Braintrust’s Freelance Marketplace Rewards Quality Work

Today, we’re thrilled to announce our investment in Freelance Labs, the creators of Braintrust, and its co-founders Adam Jackson, Brian Flynn, and Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski. Braintrust is a new type of freelance marketplace that assigns value to high quality output and project completion through “BTRUST” token incentives.

Braintrust’s platform, which focuses specifically on developers, software architects, graphic designers, PMs, and QA engineers, aggregates the work history of its freelancers so businesses looking to outsource large projects have a clear window into the reputations of those they’re hiring.

When a freelancer completes a project on time and at the quality level expected, they accrue BTRUST tokens, which they can use to build their business on the platform. Employers can retract tokens if project milestones are missed or use tokens to pay other freelancers to complete unfinished jobs.

Braintrust co-founders Adam Jackson, Brian Flynn, and Gabriel Luna-Ostaseski have collectively built upward of 15 companies including many digital marketplaces. Now, they’re on a mission to build the first blockchain-powered freelancer marketplace.

As an investment, Braintrust satisfies so many elements of what we look for in companies: the founders have incredibly relevant experience and past successes; the market is growing at a rapid pace; and the users stand to benefit immensely, in this case from a system that rewards quality. Above all, the Braintrust platform is an exciting example of the types of networks that can be enabled by token economics.

For this seed round, we are joined by a number of co-investors and angels including Jack Abraham, founder of True Fund II company Milo (acquired by eBay in 2010). With stellar advisors in place and a growing Braintrust team on the horizon, we look forward to seeing where Adam, Brian, and Gabe take us.

If you are an employer or freelancer interested in joining the Braintrust network, sign up for early access here or learn more in the Wall Street Journal.