SV Angel is a service organization, investing in founders who share these values. They support entrepreneurs in building lasting companies by assisting at key inflection points and leveraging networks to help them propel their businesses forward.

SV Angel

Collaborative Fund is an investment fund that provides funding to companies based on creativity and collaborative consumption. The fund centers around two macro themes which drives business innovation in the coming years: the growth of the creative class and the concept of collaborative consumption. Craig Shapiro founded it in New York in 2010.

Collaborative Fund

Homebrew is a hands-on, founder-friendly seed-stage fund created by Hunter Walk and Satya Patel to invest in the ''bottom-up economy.'' Homebrew has adopted the Diversity Term Sheet Rider.

Homebrew

For 25 years, Signatures Capital founder Bobby Yazdani has been funding early stage technology businesses and collaborating with entrepreneurs and leadership teams to help build world-changing companies.  Signatures Capital has built relationships at major research universities, government laboratories and incubators, as well as cultivated an extensive network of entrepreneurs across the technology industry. Through its relationships, Signatures Capital gains specialized access that allows them to identify and capitalize on transformative technology themes before they become mainstream. Their goal is to partner with founders who recognize these shifts and then steward those boldly building the future.  Bobby began investing privately in 1989. In 2006, he formalized his activities by founding Signatures Capital.

Signatures Capital

AngelPad is a seed-stage accelerator program that finds product market fit, defining a target market to get first validation for a company.  AngelPad is a startup Accelerator & MicroVC Fund, founded by Thomas Korte & Carine Magescas in 2010. AngelPad is consistently ranked [#1 U.S. Accelerator](https://angelpad.org/b/accelerator-rankings-2015/) by MIT/Rice University's Accelerator Rankings Project.

AngelPad

Crosslink, founded in 1989, is a premier early-stage venture capital firm with over $1.3B in assets.  Crosslink partners with founders that are market disrupters and category creators, typically at the Seed-Series A stage, across highly dynamic enterprise and consumer technology sectors. Over its history, Crosslink has had the opportunity to partner with defining companies such as Bleacher Report (acquired by TWX), BuildingConnected (acquired by ADSK), Chime, Coupa (COUP), DataStax, Molekule, Omniture (acquired by ADBE), Personal Capital (acquired by Empower Retirement), Postmates (acquired by UBER), ServiceMax (acquired by GE), Verodin (acquired by FEYE), Vungle (acquired by Blackstone) and Weave.

Crosslink Capital

Compound is a venture capital firm that invests in bleeding-edge technology built by outliers. They have partnered with elite operators that understand the intricacies of many different industries and various components of businesses, that help them navigate the complex systems in which each startup lives by removing roadblocks and compounding growth. Compound is based in New York City.

Compound

FundersClub focuses on Seed and early stage investments. Investments include Coinbase, Instacart, Flexport, Le Tote, Teespring, Memebox, GitLab. FundersClub is the world's first online venture capital platform. Backed by Y Combinator, First Round Capital, Spark Capital, Intel Capital, Draper, Andreessen Horowitz, Felicis Ventures, and more; FundersClub Inc. was founded in 2012 and is based in the United States.

FundersClub

Streamlined Ventures is a seed-stage investment firm investing in companies transforming verticle markets through Data Science, APIs, Blockchain/Web3, AI, and Software Automation.

Streamlined Ventures

ZenStone believes a new era of technology innovation and business opportunity is emerging in the application layer, by leveraging massively connected people, sensors, data, and computing infrastructure. As the application revolution continues developing, AI, Blockchain, Cloud and Data technology becomes both extremely relevant and critical to success. ZenStone invests in mission-driven founders with the combined strength of vision and action, building game-changing companies in massive markets, i.e. Consumer, Real Estate, Financial Service, Internet of Things, and Small & Medium Business Service. ZenStone typically participates in post-seed rounds with proven track records, strong existing investors, and validated founder-product-market fits.

ZenStone Venture Capital

Menlo Ventures provides capital for multi-stage consumer, enterprise, and life sciences technology companies. Since 1976, the firm’s market-driven analysis has led to the identification of opportunities and successful investments in innovative markets. Notable areas of investment include Marketplaces (Uber, Rover.com, Poshmark); Consumer Services (Tumblr, Betterment, Roku, Siri); Dev/Ops (Harness, Edge Delta, Fire hydrant); SaaS (Carta, ScoutRFP, Qualia, Benchling, Everlaw); Fintech (Betterment, Bluevine, Chime); Cybersecurity (Cavium, IronPort, BitSight, Abnormal, StackRox); and Life Sciences Technology (Synthego, Cofactor Genomics, Recursion Pharmaceuticals, 3T Biosciences). Menlo’s portfolio includes more than 70 public companies, and more than 100 mergers and acquisitions, with $5 billion under management. The firm is currently investing in Menlo Ventures XV, a $500 million early-stage fund, as well as its $500 million Inflection Fund, which targets early-growth investments.

Menlo Ventures

Cota Capital is an SEC-registered multi-stage investment firm focused on private and public enterprise technology companies. Cota has invested in more than 100 private and public technology companies since inception. Cota’s overall Mission is to deliver impactful outcomes through principle-guided investment in modern enterprise technologies.

Cota Capital

BluePointe Ventures invests in sector focused micro funds and startup founders who eschew frontier technology that is responsible for the fast changing human experience. To maximize returns we make early bets via a fund-of-funds model that combines with a direct investment model. BluePointe relies on the relationships and networks the team has built ranging from its Venture Capital Contacts, Design Innovation Studios, Base of Entrepreneur Investors, Bay-area Universities, and its growing network of CIOs to assist in sourcing, vetting, and investing in solid opportunities.

BluePointe Ventures

UpCounsel

UpCounsel operates an online marketplace for businesses to find and hire legal help based on their preferences in the United States. Its marketplace allows the users to access lawyers for legal need.  UpCounsel provides services in the areas of agreements, business formation, patents, trademarks, immigration, general counsel, labor and employment, and securities and finance. It serves legal departments, executives, HR departments, and startups.  Mason Blake and Matthew Faustman founded UpCounsel in 2011. It has its headquarters in San Francisco in California.

UpCounsel’s legal marketplace connects businesses with independent attorneys covering business, contract, immigration, and intellectual property law, among others. Attorneys on UpCounsel’s platform have an average of 14 years of experience and includes attorneys with experience at leading law firms and Fortune 500 companies.&nbsp;

The on-demand economy has finally reached white collar work.

Online Freelancing Platforms

Chancery Tosses Most Claims In UpCounsel Sale Challenge

UpCounsel’s legal marketplace connects businesses with independent attorneys covering business, contract, immigration, and intellectual property law, among others. Attorneys on UpCounsel’s platform have an average of 14 years of experience and includes attorneys with experience at leading law firms and Fortune 500 companies.&nbsp;UpCounsel was reported to be on the brink of bankruptcy in March 2020, until a deal at the eleventh hour with Enduring Ventures in April 2020 kept the company going. Clients can post their legal needs on the platform free of charge, and UpCounsel’s proprietary algorithm matches clients with a suitable attorney and offers free initial phone consultations.&nbsp;Once an attorney is hired, work is billed on an hourly basis (ranging between USD 125-350 per hour) or as a fixed fee (ranging between USD 600-5,000). The platform also provides a suite of free collaboration tools, including tools for workflow management, legal document preparation, document management and storage, and e-signatures.Key customers and partnershipsNotable customers which used the platform included Menlo Ventures, HotelTonight and Baubax. As of October 2024, UpCounsel was used by 10,000 companies from small businesses to Fortune 1000 companies.

Textbroker is a platform for creative writing freelancers to connect with businesses. Textbroker freelancers work on projects such as social media posts, news stories, and blog posts. The platform provides content in over 35 languages, while connecting businesses with freelancers in the target country. Platform pricing starts at USD 2.3 cents per word.Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2024, the platform served over 80,000 clients, including eBay, Otto and RVshare. The company also had 100,000+ registered freelancers on the platform as of October 2024.

Textbroker

Procurement Freelancers provides freelancers for procurement functions such as sourcing/category management, quality control and assurance, and advisory. Its algorithm calculates the relevance between experts' skills and client briefs by scoring criteria like skills, experience, and language. It prioritizes search criteria based on user preferences to deliver the most accurate match.The platform is free to use for freelancers, while clients purchase subscriptions to hire and manage freelancers at no added cost.In March 2019, the company acquired Dragon Sourcing, a procurement and sourcing service provider.Key competitors: None under coverage. (The platform connects enterprises with procurement-based freelancers)

Procurement Freelancers

Kolabtree is a UK-based freelancer marketplace connecting businesses and scientists. The platform provides businesses with skills such as data analysis, product development, scientific consulting, desk research, and other science related services within 24 hours of receiving business requests.Kolabtree also provides concierge services for writing, with fees ranging from USD 2,000 to USD 4,000, depending on the timeline. Similarly, its concierge services for statistical analysis are priced between USD 250 and USD 625, also based on the timeline.The company generates revenue via a 20% service fee charged to the freelancers based on the total project invoice.Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2024, Kolabtree served over 3,200 businesses including notable enterprises such as NASA, Volkswagen and Moderna. Further, the platform had over 20,000 scientists and experts as of October 2024.Key competitors:&nbsp;None under coverage. (Kolabtree offers a freelancing platform connecting enterprises with scientists).

kolabtree

Codersera is a freelance marketplace for enterprises to find software engineers. The company claims to provide the top 1% of developers through its five tier vetting process. The platform’s freelancers cover a spectrum of developer and data science technologies such as iOS, Android, Python, and Java. Additionally, freelancers provide SaaS platform development, testing and QA services and migration away from legacy systems.Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2024, the platform had over 20,000 vetted freelancers and 100+ clients on its platform.

Codersera Inc

Upwork is an online labor marketplace that assists in engaging freelancers and businesses in discovering direct labor arrangements for both short and long-term projects. Upwork’s roots date back to 1998 and 2003 when online talent marketplaces Elance and oDesk were founded. In December 2013, Elance and oDesk announced its merger with a combined freelancer base of over 8 million (5 million from oDesk and 3 million from Elance). Subsequent to the merger, Elance-oDesk continued to report losses and required a bailout package of USD 30 million from Benchmark Capital in November 2014. The company was rebranded as Upwork in May 2015.&nbsp;Unlike Fiverr, Upwork encourages freelancers to develop a profile focused on specific expertise, helping them build a niche reputation. Fiverr, on the other hand, allows freelancers to offer a wide range of services through individual gigs, enabling them to market multiple skill sets simultaneously. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16664">February 2023</a> Upwork expanded its offerings to include full-time hiring for businesses with features such as finding, vetting, hiring, onboarding, and paying professionals for full-time work arrangements.&nbsp; Additionally, in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24502">December 2023</a>, Upwork launched Chat Pro, a GPT-4-powered app in beta, to enhance work efficiency. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35568">October 2024</a>, Upwork introduced&nbsp; Uma, an AI assistant, the Business Plus plan for Expert-Vetted talent, Featured Jobs, and Boosted Profiles. At the time, the company also announced a 21% workforce&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35569">reduction</a> aiming to save USD 60 million annually.Upwork also offers several solutions to streamline hiring: Talent Scout, connecting clients with pre-vetted freelancers; the Work Marketplace and Project Catalog for easy hiring; and the Virtual Talent Bench, which helps businesses build and maintain a network of freelancers for ongoing collaboration.The company generates revenue via a 10% project fee charged from clients, and freelancer subscriptions priced at USD 20 per month.In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/03/upwork-ceo-on-ipo-day-we-do-not-incentivize-for-less-pay-for-freelancers.html">October 2018</a>, Upwork listed on the NASDAQ to raise approximately USD 187 million. In FY2023, Upwork generated USD 689 million in revenue (up 11% YoY). The company guided FY2024 revenue between USD 760 million to USD 780 million, representing 11.7% YoY growth at the midpoint. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) stood at USD 0.13 in FY2023, compared to a loss per share of USD 0.69 in FY2022.Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;The company recorded 868,000 active clients as of August 2024, with notable clients including Microsoft, Airbnb and NASDAQ, among others.In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33129">August 2024,</a> Upwork partnered with Beeline to&nbsp;integrate its talent pool into Beeline’s vendor management system (VMS), offering access to over 10,000 professionals across 125+ categories. Previously, in&nbsp;<a href="https://investors.upwork.com/news-releases/news-release-details/upwork-partners-catch-expand-freelancers-access-benefits">January 2022</a>, the company partnered with Catch to offer freelancers access to personal payroll and healthcare benefits.&nbsp;

Upwork

Platforms that provide expertise in specialized areas such as law and scientific research.

Platforms that provide expertise in writing, translation, and editing.

Platforms that provide marketing expertise across email, SEO, and social media marketing functions.

Platforms that offer expertise related to web, mobile and software development with freelance developers fluent across major programming languages.

Platforms that focus on offering expertise in design and creative functions such as photography, video editing, and animation.

Platforms that offer expertise across multiple verticals such as design and creative, web, mobile and software development, finance, and marketing.

Solutions use AI/Ml for to match freelancers with clients and to vet freelancers

Some solutions introduced by players in this hub are using a B2B SaaS model

UpCounsel

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