Dallas-based Gig Wage has announced a relaunch with new features and raised an additional $8.25 million for its Series A extension, bringing its funding to date to $20.2 million.
Gig Wage, a payments platform exclusively for the gig economy, said new investors in the extension were Discover, Motley Fool, and Chartline Capital Partners. Additional funds came from existing investors including Green Dot, Foundry Group, Continental Investors, and Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, the company said.
“We’re so excited for this new era at Gig Wage,” Craig J. Lewis, founder and CEO of Gig Wage, said in a statement. “The past several months have been dreary for the fintech world with the Evolve Bank and Synapse crash, so we’re thrilled to bring some positive news to the finance industry.”
Gig Wage was among more than 100 fintechs that contracted with a “middleman” fintech called Synapse to provide credit and deposit accounts. Earlier this year, though, Synapse filed for bankruptcy protection and halted services to some of its partners, including Evolve Bank & Trust.
“While we too were affected by the crash and had to shut down for 90 days to rebuild the platform and return funds to customers, we’ve come back stronger than ever with a complete overhaul and with brand new banking partners for our new and existing customers like AT&T, Lyft, and Omni Interactions,” Lewis said.
New tools for independent contractors
Gig Wage said that “Gig Wage 1.0” simplified the payroll system of 1099 employees via a complete fintech infrastructure with instant payments and tax handling.
“Gig Wage 2.0” includes 1.0 features but also empowers businesses to optimize their operations and drive growth and provides independent contractors with a full suite of tools that other payment platforms can only offer to W-2 employees, the company said.
Among the tools for contractor-centric businesses are a contractor payments wallet, health and wellness benefits for contractors, free invoicing, onboarding support, background checks, and more, Gig Wage said.
Founded by Lewis in 2014, Gig Wage says it has paid out nearly $1 billion to almost a million contractors nationwide. The company, which calls itself “an eight-figure business,” said it grew by 300% in 2023 and became profitable.
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