E
Elance
Where the world's top talent works
About Elance
Elance, now part of Upwork, operates as an online marketplace that connects businesses with freelancers across various fields such as web development, mobile software development, design, creative writing, sales, marketing, admin support, customer service, data science, analytics, engineering, and architecture. The platform serves a wide range of clients, from small startups to large enterprises, providing them with access to a global pool of talent. Elance operates in the gig economy market, where businesses seek flexible, on-demand workforce solutions.
The business model is based on a commission structure, where Elance takes a percentage of the transaction between the client and the freelancer. Clients can choose to pay freelancers on an hourly basis or a fixed-price basis, with the platform handling invoicing and payment processing. Elance also offers enterprise solutions for larger companies, including pre-vetted talent and compliance services.
Elance makes money by charging service fees to freelancers and clients, as well as offering premium memberships and additional services such as payroll management and project management tools. The platform facilitates easy collaboration through chat, video calls, file sharing, and project milestone tracking, making it a comprehensive solution for remote work.
Source: Dealroom company dataAt a glance
- Status
- Operational
- Founded
- 1998
- Headquarters
- Mountain View, United States
- Employees
- 1,261
- Open positions
- None listed
- Dealroom signal
- 61.3/100
- Sector
- eCommerce & Marketplaces, App, Freelancers, Accounting, Outsourcing, Social, Social Media, Messaging, SEO, Freelance, Search Engine, On-Demand, Peer-to-Peer, Directory
- Business model
- Marketplace & ecommerce
Knowledge graph
More headlines
Funding history
Company financing events and reported valuations.
| Deal type | Date | Amount | Valuation | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MERGEROther financing | Nov 2014 | $0 | — | Upwork | — |
| LATE VCOther financing | Nov 2014 | $30M | $120M | Benchmark · Stripes · NEA | — |
Growth signals
Latest recorded traffic for Elance is 4.2K monthly website visits, up 50% over the last three months. Elance's team declined 10.2% over the past year.
Similar companies
Company identity and context are open; selected comparison metrics preview what is available on the platform.
Investments and acquisitions
Recent portfolio relationships for companies that also act as investors or acquirers.
Investors
From Dealroom's funding and investor records, grouped by the round each investor first entered.
Series A3 investors entered at this stage
Kleiner Perkins
Citi
NEA
Other known investors1 additional known investor
Upwork
Source: Dealroom Talent Intelligence.
Global footprint
team presence
Market sentiment
An AI-synthesised read of the highest-engagement posts about Elance on X, ranked by likes and reposts, corporate channels excluded.
Reading the room on X — pulling top posts and synthesizing themes…
Source: X recent search ranked by engagement (likes + retweets) · Synthesis by Claude · Cached for 1 hour
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