Collective.work (HX20) raises $8m as freelancer teams gain traction worldwide

Collective.work (eF20), a platform that powers teams of freelancers — also known as collectives — today announces it has raised $8 million in a seed round led by Blossom Capital, together with collective members and prominent business angels (including co-founders of Intercom, Criteo, Aircall).

🤝 Freelancers are teaming up in collectives

Launched 9 months ago in our studio, Collective.work is building a SaaS-enabled marketplace to enable any independents to create and run collectives with a professional back-office and access opportunities. The budding startup is already the largest platform for freelancer teams worldwide.

Freelancing has grown considerably over the past decade and is expected to continue to expand. More recently, a new form of work is emerging- yes, you guessed it- collectives. Collectives are teams of freelancers, experts, and creators who have decided to combine their networks, skills, and methodologies under a common brand.

The number of collectives worldwide is increasing at a lightning-fast pace. Collective.work recently published a study titled “Collectives in 2021” and found that over 20% of independent workers are already teaming up. They represent ~1% of the service industry and generate $250 billion in the US and Europe. In 2040, nearly 1 in 2 working adults will work in teams of independents (yes, you read that correctly). Co-founders Jean, Vianney, Paul and their team are the first-movers who are empowering this new form of work.

In 2040, nearly 1 in 2 working adults will work in teams of independents

💼 Reinventing the way we work

One of the greatest advantages of collectives is that they combine the benefits of the traditional company with those of independent work. In a collective, members benefit from each other’s support and expertise. Not only that, but they are able to mutualise internal resources and share expenses. The result? Collectives are able access larger projects with higher budgets which were once only reserved to traditional companies.

Collectives create a fulfilling way of working, something that’s lacking in this day and age. They are more horizontal than traditional companies, and some already operate as fully decentralised and autonomous organisations (DAOs). In these collectives, the remuneration system, the governance, and every-day-processes are collectively voted, and subject to evolutions based on a democratic system.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 An infrastructure that puts freelancer teams first

Let’s cut to the chase: freelancer teams are underserved. By nature, collectives have complex needs to address around quotation, invoicing, payment and governance. In parallel, software dedicated to solo-freelancers are not collaborative by design and cannot properly cover team projects. Moreover, freelancer platforms focus on individual skills while collectives seek to market themselves as a group with a packaged offer.

Collective.work solves this by providing the dedicated digital infrastructure to unlock the potential of millions of collectives worldwide.

It has been a pleasure to see Collective.work grow as a company and as people at such a fast pace throughout the past 9 months. Jean and his team have accomplished so much in such a short amount of time, no doubt owing to their fantastic work ethic and exceptional ambition. Members of the Collective team have even become influencers of some sorts, racking up thousands of likes on LinkedIn posts about their in-depth report on the future of work or a benchmark on tariffs for digital services — a sure sign that the demand for collective freelancers is at an all-time high!

Collective.work is looking to recruit 30+ people by the end of 2022, so if you’re looking for your next big adventure, go on and browse & apply to the latest openings.