Ashton Kutcher’s venture capital firm is able to raise $20 million for the collective back-office platform for self-employed workers.

With so much attention paid to “the creator economy” and nations that are afflicted by the consequences of the pandemic, the market for self-employed workers can be described as “booming,” for good or for bad. So it should come as no surprise that Collective, a subscription-based back office platform for self-employed individuals, has raised $20 million in Series A capital investment since its launch in the fourth quarter of last year. 

The company was founded by General Catalyst and joined by Sound Ventures (the venture capital fund established by Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary). Since its inception, Collective has raised $28.65 million. Other notable investors include: Steve Chen (founder YouTube), Hamish McKenzie (founder Substack), Aaron Levie (founder Box), Kevin Lin (founder Twitch), Sam Yam (founder Patreon), Shadiah Sigala (founder HoneyBook), Adrian Aoun (founder Forward), Holly Liu (founder Kabam), Andrew Dudum (founder Hims) And Edward Hartman (founder LegalZoom).

Ashton Kutcher said in a statement: “We’re proud to be supporting a company that’s making it easier for creators to focus on what they do best by taking care of the back office work that creates so much friction for so many early entrepreneurs. I would have loved something like this when I was getting started.”

In the month of September, 2020 Collective began to be founded by its CEO Hooman Radfar and CPO Ugur Kaner along with the CTO Bugra Akcay. Collective provides “tailored” financial services as in addition to access to experts who manage bookkeeping accounting, tax and business registration requirements. The number of self-employed persons in the U.S. (36% of the U.S. workforce) who usually handle their own administrative duties. This is why Collective hopes to be one of the online back office platform.

In an email exchange with me, Radfar said that the startup fintech market is likely to provide a service to businesses similar to the ones mentioned, as well as for other emerging startups or SMBs: “Companies like Pilot have done a fantastic job in creating an back-office platform which handles books, taxes, and finance for startups. “We are determined to bring the same level of service to the community of business-of-one that isn’t well served because they constitute the biggest group of founders in America.

He also stated: “Before Collective, consultants or freelancers and other founders who were solo were required to put together their back-office solutions with DIY platforms such as QuickBooks, Gusto, and LegalZoom. If they were fortunate they had the help of an accountant who was part-time to guide on their finances. Collective makes handling finances easy by providing the first platform that does not just bundle the tools in the same platform but also gives users the tools and expertise to maximize their tax savings just like the professionals.

According to estimates according to certain estimates, the number of freelancers who are solo in the U.S. is projected to be 86.5 million which is 50 percent from the U.S. workforce, by 2027. The freelancer industry is expected to grow three times as rapidly than the typical workforce.

Niko Bonatsos, managing director of General Catalyst, said: “Collective serves the $1.2 trillion business-of-one industry developing the world’s first back-office platform that helps individuals save significant time and money while providing them with the necessary resources and tools they require to be successful. “We’re delighted to partner with Collective in their efforts to expand their staff and develop an outstanding service for the business of one community.”