Working Not Working Gets Funding From Droga5, Airbnb Founders

"Working Not Working" is growing up. The job platform founded in 2012 to streamline the process of hiring and getting hired for freelance work has just received a financial and advisory boost from execs from top companies including Droga5 and Airbnb. According to founders Justin Gignac and Adam Tompkins, the $700,000 angel round, from a number of contributors including Droga5 Creative Chariman David Droga, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia and Grow co-founder Drew Ungvarsky, will allow them to implement features on the site most requested by members and also broaden the company's reach. Mr. Gignac and Mr. Tompkins said that with the additional funding, they hope to make the site more social so that creatives can connect with each other. They also intend to allow companies and hiring managers, not just creatives, to have their own profiles and to add a system whereby members can keep track of opportunities they get through the site and in which talent managers can track who they've reached out to. "One of our creatives got a job at Oculus and he's been there a couple years now," said Mr. Gignac. "Until this point we've been so focused on building community that we don't know when people get hired unless people email or tweet at us, so we're going to work on that." "Working Not Working is more than a great idea, or great business -- it's a champion of our industry," said investor/Droga5 Creative Chairman Mr. Droga. "You've got to invest in people who invest in people." Fellow investor Mr. Gebbia of Airbnb added, "the future of work is going to be nomadic and these guys are making it happen." The company's new investors will also serve in advisory roles to the company. "Basically, we thought, who's our Dream Team, who can open doors for us?" said Mr. Gignac. "We wanted to bring people on board that have a lot of expertise," added Mr. Tompkins. "We started in advertising and design because that's what we do, but we want to expand in tech, production/postproduction -- anywhere there's a need for creative talent." So far, Working Not Working's biggest market is New York, followed by Los Angeles, San Francisco and London. Among the companies it works with are Apple, Google, AirBnB, Droga5, Facebook, Wieden & Kennedy and Calvin Klein. Currently, the most sought-after talent on the site is art director, followed in close second by copywriter. WNW initially started as a networking platform for freelancers, but last year it expanded to include "The Unjob Board," designed to help its members find the right fulltime gig. WNW added the latter after it conducted a member survey last year asking which company freelancers would be willing to give up their jobs for. Surprisingly, only 12 of the 46 organizations cited were ad agencies. The results of this year's survey will be revealed in the next week or so, the founders said.

Working Not Working Gets Funding From Droga5, Airbnb Founders

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