Quick take:
- Outdefine is building a decentralised community marketplace to connect web3 talent with employers.
- The San Fransisco-based web3 startup also announced a $2.5 million funding round co-led by TCG Crypto and Jump Crypto.
- Big Brain Holdings, Formless Capital, Blocore, and Mask Eco Fund also participated in the round.
Web3 startup Outdefine has raised $2.5 million in a round led by TCG Crypto and Jump Crypto. The fundraising also attracted participation from Big Brain Holdings, Formless Capital, Blocore, and Mask Eco Fund.
The San Fransisco-based company is building a token-backed hiring marketplace for web3 talent. The team behind Outdefine were inspired by the events that took place during the pandemic. A lot of the world’s working class switched corporate offices to home offices, and a good number of those who went remote have not returned to the office.
Gartner estimates that number to be about 51%, according to a report published in June 2022.
Incidentally, that was also about the time the adoption of web3 sped up, peaking in 2021 and early 2022. Artists and brands seeking alternative ways helped with the onboarding of users to web3 marketplaces. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have since become an alternative source of revenue for many brands.
Subsequently, the need for web3 talent has gone up. But Outdefine argues that most of the job opportunities on offer have “gatekeepers” who often take a cut of as high as 50% of the salary paid to web3 talent.
Its token-backed hiring marketplace is built on the Solana blockchain, a Layer 1 platform that utilises proof-of-stake mechanisms to execute transactions.
The marketplace gives web3 talent a platform to negotiate the scope and compensation of their work, which is paid for in tokens. They can also boost their income by referring new users to the Outdefine marketplace to receive the platform’s native token as a reward.
“With its capability to offer rewards, incentivize network activity, and promote transparency, the token helps hiring companies, talent, and the marketplace form a fair partnership,” the company wrote in a press release on Friday.
Outdefine is led by a team with a strong background in software engineering. “Co-founder and CEO Romil Verma previously worked at Google as an engineer, while co-founder and CRO Sanjay Verma served as CXO for several public engineering services companies,” the press statement read.
Commenting on his company’s investment in Outdefine, Jonathan Moore, an Investor at TCG Crypto, said: “Outdefine has created a unique approach to hiring and incentivizing web3 developers, one that we believe will help solve the global shortage of technical blockchain talent. TCG Crypto is excited to support Romil and his team in their endeavours to solve a fundamental issue for the crypto industry and increase the consumer adoption of blockchain technologies.”
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