Airtasker raises A$2 million to transform the short-term jobs market
Announcement posted by Airtasker 26 Nov 2013
The fresh round of investment brings the total amount of capital raised by Airtasker to A$3.5 million, and is a significant endorsement of Australia’s task-based sharing economy which has already created more than 20,000 Australian jobs in office admin, promotional staffing and field research since Airtasker’s inception in March 2012. According to a Pure Profile[i] survey commissioned by the company, the ‘task economy’ is estimated to be a $26 billion market.
Airtasker CEO and Co-Founder Tim Fung said, the funding reinforces the demand for a task-based economy which offers job seekers a new way to monetise their time and skills, while providing people and employers with immediate access to local community members ready to help with one-off or short-term tasks.
“In less than two years, Airtasker has transformed itself from being a growing online community notice board into an Australia-wide labour marketplace that is paving the way for a new era of employment in Australia. We’re seeing a whole new breed of workers emerge who are breaking the mould of a traditional 9 – 5 job, empowered by technology and seeking flexible work that fits their lifestyle,” said Fung.
In addition to providing more Australians with flexible employment, Airtasker has recently set its sights on disrupting the $20 billion temporary recruitment industry[ii] by giving businesses more access to high quality, rated and verified workers, on their own terms.
“We are seeing businesses demand greater flexibility in the way they recruit talent in order to stay nimble and competitive. While there will undoubtedly always be a need for full-time work, Airtasker is creating a safe and trusted environment for job seekers to connect with businesses and individuals who need short-term help,” said Fung.
To further support its plans for expansions, Airtasker recently:
- Appointed Mitchell Harper, CEO and Co-Founder of Australian powerhouse technology start-up BigCommerce, to the team as an Advisor: Harper’s experience in building a globally successful business that allows any person to create an online retail store will be vital as Airtasker continues to help people monetise their own time and skills through an online platform to become ‘micro-entrepreneurs’.
- Forged a major partnership with leading traditional jobs marketplace, CareerOne: Airtasker recently partnered with CareerOne to make short-term employment opportunities available to those searching for full-time work under a single jobs resource.
- Re-launched an all-new online and mobile platform: Airtasker recently started rolling out a new marketplace platform which particularly focuses on the mobile, location-based user experience – a key focus for the company, which now sees over 50% of web traffic coming from the mobile web.
The demand for more flexible, task-based employment is highlighted by an Australian Bureau of Statistics[iii] report which found that the Australian workforce underutilisation rate of 13.1 per cent – a measure of how many people are looking to work additional hours – was significantly higher than the stated unemployment rate at the time of 5 per cent.
# # #
About Airtasker
Airtasker is a trusted community marketplace for people and businesses to outsource tasks, find local services or complete flexible jobs to earn money – online or via mobile. Launched in March 2012, Airtasker is a pioneer of the "collaborative consumption" movement and has helped to create over 20,000 Australian jobs worth more than $1.6 million.
Airtasker is free for download on the iTunes store and Google Play.
[i] The Pure Profile survey was commissioned by Airtasker in February 2012. It was based on a random sample of 1005 Australians.
[ii] http://www.ibisworld.com.au/industry/default.aspx?indid=570
[iii] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force, Australia