.
Avid Ventures founder and managing partner Addie Lerner added: “The Oyster team has impressed us from day one with their drive and commitment to democratizing access to both talent and careers globally.
“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.”
Oyster itself has seen its own distributed team grow five-fold over the past year.
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