Upwork Partners with Catch to Expand Freelancers’ Access to Benefits

Partnership of industry leaders provides U.S. independent professionals with access to health insurance and financial services

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Upwork (NASDAQ: UPWK), the world’s work marketplace, today announced a partnership with Catch, the first and only portable benefits platform. Together, the companies will provide access to healthcare benefits and personal payroll to independent professionals operating on the Upwork platform.

Recent Upwork research shows that 36 percent of the entire U.S. workforce freelanced in 2021. Catch offers freelancers, contractors, and other independent professionals in the U.S. a convenient, easy-to-use platform for their personal payroll, which includes health insurance solutions, automatic tax withholding and payments from various income streams, savings accounts, and retirement investing services.

The healthcare options afforded by this partnership are timely, given the January 15 deadline for 2022 open enrollment. With Catch, freelancers can shop, apply for, and renew their health insurance quickly and efficiently, finding the best plan at the best price. Similarly, with tax season approaching, freelancers can take advantage of free tax withholding and payments for their independent (1099) income that takes much of the stress out of filing taxes.

“This partnership between Upwork and Catch is in service of enabling freelancers to do the work they love without worrying about the complexity of securing their benefits and finances,” said Sam Bright, chief product & experience officer at Upwork. “With Catch and our other talent offering partnerships, we aim to empower highly skilled professionals to stay laser-focused on their careers and business opportunities.”

“Freelancers on Upwork are leading the new world of work, and we’re here to support them with the benefits they need to thrive in it,” said Kristen Anderson, CEO and co-founder of Catch. “Catch is the only personal payroll platform where freelancers can get benefits they would otherwise receive from an employer. We look forward to supporting the hundreds of thousands of professionals on Upwork who proudly choose to be independent.”

For more information, visit https://catch.co/partners/upwork.

About Upwork

Upwork is the world’s work marketplace. We serve everyone from one-person startups to 30% of the Fortune 100 with a powerful, trust-driven platform that enables companies and freelancers to work together in new ways that unlock their potential. Our talent community earned over $2.5 billion on Upwork in 2020 across more than 10,000 skills in categories including website & app development, creative & design, customer support, finance & accounting, consulting, and operations. Learn more at www.upwork.com and join us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

About Catch

For those without access to employer-sponsored benefits, Catch provides an all-in-one platform to automatically take care of benefits like health insurance, retirement, and more. In an easy-to-use app, freelancers and contractors can track and trace thousands of income sources to create a personalized payroll system and truly portable benefits. Catch is backed by world-class investors like Crosslink Capital, Khosla Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Nyca Partners, and Urban Innovation Fund. Find out more here.