Oyster is changing the future of work by aligning investment and mission

For the last two years, the Oyster team and I have been committed to creating a more equal world through distributed hiring. Last week, you may have seen that this commitment has resulted in Oyster raising $150 million in our Series C funding round.?

We’ve been fortunate to work with great investors who are equally committed to our mission. Led by Georgian and with investment from Salesforce Ventures Impact Fund, Base10, Okta, LinkedIn, and Endeavor Catalyst, this new round of funding means we can continue to deliver on our vision of a world where the lottery of your birth country does not determine the opportunities available to you.

We’ve also achieved important milestones related to that mission:????

• We’ve built a diverse team that spans 60 countries and is composed of almost 60% women.?
• We’ve enabled hundreds of customers to create diverse organizations and hire the best people no matter where they are.?
• We’ve created a model of work that not only helps people access flexibility, wellbeing, and freedom, but that is a force for social and environmental good.?

When you remove the barriers of location and proximity bias, you can begin to address the inherent inequalities of hiring and employment. You can curb brain drain, invest in global talent and communities, and narrow the gap between access and opportunity. Oyster customers are now projected to use our platform to pay more than $50 million to talent located in emerging economies by the end of 2022.

There used to be a belief that, if you were a mission-driven company, you might deliver less return to investors. But this perception is changing.

Many organisations are moving toward this style of impact-centric growth. Indeed, in recent years, we’ve seen ESG (environmental, social, governance) investing become the fastest-growing asset class as well as data from Deloitte and others that prove purpose-led organizations grow three times faster and experience higher market share gains.?

Of course, not all businesses can reach this alignment. But founders should not be afraid to try. It’s important to be thoughtful, ambitious, and, most of all, embody the principles and values that you have set out for the rest of your team.

I’m so proud of everyone — from Jack Mardack to our newest team members — who have helped us get here ??

For a more detailed run-down of our journey, do take a moment to read my Oyster retrospective.