Freelance workers of all types (informal gig work to independent contractors) lack access to employer-conferred benefits and protections. This funding will support USFWC to incubate Guilded, a new platform-based business that is owned and governed by a membership of independent workers who cooperatively own the company and use it to collectivize their purchasing power and provide them with guaranteed payment, which addresses freelancers’ problem of wage theft. If taken to scale nationally and across labor segments, it has the potential to be a private-market deliverer of portable independent-worker benefits. AmbitioUS is providing a one-year, project-restricted grant to USFWC to support Guilded’s general operations and its reserve fund.