Firm Handles Open Assembly’s Merger With HR Tech Startup

Brown Rudnick jointly represented freelance talent advisory practice Open Assembly Inc. (OA) and venture capital firm Communitas Capital in a multi-step merger and financing transaction with HR tech startup Fulcrum Workforce Solutions (FWS).

The deal, which closed on April 1, was structured as a business combination between OA and FWS, and as part of the transaction, a strategic growth investment funding round led by Communitas Capital and Greatscale Ventures. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

OA and FWS merged to form Bench Talent Cloud Inc., which will be led by FWS co-founder Trevor Foster as CEO and CEO of OA Barry Matthews as president. Bench Talent will provide enterprises with their own virtual bench filled with technology and innovation talent, curated just for them.

"In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, agility is key," Matthews said in a statement. "Finding top talent takes time - often months for emerging tech roles, complicated by inconsistent demand and the swift obsolescence of skills. Companies must proactively build relationships with talent well before their skills are needed. This merger equips companies to navigate these challenges with unprecedented agility."

Using its enterprise talent cloud along with proven enablement and advisory services, Bench Talent combines known talent with new talent from online marketplaces, staffing agencies or direct recruits into a single, cohesive Virtual Bench.

Founded in 2018 out of the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard, OA began as a community of the world's leading thinkers, innovators and consultants helping companies navigate the future of work. OA provides access to the global freelance workforce on a single interface creating the most comprehensive source of open talent in the world.

San Diego-based FWS is an enterprise talent marketplace aggregator and integrator of more than 15 million freelancers from world's top talent clouds.

David Haber and Nicole Park led the Brown Rudnick team.