ODesk, a privately held online staffing platform based in Redwood City, Calif., announced today that more than $1 billion has been spent on work conducted via its platform globally since its inception. 

“Work is no longer a place,” said oDesk CEO Gary Swart. “Businesses are building flexible, distributed teams which create more economic opportunity for everyone. Online work is especially empowering startups in emerging hot spots, as the Internet connects them with the skilled professionals they need.”

In the U.S., 58 percent of businesses hiring on oDesk classify themselves as startups. Last year, startups in the West spent the most through oDesk, at $104 million, followed by the South at $63 million; the Northeast at $43 million; and the Midwest at $22 million.           

In 2012, the top-five U.S. metro areas using oDesk to hire online workers:

1. San Francisco Bay Area
2. New York
3. Los Angeles
4. Chicago
5. Boston