UAE-based Ogram has closed a $870,000 pre-Series A round led by Global Ventures.

Started in 2016, Ogram operates as a virtual marketplace that connects on-site temporary workers and freelancers to employment opportunities across several industries including in food and beverage (F&B), hospitality, retail, e-commerce and logistics sectors.

With this latest financing round, Ogram plans to continue to scale up in the UAE. The company has further stated that post funding, Global Ventures will join Ogram’s board.

“We founded the company on the premise of solving a pain point that we often faced in the hospitality sector: inflexible and costly staffing solutions that were not suitable for on-demand business requirements. Our mission is to push the global labour market towards a more flexible modus operandi, shaping the future of the gig economy - with no better place to start than our home in the UAE,” said Shafiq Khartabil, co-founder and CEO at Orgam.

Since its founding, the company has served more than 450 businesses and individual clients in the UAE, with over 1,050 active service providers placing over 2,000 jobs per month. Ogram was initially founded by former restaurant operators, Shafiq Khartabil and Karim Kouatly. The two founders were later joined by former banker, Karim Beyhum in 2019.

“We are thrilled to partner with Ogram as they pioneer the regional flexible work economy,” said Noor Sweid, general partner at Global Ventures. “The current pandemic is challenging existing employment structures and we believe that embracing flexible work and upskilling the workforce to adopt multiple jobs will be the future of work in the region”.