Organization and Description of Business

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization and Description of Business

Organization and Description of Business

Upwork Inc., which is referred to as the Company or Upwork, operates a work marketplace that connects businesses, which are referred to as clients, with independent talent. Independent talent on the Company’s work marketplace, which are referred to as freelancers, and, together with clients, as users, include independent professionals and agencies of varying sizes and are an increasingly sought-after, critical, and expanding segment of the global workforce. The Company was originally incorporated in the state of Delaware in December 2013 prior to and in connection with the combination, which is referred to as the Elance-oDesk Combination, of Elance, Inc., which is referred to as Elance, and oDesk Corporation, which is referred to as oDesk. The Company changed its name to Elance-oDesk, Inc. shortly before the Elance-oDesk Combination in March 2014, and later to Upwork Inc. In 2015, the Company relaunched as Upwork and commenced consolidation of its two operating platforms. In 2016, following completion of the platform consolidation, the Company began operating under a single work marketplace. The Company is currently headquartered in Santa Clara, California.

Unless otherwise expressly stated or the context otherwise requires, the terms “Upwork” and the “Company” in these notes to the consolidated financial statements refer to Upwork and its wholly-owned subsidiaries.

Initial Public Offering

In October 2018, the Company completed its initial public offering, which is referred to as the IPO, in which the Company issued and sold an aggregate of 7,840,908 of the Company’s common stock, including 1,022,727 shares pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares. The shares were sold to the underwriters at the IPO price of $15.00 per share less an underwriting discount of $1.05 per share. The Company received aggregate net proceeds of $109.4 million from the IPO after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions but before deducting offering expenses payable by the Company.