Upwork Acquires Hague-based Bubty To Shape The Future Of Contingent Work

Lee Willoughby and Benjamin Schriel, Co-founders of Bubty, emphasised that the deal is not the end of their journey, but a scaling-up of their ambitions. “Together, with our incredible team, clients, partners, and supporters, we’ve built a company that dared to rethink how the world hires. From the start, Bubty wasn’t just an idea. It was a deep intrinsic belief. That work can be more human. That hiring contingent talent shouldn’t be complicated. That technology can empower people, both clients and contractors, to connect, collaborate, and grow with clarity, trust, and joy.”

Founded in 2020, Bubty is a Freelance Management System (FMS) built to simplify global freelance hiring. Its platform lets companies create private talent pools, match freelancers to projects using AI insights, and manage the full workflow from compliance and classification to payments in 190+ countries and 130 currencies via one invoice.

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By reducing legal risks, misclassification challenges, and admin burdens, Bubty helps businesses gain a competitive edge in talent acquisition—ensuring fast, accurate, and compliant global payments.

Upwork has announced the acquisition of Bubty, alongside Ascen, a global compliance and employer of record (EOR) company. Both will now operate under a new enterprise-focused division within Upwork, aimed at helping companies hire flexible talent more efficiently.

This new unit will offer more contract options—including agent of record, employer of record, and staff augmentation allowing Upwork to enter new segments of the staffing market.

Upwork evaluated over 100 companies before selecting Bubty and Ascen. Both had been tested individually and together, showing strong synergy and shared potential.

Though financial terms weren’t shared, the move is strategic. For Upwork, it strengthens its enterprise offerings. For Bubty, it means greater scale, resources and global reach.

The Bubty founders thanked their team and community, assuring that the company’s core values trust, care, and innovation—will stay at the heart of this new chapter with Upwork.

About Bubty

Bubty is a global Freelance Management System (FMS) that streamlines freelancer admin, ensures compliance, reduces misclassification risks, and enables global payments in 190+ countries. Its AI-driven platform supports talent matching, private talent pools, and consolidated invoicing empowering companies to scale, stay compliant and manage freelancers with ease and efficiency.

About Upwork

Founded in 2015, Upwork is a global work marketplace connecting businesses with independent talent. From startups to Fortune 100s, Upwork offers a trusted platform for collaboration across 10,000+ skills, including tech, design, support, finance, and consulting—empowering companies and freelancers to unlock new ways of working and achieve their goals.