Remote Secures $35 Million in Series A Funding to Transform Global Talent Market

SAN FRANCISCO, November 10, 2020 —  @Remote, an HR technology platform for international payroll, benefits and compliance, today announced that it has secured $35 million in Series A funding led by Index Ventures and joined by Sequoia Capital, with additional participation from angel investors including Aaron Levie, Zach Weinberg, and Kevin and Julia Hartz. Previous investors General Catalyst and Two Sigma Ventures are also participating. This funding empowers Remote to further its position as the industry’s most compliant and competitive solution helping companies of all sizes employ global teams. Remote has raised $46 million to date.

Since its public launch earlier this year and its $11 million seed funding round in April, Remote has been approached by thousands of companies seeking to take advantage of its unique employment model and global network of legal entities, including customers GitLab, Loom, Cargo One, Whereby and Phaidra. Remote has doubled its customer base every month since the start of the year. 

Founded by Job van der Voort (who as VP of product for GitLab helped grow the company from five to 450 employees across 67 countries with no offices) and Marcelo Lebre (an industry veteran who worked at several globally-distributed companies), the Remote team has grown by 650% this year, with new senior hires including Roderick van Vliet (previously EY) as Head of Legal, and Elisa Rossi (previously Square, Eventbrite and Apple) as Head of Growth. As part of this round, Hannah Seal, Principal at Index Ventures, and Jan Hammer, Partner at Index Ventures, will also be joining the board.

Remote is the only global employment provider with its own legal infrastructure in every country where it operates. This provides customers with absolute security for IP and invention rights, guarantees international compliance, and enables Remote to offer the industry’s most competitive and flexible pricing. With millions of companies worldwide shifting to remote work and adapting to evolving visa requirements, Remote has become the new standard solution for organizations looking to hire and retain the best global talent.

Remote’s platform includes its global employer of record services, covering international payroll, benefits, taxes, and visa and immigration services, as well as a free platform for global contractor management and payments.

Hannah Seal, Principal at Index Ventures, said:

“For any business to succeed and scale, it needs two key ingredients – financial capital and human capital. In the past, many high-growth businesses were hindered by their inability to find talent within a certain radius from the office. As attitudes towards where we work have dramatically shifted this year, Remote has been on a hyper-growth trajectory, helping companies hire anyone in any country, while staying compliant with local labor laws. Whatever happens, COVID-19 has permanently altered the role of the office for employers and employees alike.” 

Ravi Gupta, Partner at Sequoia Capital, said:

“The future of work will involve many remote employees. Remote is addressing a key area of friction in the global economy by opening up the availability of talent to all businesses and the range of opportunities to individuals. We are excited to support Remote in its drive to reshape the global talent market.”

Katie Hoffman, Cofounder and COO at Phaidra, said:

“As a fast-growing business, we recognize that we need to be very intentional in every decision we make – and hiring is at the top of the list. Some of our best hires reside in countries where we don’t currently have entities, so Remote gives us the assurance that we comply with local regulations, while ensuring we have access to excellent customer support and advice. We no longer need to grapple with the granular details of labor laws, benefits administration and taxes across multiple geographies, as Remote removes these complexities for us.” 

Job van der Voort, CEO and Co-Founder at Remote, said:

“Remote work has become the norm for thousands of businesses and we anticipate that upwards of 40% of knowledge worker jobs will be a hybrid or fully remote role in the next few years. We believe that companies should be able to employ anyone in the world and that opportunities should be accessible regardless of where someone lives. This investment will allow us to continue to build tools for companies to make remote work easier. Remote doesn’t just enable global employment, it helps businesses win the global talent war.”