Lystable Raises $11 Million from Peter Thiel, Others to Expand in US

Lystable has raised a Series A round. The UK-born company secured $11 million to reincorporate as a US company and expand across the country.

The enterprise software startup, which enables organizations to manage their freelance and vendor workforces, raised the capital from Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures and Goldcrest Capital with participation from Spring Partners. Lystable says it plans to grow its new San Francisco headquarters to 35 people by the end of 2016.

“We have figured out a lot of nuances and worked to make our model repeatable and scalable with large companies,” says founder Peter Jonhston. “Securing this funding allows us to scale out sales and marketing and bring in a number of key senior hires on product and engineering.”

“We are excited to leverage our SaaS experience and network to assist Lystable in building a massive business,” added Adam Ross, partner at Goldcrest, who joins the board as an observer.

“Lystable’s product solves a real pain point for enterprises who are managing an increasing number of freelancers and contractors,” James Fitzgerald of Valar Ventures noted. Fitzgerald is now a board member.

“We believe that the future of work is a flexible one, and we’re confident that Lystable will be leading the charge towards enabling that future,” said Leila Zegna, co-founder and partner at Spring Partners, who has also been added to the board of directors.

It is estimated that there are 53 million freelancers and contractors in the US alone, a figure which is expected to rise. The number of independent professionals in Europe rose by two million over the last seven years.