Toptal is a global
remote company that provides a freelancing platform, connecting businesses with software engineers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers. The company has no headquarters.
History
Taso Du Val and Breanden Beneschott founded the company in 2010. Du Val was previously an engineer at
Fotolog
Fotolog.com (originally Fotolog.net) was a social network for sharing primarily photos. The site claimed that its vision was to build a "good" social network which prioritizes the well-being of users. The site only allowed all members of the commu ...
and Slide.com
while Beneschott was an undergraduate at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...
.
The name stands for "top talent", and it was started as a
virtual company with no dedicated offices.
Toptal had more than $1 million in revenue by the time Beneschott graduated from Princeton.
The co-founders moved to
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...
to access
software developers
A computer programmer, sometimes referred to as a software developer, a software engineer, a programmer or a coder, is a person who creates computer programs — often for larger computer software.
A programmer is someone who writes/creates ...
with fewer employment options than in the United States.
Talent search and growth
The firm developed personality, language, and skills testing to remotely screen engineering candidates, and accepted the top 3% of several thousand monthly applicants.
The firm matches business engagements with developers from its network and brokers the terms of each job.
In 2015, it expanded to include freelance design.
In 2016, it acquired the freelancer platform, Skillbridge, which offered freelance accountants, statisticians, and consultants in market research, financial modeling, and due diligence. In 2017, the company launched a vertical specializing in software engineers and designers for the automotive industry. It also launched a vertical for
blockchain
A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that consists of growing lists of records, called ''blocks'', that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, ...
engineers in February 2018.
Funding
Toptal accepted a $1.4 million
seed round
Seed money, sometimes known as seed funding or seed capital, is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in a startup company in exchange for an equity stake or convertible note stake in the company. The term ''seed'' ...
of financing from
Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz (also called a16z, legal name AH Capital Management, LLC) is a private American venture capital firm, founded in 2009 by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. The company is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.
Andreessen H ...
and
angel investors including
Quora
Quora () is a social question-and-answer website based in Mountain View, California. It was founded on June 25, 2009, and made available to the public on June 21, 2010. Users can collaborate by editing questions and commenting on answers that ...
founder
Adam D'Angelo.
The company is said not to have raised additional funds since its seed round because it has been profitable.
In 2015 and 2016, Toptal's annual revenue was $80 million and $100 million respectively.
See also
*
Remotebase.com
*
Freelancer.com
Freelancer is an Australian freelance marketplace website, which allows potential employers to post jobs that freelancers can then bid to complete. Founded in 2009, its headquarters is located in Sydney, Australia, though it also has offices ...
*
Upwork
Upwork Global Inc., formerly Elance-oDesk, is an American freelancing platform headquartered in Santa Clara and San Francisco, California. The company was formed in 2013 as Elance-oDesk, after the merger of Elance Inc. and oDesk Corp. The merg ...
*
Guru.com
*
Fiverr
Fiverr is a global online marketplace for freelance services. Fiverr’s platform connects freelancers (sellers) to people or businesses looking to hire (buyers). Listings on Fiverr are diverse and range from "get a well-designed business card" ...
*
PeoplePerHour
*
Behance
Behance (stylized as Bēhance) is a social media platform owned by Adobe whose main focus is to showcase and discover creative work.
Behance was founded by Matias Corea and Scott Belsky in November 2005. It was acquired by Adobe in December 2012 ...
References
External links
*{{Official website, https://www.toptal.com/
Remote companies
Online marketplaces of the United States
Online employment auction websites
Freelance marketplace websites
Employment websites