Toptal is a global remote company that provides a freelancing platform, connecting businesses with software engineers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers. The company has no headquarters.[1]
Taso Du Val and Breanden Beneschott founded the company in 2010. Du Val was previously an engineer at Fotolog and Slide.com[2][3] while Beneschott was an undergraduate at Princeton University.[4] The name stands for "top talent", and it was started as a virtual company with no dedicated offices.[5][6]
Toptal had more than $1 million in revenue when Beneschott graduated from Princeton.[4] The co-founders moved to Budapest, Hungary to access software developers with fewer employment options than in the United States.[4]
The firm developed personality, language, and skills testing to remotely screen engineering candidates, and accepted the top 3% of several thousand monthly applicants.[2][3][7]
The firm matches business engagements with developers from its network and brokers the terms of each job.[3] In 2015, it expanded to include freelance design.[8] In 2016, it acquired the freelancer platform, Skillbridge, which offered freelance accountants, statisticians, and consultants in market research, financial modeling, and due diligence.[9] In 2017, the company launched a vertical specializing in software engineers and designers for the automotive industry.[10] It also launched a vertical for blockchain engineers in February 2018.[11]
Toptal accepted a $1.4 million seed round of financing from Andreessen Horowitz and angel investors including Quora founder Adam D'Angelo.[8] The company is said not to have raised additional funds since its seed round because it has been profitable.[8] In 2015 and 2016, Toptal's annual revenue was $80 million and $100 million respectively.[3][4]
