The Hague-based Bubty, a global Freelance Management System (FMS) startup, has been acquired by U.S.-based company Upwork’s new enterprise-focused subsidiary to reshape how contingent work is sourced, managed, and delivered.
Bubty had previously raised a €1.7 million Seed round in December 2023, and another €3 million Seed round in November 2024 – as covered by EU-Startups. Total funding sits at €5.1 million, as per Crunchbase.
Lee Willoughby and Benjamin Schriel, Co-founders of Bubty, emphasised that the deal is not the end of their journey, but a scaling-up of their ambitions. “Together, with our incredible team, clients, partners, and supporters, we’ve built a company that dared to rethink how the world hires. From the start, Bubty wasn’t just an idea. It was a deep intrinsic belief. That work can be more human. That hiring contingent talent shouldn’t be complicated. That technology can empower people, both clients and contractors, to connect, collaborate, and grow with clarity, trust, and joy.”
Founded in 2020, Bubty is an FMS designed to streamline how companies work with freelancers worldwide. Its platform enables businesses to build and manage private talent pools, match the right freelancers to projects using AI-driven insights, and handle every stage of the process – from compliance and classification to payments in over 190 countries and 130 currencies through a single invoice.
By addressing legal risks, misclassification issues, and administrative workloads, Bubty looks to give organisations a strategic edge in talent acquisition and management while ensuring speed, accuracy, and tax compliance in global payments.
The acquisition was announced alongside Upwork’s agreement to acquire Ascen, a global compliance and employer of record company. Both Bubty and Ascen will be integrated into a stand-alone entity within Upwork’s operations, designed to serve corporate clients looking for flexible staffing solutions.
By combining capabilities, Upwork will be able to support a wider variety of contract types, including agent of record, employer of record, and staff augmentation – positioning the company to compete in new areas of the staffing market.
Upwork reportedly vetted more than 100 potential companies to acquire in order to build out this business. The company ultimately chose Bubty and Ascen not only for what they could each offer individually but also for how they worked together, having piloted both companies independently and in collaboration before the deal.
While financial details of the acquisition have not been disclosed, the strategic rationale is clear. For Upwork, this move strengthens its competitive edge in enterprise workforce solutions. For Bubty, it provides the scale, resources, and market reach to bring its vision to a much larger audience.
In a public statement, the Bubty Founders expressed deep gratitude to their team and community, promising that the values on which Bubty was built – trust, care, and innovation – will remain central as they join forces with Upwork’s enterprise operations.
