Arc
Arc is an AI-powered talent marketplace connecting companies with pre-vetted remote developers, designers, marketers, and other professionals across 190 countries via freelance, full-time, and managed global-team hiring models.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersMountain View, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Arc does
Arc is an AI-powered talent marketplace founded in 2019 and headquartered in Mountain View, California. The platform connects companies—primarily US-based startups and tech firms—with pre-vetted remote developers, designers, marketers, product managers, project managers, and assistants drawn from a global network spanning 190 countries. The core technology is "HireAI," an automated matching engine that processes structured profile data and job description text to generate instant candidate matches, learning employer preferences with each review to improve recommendations over time. Candidates are admitted only after a multi-stage vetting process that accepts the top 2% of applicants, combining manual profile review, a video self-introduction for communication assessment, and a technical interview or peer programming session.
Arc operates three revenue models side by side: freelance hourly contracts (rates set by freelancers from $15 to $110+ per hour, with Arc taking a spread), full-time placements (a transaction fee calculated as a percentage of the developer's annual salary), and a "Global Teams" subscription tier that pairs clients with dedicated recruiters and uses Employer-of-Record partners to enable compliant international hiring. Distribution is hybrid: a self-serve product-led growth motion on arc.dev for browsing and instant matching, an inside-sales layer where expert global recruiters assist with requirements and candidate shortlisting, and a heavy content/SEO marketing engine (employer blog, salary and rate explorers, job description templates, interview question repositories, and dozens of role- and technology-specific landing pages). The customer base spans early-stage startups (Pathrise, Stem, Backtrack, Laskie, BAXUS) through enterprise accounts such as Chegg, with the company reporting 800+ successful placements, 58% cost savings versus local hiring, and 75% faster time-to-hire as headline outcomes.
Arc firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Arc
- Legal name
- Arc
- Website
- https://arc.dev/
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Arc is an AI-powered talent marketplace connecting companies with pre-vetted remote developers, designers, marketers, and other professionals across 190 countries via freelance, full-time, and managed global-team hiring models.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Arc industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Talent Marketplace
- NAICS
- Employment Placement Agencies (561311), Employment Placement Agencies and Executive Search Services (56131), Professional Employer Organizations (56133)
- SIC
- Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops) (BPACAKAG)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Agent of Record (AOR) / Contractor Engagement Services (BPACAGAB), Professional Employer Organization (PEO) / Co-Employment Services (BPACAHAB)
Keywords
Where Arc is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Mountain View
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Arc business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Full-time Hire Commission: For full-time hires, Arc charges a percentage of the developer's annual salary. For the first hire, clients pay what they want based on the value they see in the service. No hidden fees.
- Freelance Hourly Billing: For freelance hires, clients pay an hourly rate set by the freelancer based on their skills, experience, and location. Rates range from $15 to $110+ per hour. Clients only pay for hours actually worked with no extra fees.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Usage-based | Pay-as-you-go | Freelance contracts - Top 2% of talent, hire in 72 hours, pay hourly |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Multi-year contract | Full-time hires - Vetted and ready to interview, hire in 14 days, pay per hire |
| Subscription | Monthly | Global teams - Dedicated recruiters, LATAM and APAC market entry support |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Arc product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Arc operates an AI-powered global talent marketplace that connects companies with pre-vetted remote freelancers and full-time hires across software development, design, marketing, product management, project management, and administrative assistant roles. The platform uses its proprietary HireAI matching engine for automated candidate recommendations and pairs employers with expert global recruiters to support compliant global hiring through EOR partners. Engagement models include freelance hourly contracts ($15–$110+/hour) with 72-hour placement, full-time permanent hires priced as a percentage of annual salary with 14-day placement, and subscription-based global team scaling.
Product overview
Arc operates as a unified AI-powered talent marketplace platform that connects companies with pre-vetted remote freelancers and full-time professionals. The core platform is built around HireAI, an automated matching engine that learns employer preferences to deliver personalized candidate recommendations from a global network of 450,000+ professionals. The offering spans multiple hiring verticals—developers (100+ specializations), designers (45+ categories), marketers, product managers, project managers, and assistants—each accessible through dedicated hiring modules. Supplementary tools include salary benchmarking, freelance rate exploration, job description templates, and interview resources. The platform supports three hiring models: freelance contracts (top 2% vetted talent, 72-hour hire time), full-time hires (14-day placement), and global team scaling with EOR support.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Arc Talent Marketplace Platform
Quantifiable outcome
- 58% cost savings vs traditional local hiring
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Arc
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Arc technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature2 records
Arc partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Arc competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Toptal: Toptal is the leading premium freelance talent marketplace for vetted developers, designers, and finance experts. It is Arc's most direct competitor, operating an identical business model: top-percentile vetting, AI/human-assisted matching, and global talent supply for enterprise and startup clients.
- Turing: Turing is an AI-powered developer matching platform connecting companies with pre-vetted remote software engineers from a global talent pool. It directly competes with Arc in the AI-matched remote developer hiring space with similar vetting and full-time/freelance placement models.
- Hired: Hired is a tech talent marketplace that matches vetted software engineers with companies for full-time roles. It overlaps with Arc's full-time developer placement offering and shares the same target buyer (startups and tech companies hiring engineering talent).
- Andela: Andela is a global talent marketplace that connects companies with vetted remote engineers, primarily from Africa and emerging markets. It is a direct competitor to Arc in the curated, AI-assisted remote developer placement space targeting US-based tech companies.
Broad incumbents
- Upwork: Upwork is the largest publicly traded freelance marketplace, offering access to developers, designers, marketers, and other professionals globally. While it serves a much broader and less vetted talent pool than Arc, it overlaps on freelance developer hiring and competes for the same employer demand.
- Fiverr: Fiverr is a large freelance services marketplace spanning development, design, marketing, and business services. It competes with Arc on the freelance side, particularly for project-based and short-term engagements across overlapping talent categories.
- Freelancer.com: Freelancer.com is a global freelance marketplace spanning web development, design, marketing, and other categories. It competes with Arc for freelance developer and designer hiring, though it serves a broader, less vetted talent base.
Emerging players
- Deel: Deel is a global hiring and Employer of Record platform enabling companies to hire, pay, and manage remote workers internationally. It overlaps with Arc's EOR-partnered compliant global hiring offering and increasingly moves into talent matching, making it both a partner and emerging competitor.
- Remote: Remote is a global HR platform providing EOR services, international payroll, and contractor management for distributed teams. It is comparable to Arc's global teams offering and serves the same buyer need for compliant international hiring.
Others
- Codility: Codility provides a technical skills assessment platform used by companies to evaluate developer candidates. It is adjacent to Arc, serving overlapping enterprise buyers who need developer vetting, though Codility is an assessment tool rather than a marketplace.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Arc social profiles
Digital presenceArc financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Arc leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Arc funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors4 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Arc M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Arc
What does Arc do?
Arc operates an AI-powered global talent marketplace that connects companies with pre-vetted remote freelancers and full-time hires across software development, design, marketing, product management, project management, and administrative assistant roles. The platform uses its proprietary HireAI matching engine for automated candidate recommendations and pairs employers with expert global recruiters to support compliant global hiring through EOR partners. Engagement models include freelance hourly contracts ($15–$110+/hour) with 72-hour placement, full-time permanent hires priced as a percentage of annual salary with 14-day placement, and subscription-based global team scaling.
Is Arc a public or private company?
Arc is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Arc founded?
Arc was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Arc based?
Arc is headquartered in Mountain View, United States, in the North America region.
How does Arc make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Full-time Hire Commission is the primary driver. The others are freelance Hourly Billing.
Who are Arc's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Toptal, Turing, Hired and Andela. Broad incumbents are Upwork, Fiverr and Freelancer.com. Emerging players are Deel and Remote. Codility is listed as an others.
Does Arc have an API?
No public API is recorded for Arc.
What industry is Arc in?
Arc's product category is Online Talent Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPACAKAG, Recruiting Administration Outsourcing (Recruitment Support, Scheduling, Onboarding Ops), with a secondary code of BPACAGAB, Agent of Record (AOR) / Contractor Engagement Services. Its NAICS code is 561311 and its SIC code is 7361.