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Elance has raised $83.0M across 4 funding rounds.
Key people at Elance.
Elance was founded in 1998 by Sanjay Noronha (Co-Founder).
Elance has raised $83.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Elance operated as an online freelance marketplace connecting businesses with independent professionals across various technical and creative fields, based in Mountain View, California. Operating on a commission-based business model, the platform facilitated remote work, software development projects, and outsourced services for corporate clients hiring talent from over 180 countries. The company secured $16 million in total funding and scaled its internal workforce to 289 employees, eventually reaching an estimated $24 million in annual revenue by 2024. Under the executive leadership of President Terry Hendrix, the business competed directly for market share against other major talent networks such as Freelancer.com and Toptal. The platform was ultimately acquired by industry peer Upwork, which absorbed its operations and transitioned its independent user base into a single consolidated global marketplace. Elance was originally established in 2013 by an undisclosed founding team.
Elance was founded in 1998 by Sanjay Noronha (Co-Founder).
Elance has raised $83.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Elance's investors include Canvas Ventures, Drive Capital, Kleiner Perkins.
Key people at Elance.
Elance was a pioneering online freelancing marketplace founded in 1998, focused on connecting employers with freelancers, particularly in web development and computing services.[1][3][4] It merged with oDesk in 2013 to form Elance-oDesk, which rebranded as Upwork in 2015, evolving into a dominant platform serving millions of users worldwide with tools for hiring, collaboration, and payments across diverse professional services.[1][2][3] Upwork now targets businesses and freelancers globally, solving remote talent access challenges amid the gig economy boom, with reported growth to 14 million users and $1 billion in annual billings by 2017, and recognition as a TIME100 Most Influential Company in 2022.[1][2]
Elance originated in 1998 when MIT graduate Beerud (or Bernard) Sheth and Wall Street veteran Srini Anumolu founded the company in a two-bedroom apartment in Jersey City, New Jersey.[1][3][4][5] Aiming to create an online marketplace for technical talent like web developers, they launched the Elance Small Business Marketplace as their first product and relocated 22 employees to Sunnyvale, California, in Silicon Valley by late 1999.[1][5] The idea emerged from recognizing inefficiencies in traditional hiring, enabling remote connections between employers and skilled workers.[4]
Pivotal moments included steady growth until the 2013 merger with oDesk—founded in 2003 by Odysseas Tsatalos and Stratis Karamanlakis to facilitate remote collaboration across borders—which combined their platforms into Elance-oDesk with ~$750 million in annual billings.[1][3][4] This led to the 2015 Upwork rebrand under CEOs like Stephane Kasriel, marking early traction through platform integration and surpassing $1 billion in gross services volume (GSV).[2][6]
Elance rode the early internet wave of digitizing labor markets, predating the gig economy explosion by connecting dispersed talent when remote work was nascent, and its merger amplified this amid cloud computing and broadband proliferation.[1][3][4] Timing was ideal as globalization and tech outsourcing surged in the 2000s, with market forces like the 2020 pandemic boosting U.S. freelancing to 36% of the workforce—a 22% rise since 2019—favoring platforms like Upwork.[2]
It influenced the ecosystem by normalizing online freelancing, spawning the "Upwork Mafia" of alumni founding ventures, and setting standards for remote tools that competitors emulate, while adapting to AI trends via acquisitions.[8][9]
Upwork, born from Elance's vision, stands poised for expansion in an AI-augmented gig economy, with integrations like Headroom signaling deeper automation in matching and collaboration.[8] Trends like hybrid work persistence and freelance growth will propel it, potentially evolving influence through enterprise AI tools and global regulatory adaptations for remote labor. As the original connector of digital talent, its trajectory ties back to solving hiring friction at scale, positioning it as an enduring marketplace leader.
Elance has raised $83.0M across 4 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $16.0M Series U in January 2012.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2012 | $16M Series U | — | Canvas Ventures, Drive Capital, Kleiner Perkins | Announced |
| Aug 1, 2004 | $10M Series E | — | Canvas Ventures, Drive Capital, Kleiner Perkins | Announced |
| Mar 1, 2003 | $7M Series U | — | Canvas Ventures, Drive Capital, Kleiner Perkins | Announced |
| Sep 1, 2000 | $50M Series B | — | Drive Capital, Kleiner Perkins | Announced |
