Oyster
San Francisco, US · 7 known investors
Oyster is a global employment platform that lets companies compliantly hire, pay, and manage full-time employees and contractors in other countries without establishing a local entity. It serves growing companies seeking to build distributed international teams across 60+ countries.
Also known as Oyster HR
Founders & leadership
Investors · 7
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Oyster is a global employment and HR platform operating as an employer of record (EOR). It enables companies to hire, onboard, pay, and manage full-time employees and contractors in more than 180 countries without establishing local legal entities. The platform handles employment contracts, payroll, and employee benefits on a compliant basis in each jurisdiction, with stated onboarding times as fast as 48 hours.
Alongside its automated platform, Oyster positions in-house HR experts as an extension of customer teams, offering a single point of contact, guidance on sensitive or high-stakes employment situations, and support services described as included rather than billed separately. The product connects with customers' existing HRIS, applicant tracking, and accounting systems through integrations. Oyster identifies itself as a certified B Corporation and markets that status as part of a positioning around fair employment practices and transparent pricing.
Business model
Oyster sells subscription-style, per-worker services: an employer of record offering for full-time employees, a contractor management offering, and an hourly-priced advisory service for HR matters. Customers avoid entity setup costs in each country by employing staff through Oyster's infrastructure.
Published list pricing is USD 699 per employee per month for employer of record, USD 29 per contractor per month for global contractor management, and USD 300 per hour for People Services HR advisory. The company markets predictable pricing with no additional fees when an employee leaves a customer's team.
Traction
The company cites industry recognition including the Lighthouse Tech Awards 2026 (Best Global Solution, Core HR/Workforce), the UNLEASH HR Tech Award 2025 (Best Global Solution, Employee Experience), The SaaS Awards 2025 (Best SaaS Solution for HR & Workforce Management), the TIARA Tech Awards 2024 (Employee Experience Solution of the Year), and G2 Awards 2026 leader placements in global hiring categories.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
Oyster competes in the employer of record and global payroll category, differentiating on breadth of country coverage, B Corp certification, and service quality relative to other EOR providers.
Oyster markets itself as the only B Corp-certified employer of record and emphasizes human, expert-led service — a dedicated point of contact, tailored rather than scripted guidance, and bundled support — alongside transparent per-worker pricing and onboarding in as fast as 48 hours.
Technology
An automated global employment platform for onboarding, managing, and paying international employees and contractors, with an employee-facing app and integrations to HRIS, applicant tracking, and accounting systems.
Go-to-market
Self-serve signup and sales-assisted demo booking through the website, supported by country-specific landing pages, customer case studies, integration partnerships, and industry award recognition.
Companies building distributed international teams, including engineering-led organizations and financial services teams, with country-specific entry points for buyers in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Named customer references include Juno and Laminar Projects.
Geography
Hiring, payroll, and support coverage is marketed across 180+ countries, with dedicated positioning pages for the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Nigeria, and the Philippines.
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Competitors · 10
by search overlap
Companies competing with Oyster for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline · 5
launches, deals, and filingsOyster recognized as a consistent leader in seasonal and annual global hiring categories.
Oyster named Best Global Solution in the Core HR/Workforce category.
Oyster named Best SaaS Solution for HR & Workforce Management.
Oyster named Best Global Solution in the Employee Experience category.
Oyster named winner of the Employee Experience Solution of the Year at the TIARA Tech Awards 2024.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Oysteroysterhr.com · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Oyster do?
- Oyster is a B Corp-certified employer of record platform for hiring, paying, and managing workers in 180+ countries.
- Who founded Oyster?
- Oyster was founded by Ally Fekaiki, Tony Jamous, Jack Mardack.
- Who are Oyster's investors?
- Oyster's investors include Acadian Ventures Management, Llc, Atento Capital, Avid Ventures, Emergence Capital Partners, G2 Venture Partners, Initial Capital, Stripes.
- Where is Oyster headquartered?
- Oyster is headquartered in San Francisco, US.