Pictures of Tony Jamous, CEO and Founder of Oyster. Picture retrieved from Jamous' Linkedin. (Credit: Tony Jamous)
BEIRUT – Oyster, a U.S.-based payroll and human resources (HR) platform specialized in global employment, announced on Sep. 4 that it raised $59 million in Series D funding, according to a press release on its website. This brings the total amount raised to $286 million since the company’s inception in 2020, and increases its valuation to $1.2 billion.
Co-founded by Lebanese entrepreneur and CEO Tony Jamousand and his partner Jack Mardack, Oyster was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic to help companies recruit global talent and help individuals worldwide gain access to better opportunities – irrespective of location. Today, it has grown to encompass more than 550 employees based in over 60 countries.
“We wanted to transform a system of work that relied too heavily on talent based in a handful of cities and gave people almost no flexibility in where and how they worked,” said Jamous in the press release.
Hiring based on talent, not location
According to TechCrunch, an online news outlet that covers tech and startup companies, Oyster employs a worker on behalf of a company (the client) and then remits the salary that the client pays them to remote workers anywhere in the world, namely in emerging markets. Jamous told the news outlet that through this model, he hoped to promote “reverse brain drain” from developing countries by “helping them retain homegrown talent.”
The company targets two types of hires for roles such as sales, engineering and administration. These categories are split into: traditionally credentialed talent, (high-skilled workers), and emerging talent (low-income job seekers).
“Today, 40 percent of our customer team members are based in emerging markets. That means 40 percent of people hired through our platform are accessing career opportunities that might have been inaccessible to them in the past,” Jamous said.
In 2023, Oyster facilitated $107 million in payments to full-time employees and contractors in emerging markets. “It’s not just the volume of hires that makes a difference. It’s the amount of foreign direct investment through salaries paid that moves the needle [and creates a difference across these countries],” he added.
He believes that these opportunities would enhance the standard of living for employees from developing countries and “open the door for first-time benefits access, home ownership and further career development.”
Jamous said the company will use its latest round of investment to continue to serve its global customer base and provide “compliance, support, and intelligence infrastructure.”