Tech company Swarm whose design is to link startup founders with freelance tech builders has just raised $1.1 million (around Php62 million) of pre-seed funding, with early institutional investors Plug and Play and Hustle Fund taking the lead.
Taking their part in the funding are also angel investors Jim Franke and Vivek Padmanabhan, both pioneers of the outsourcing industry, Paulo Campos of Kaya Founders, in addition to early and founding members of Facebook, DoorDash, and Google.
Innovating the workforce marketplace, Swarm is described as “an invite-only freelancer network, where members ideate, strategize, and form freelance teams around startup founder projects.”
With its goal in mind, the company said that it seeks to change the way people work. That is, by cultivating both trust and collaboration within its community. Unlike other head-hunting platforms that rely on traditional means of finding the right people, Swarm employs a community-driven approach.
It means that referrals, among other things, make for a strong driving force to get people known in the business at the risk of the referrer’s reputation. Meanwhile, successful referral results in rewards.
Per Swarm, more than 80 percent of its builders are individuals with track records and whose experience draws from companies backed by Fortune 500 and Y Combinator. Meanwhile, its clients on the platform include the former CTO of McAfee, Axiamatic, Procter & Gamble, Parallax, f(dev), Shipmates, etc.