Braintrust raises $18 million in new funds for token-powered freelancer marketplace

Braintrust, the company behind a freelance talent market set to be powered by an ERC-20 token, has raised $18 million.

The funding adds to the $6 million in seed funds Braintrust raised earlier this year, when it exited stealth mode. Braintrust's latest round was led by ACME and Blockchange, with participation from Pantera, Multicoin, Omidyar Technology Ventures, Variant and Hashkey. 

Braintrust aims to set its marketplace apart from others by using token-centric governance to afford control to the talent pool that uses it. Part of that pitch on the talent side is a fee-less approach.

At the heart of the marketplace is the BTRUST token, which Braintrust's website describes as "an incentive to reward our community for building the decentralized network, inviting and vetting talent, referring clients." The token is expected to be released publicly later this year, per the site.

"With massive upheaval in our economy, many innovation projects came to a screeching halt, and many people lost their jobs," Adam Jackson, Braintrust's co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. "Braintrust is part of the solution to getting both sides back on track, and helping companies remain competitive amid extremely challenging circumstances. This Strategic Growth Round helps us accelerate that process."

Braintrust also unveiled a series of new clients, including Stanley Black & Decker and AthenaHealth, among others.

Disclosure: Pantera Capital, Blockchange and Hashkey are equity investors in The Block.