HR startup Oyster closes $20m investment round

Oyster, the HR platform for globally distributed companies, announced it has completed a $20 million Series A investment led by Emergence Capital, less than a year after raising a $4.2 million seed round. Spurred by the rapid acceleration of distributed working during the pandemic, Oyster has grown quickly by enabling companies to manage growing and geographically distributed workforces in over 100 countries. 

Renowned SaaS investor Jason Green, who has led funding for Zoom, Salesforce, Bill.com, and others, is the lead investor. Additional investors include the Slack Fund and Connect Ventures. The investment will accelerate Oyster's rapid growth and support its mission of enabling people to work from anywhere. 

There are now massive opportunities for remote-centric companies to attract and retain great global talent, and for the SaaS companies that enable them.  Oyster's category-defining SaaS HR platform supports the changing needs of HR in the new work-from-anywhere world, by removing the need to deal with local payroll and employment complexity, by speeding up traditional international hiring, onboarding and by providing robust benefits for employees and contractors alike-  all from one SaaS platform. 

By closing the geographic gap between great job opportunities and talented individuals, Oyster is addressing many of the wrongs of modern society, including unequal distribution of wealth and talent, lack of opportunity for career progression, burnout, and poor work-life balance. Oyster was recently granted B-Corporation certification with a pending status. The company has published a social impact thesis that can be found here.

Jason Green Founder, Emergence Capital: "We invest in people who change the way the world works. Remote work is here now and here to stay. Oyster makes hiring and onboarding the best remote talent in the world easy, fast, and efficient. Oyster has the best team and product to dominate this emerging category in the future of work and we are thrilled to be partnering with them."

Tony Jamous, CEO, Oyster: "The move to work from anywhere is good news to the world, despite a gloomy 2020. We have aligned our mission with our growth, and it is paying off. We were fortunate to be able to raise our Seed and Series A during the pandemic, remotely."

Jason Spinell, Director, Slack Fund: "At the Slack Fund, we're focused on investing in the next wave of software companies building the future of work. Oyster is addressing the challenges that come with employing a globally distributed team, enabling companies to expand their potential talent pool and hire based on what matters most to them. The ability to hire from anywhere is necessary to embrace a remote-first future." 

Conner Forrest, Senior Research Analyst at 451 Research: "Companies are beginning to think more strategically about global talent, but they first need fundamental enablement to hire globally. As long-term and permanent remote work policies grow, and companies consider eliminating physical office space due to COVID-19, the need for tools that support a mass-scale shift to remote work is great."

www.oysterhr.com