REDWOOD CITY, CA--(Marketwire - Sep 13, 2011) - oDesk, the largest and fastest-growing online employment platform, announced today that it has committed $1M to support startups and entrepreneurs across the country. With this pledge, oDesk has answered the White House's call to promote high-growth entrepreneurship and job growth, along with a coalition of industry leaders, including Facebook, Google, Intuit, Intel, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and many others.
The Startup America Partnership is an initiative formed by the private sector to enact the White House's Startup America campaign, which was launched earlier this year. The Partnership will help accelerate entrepreneurs across the country, create jobs and sustain economic growth.
"As the world leader in online employment, we are honored to participate in this initiative to create jobs and promote entrepreneurship and innovation," said oDesk CEO, Gary Swart. "This partnership with Startup America will give us an opportunity to help other startups discover the wealth of talent at their fingertips though online work."
oDesk is offering credits to each eligible firm to easily hire the talent they need via the platform -- a commitment of $1 million to the Startup America Partnership. oDesk enables businesses to hire, manage and pay talented web and software developers, graphic designers, blog and article writers, and many other types of skilled contractors, giving startups tremendous flexibility and saving them as much as 80 percent off traditional hiring costs.
"The Startup America Partnership is helping young companies grow and, ultimately, create jobs in our country," said Scott Case, CEO of the Startup America Partnership. "These firms can now find the talent they need to reach that growth through oDesk's platform."
oDesk itself has demonstrated how startups can experience rapid growth through a qualified, ready-for-hire online workforce. The company employs hundreds of outstanding professionals through its own platform, in which jobs are created and quickly filled based on talent and merit, without the boundaries of geographic limitation. Through participation in the Startup America Partnership, oDesk is empowering other startups with the hiring ability of a big company, at a sensible budget.
About oDesk
With more than 1.4 million contractors in over 150 countries, oDesk (www.oDesk.com) is the global employment platform that enables employers to hire, manage, and pay a flexible online workforce.
Find oDesk on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/oDesk
Follow oDesk on Twitter at: www.twitter.com/oDesk
About The Startup America Partnership
The Startup America Partnership was launched at the White House in response to President Obama's call to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation. The Partnership is bringing together an alliance of major corporations, funders, service providers, mentors and advisors working to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of high-growth enterprises in the U.S. AOL co-founder Steve Case chairs the Partnership and the Kauffman and Case Foundations are founding partners. American Express OPEN, Dell Inc., Intuit Inc., and Microsoft are sponsors. The Partnership will identify, measure and report on the effectiveness of cross-sector collaboration in support of entrepreneurial ventures and its affect on job creation and growth. For more information on the Partnership, visit www.startupamericapartnership.org and follow at www.twitter.com/startupamerica and www.facebook.com/startupamerica.
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