A start-up which provides freelance workers with job opportunities at companies including HSBC and PepsiCo has secured $9m (£7m) in a funding round led by prominent venture capitalists.

Sky News understands that Passionfruit, which launched in 2022, will announce this week that it has raised the Series-A money from funds led by Seaya and including participation from existing investors Firstminute Capital, Playfair Capital, Cornerstone and Portfolio Ventures.

Passionfruit, which says it “empowers businesses to grow via collaboration with independent workers”, is trying to take advantage of shifting working patterns, particularly among younger workers.

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It uses artificial intelligence to enable companies to identify, arrange and engage freelance talent, initially in marketing roles but subsequently more broadly across their workforce.

The business now has more than 3,000 people registered on its platform.

“We started our business because we believed that the next generation deserved a new way to operate their professional lives, and we realised that if we could reimagine career infrastructure end-to-end for the 21st century, businesses would also be enabled to operate in a more agile way, one that drives more efficient growth,” Raffi Salama, co-founder and CEO of Passionfruit, said.

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“This investment is a vote of confidence in our vision of a world where everyone works in a way that works for them, while businesses are operating and growing more cost-effectively, with the right people in the right place at the right time.”

Its new funding will be used to develop Passionfruit’s products and expand further into North America.

It takes the total raised by the company, which employs just over 20 people, since it was founded to just over $13m.

Beatriz Gonzalez, founder and managing partner of Seaya, which has backed start-ups including Cabify and Spotahome, said: “As tech investors we believe in the opportunity for innovation to bring real change and disruption to the workplace.”

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