French startup Comet, a marketplace for tech and data freelancers, raises $12.8M Series A led by Daphni
French startup Comet (not to be confused with Zyl, which was formerly named Comet) is building a marketplace of talented tech and data freelancers as well as companies that are looking …
Context & Ripple Effects
Comet's 2018 Series A is an early data point in what became a sustained French funding run: the same company later went on to raise a $50M Series B led by OpenView, taking total funding to nearly $70M — evidence that Daphni's bet on a curated tech-and-data freelancer marketplace scaled rather than stalled.
The raise also sits inside a broader cluster of French startups building infrastructure around independent workers and business operations, from PayFit's payroll SaaS to Indy's all-in-one platform for freelancer accounting and business creation.
First-order effects
- Daphni's $12.8M gives Comet capital to expand its vetted marketplace connecting tech and data freelancers with hiring companies, directly competing with staffing intermediaries for placement volume in France.
Second-order effects
- Freelancers flowing through marketplaces like Comet become a customer base for adjacent French operators — accounting platforms such as Indy and payroll/HR SaaS like PayFit — pulling those vendors toward marketplace integrations.
- Traditional recruiting and consulting intermediaries face pricing pressure as curated, software-mediated matching undercuts their per-placement economics.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, France's freelance economy consolidates around a stack of specialized marketplaces plus operational SaaS layers, with early-stage backers like Daphni recycling conviction into follow-on rounds as winners separate from the pack.
The trend: European venture capital is steadily funding vertical marketplaces and operational SaaS for the freelance workforce, with early backers doubling down as those companies graduate to larger rounds.