Coatue and Tiger Global Purchase $100 Million Braintrust Tokens to Seed Web3 Network Development Initiative

Braintrust, the first decentralized Web3 talent network, has completed a private token sale of $100 million led by Coatue with participation by Tiger Global Management, True Ventures, Blockchange Ventures, HashKey, and other early backers of the project. The new resources will be used to grow the network and fund community grant programs, a development initiative that is essential to the long term success of the network. As an open-sourced, community owned and operated network, grants will be made available to the 700,000+ members who propose improvements and bid on work that is critical to the network’s development.

“It has always been our fundamental belief that user-owned Web3 networks will grow faster and be more valuable than investor-owned networks, and it’s incredibly significant that these two legendary investment firms share this belief,” said Adam Jackson, CEO and co-founder of Freelance Labs, one of the companies building Braintrust. “Coatue and Tiger are leading the way into the future, making bold bets on innovation and creativity, helping Braintrust develop the protocol instead of just investing in it. These investors are true partners in our mission to spread economic opportunity more equitably around the world.”

Web2 marketplaces, and specifically talent marketplaces, are historically known to take exorbitant fees from both sides. Braintrust’s innovative blockchain-powered model cuts fees, removes the middleman, and puts ownership, control, and value back in the hands of the people who do the work. This, combined with the economic pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Great Resignation, has fueled unprecedented levels of growth on the Braintrust network. Hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies such as Deloitte, NASA, Intel, Nike, IBM, Nestle, and Under Armour have used Braintrust to fill highly skilled technical roles.

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Braintrust emerged out of stealth in June 2020 and in the first 18 months:

• Gross Services Volume (GSV) grew by 2,250%, from $1.2M to $28.2M
• The number of enterprises (Clients) jumped 752%, from 63 to 474
• Job-seekers (Talent) flocked to the platform growing from 2,194 to over 36,000+
• The network’s Community grew 70X from 10,000 to over 700,000 members

Braintrust also announced the launch of its public dashboard that includes network stats on GSV, clients, Talent, and Community. As a fully user-owned and controlled network, Braintrust is committed to sharing its progress transparently and openly.

Matt Mazzeo, General Partner at Coatue – “We were impressed by Braintrust’s speed and efficiency in connecting enterprises with the exact talent they need. But more importantly, we think Braintrust is in the forefront of the next wave of crypto innovation – decentralized Web3 networks – that uses blockchain to power a new model that enables individual ownership and control and can be the basis for the future of independent work. We look forward to supporting Braintrust on its journey to deliver outsized value to both sides of the marketplace.”

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Braintrust’s unique user-ownership model is powered by its token, BTRST, incentivizing the community to build the network through referring clients and new talent. Launched on the Ethereum mainnet in September 2021, BTRST drives the majority of the network’s new Talent and client acquisition.

Additionally, token holders can discuss ideas for improvements to the network, propose changes, and vote allowing for complete decentralization of the network’s governance. Each token represents one vote so members who earn more tokens have greater say in how the network develops.

The combination of platform growth and community growth illustrates how Braintrust’s unique tokenization model aligns the incentives of freelancers with the marketplace itself where Talent make 100% of their earnings and clients are only charged a 10% fee.

Griffin Schroeder, Partner at Tiger Global Management – “Braintrust’s exponential growth among both enterprises and talent can be directly attributed to its unique business model: tokenization of Braintrust to turn collective ownership into a powerful business driver. This is one of the first Web3 projects that is grounded in a real, everyday use case – connecting companies with the talent they need to stay relevant. It’s rare to see this kind of growth and revenue achieved in such a short period of time. This Braintrust community is harnessing the powerful and unique use cases for blockchain technology.”

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