The Menlo Park-based startup is an online staffing and management business that helps companies hire, manage and pay an international pool of technical personnel at competitive rates.

“Think of us as an eBay for people, if you will,” said Gary Swart, chief executive officer of oDesk Corp.

ODesk is capitalizing on globalization trends, home-sourcing abilities and the access to talent, a challenge that companies face daily.

The startup presents small- to medium-sized companies with a global talent pool of technical professionals looking for an opportunity to work remotely on jobs that might not be available where they live.

Companies are trying to do more for less, might not need a full-time employee and can’t find temporary talent locally, Swart said. Companies aren’t charged for posting jobs. Professionals, however, are charged for posting their skills.

“These companies are saying, ‘If I could have a flexible bench — marketing, support or development resources — and I can take advantage of global arbitrage, maybe there’s a win there’,” Swart said.

The platform is attracting about 200 new companies seeking talent and 600 new job-hunting professionals a day, Swart said. On Oct. 24 the number of freelancers stood at about 123,000. On Nov. 4, the number had increased to more than 127,000.

ODesk raised $6 million in a 2005 A round from Globespan Capital Partners and Sigma Partners. A spring 2006 B round fetched $8 million, which was led by Benchmark Capital with Globespan and Sigma participating. This summer DAG Ventures led a $15 million C round with all three previous investors participating.

The company is growing at a rate of three times year over year, Swart said, and expects to do about $40 million in services in 2008, taking in $4 million in revenue.