Freelancing Platform Fiverr Pays $95M for Stoke

Freelance services platform Fiverr International is paying $95 million to acquire online freelance management platform Stoke Talent.

Tel Aviv-based Stoke lets companies build a directory of online and offline talent, track their budgets and work-related milestones, while also offering guidance on tax, legal and workforce classification compliance.

By joining Fiverr — also based in Israel — the 30-person company will be able expand its capabilities and accelerate its go-to-market strategy.

Under the terms of the deal Stoke’s offerings will stay independently operated, with the two companies working together to synergize products like Fiverr Business and Stoke’s freelance management platform.

See: Fiverr CEO Says Pandemic Reshapes Freelancing to Benefit of Workers and Employers

“The Stoke acquisition made complete sense on multiple levels,” Fiverr Co-founder and CEO Micha Kaufman said in a Tuesday (Nov. 2) news release.

“It supports Fiverr’s move upmarket and allows us to engage with much larger customers; It allows Fiverr to offer software solutions to businesses that already have freelancers that they work with and now can manage them easily; It allows Fiverr to pair its marketplace talent with large customers that need access to freelancers they still do not yet have a relationship with.”

In addition, Kaufman said the deal gives Fiverr access to the offline freelance market, which is far greater than the online market, along with Stoke’s “best-in-class product with an incredible team behind it.”

“We share Fiverr’s vision that freelance talent can help propel companies to new heights, both from a productivity and agility standpoint,” Stoke Co-founder Shahar Erez said in the release. “This is an amazing opportunity to continue doing what we love to do, but on a much larger and broader scale.”

Read more: Fiverr Unveils Freelancer Subscription Loyalty Program

Earlier this year, Fiverr launched its Seller Plus subscription-based loyalty program for freelancers, which gives freelancers access to a “dedicated success manager, faster payment clearance, growth program priority, priority support, advanced analytics and customer engagement tools, as well as exclusive events and educational content.”