Fiverr is an online marketplace for freelance services. Founded in 2010, the company is based in Tel Aviv, and provides a platform for freelancers to offer services to customers worldwide. As of 2012, over three million services were listed on Fiverr.
Video Fiverr
History
Fiverr was founded by Shai Wininger and Micha Kaufman on February 1, 2010. Wininger came up with the concept of a marketplace that would provide a two sided platform for people to buy and sell a variety of digital services typically offered by freelance contractors. Services offered on the site include writing, translation, graphic design, video editing and programming. Fiverr's services start at US$5, and can go up to thousands of dollars with Gig Extras. Each service offered is called a "gig".
The website was launched in early 2010 and by 2012 was hosting over 1.3 million Gigs. The website transaction volume has grown 600% since 2011. Additionally, Fiverr.com has been ranked among the top 100 most popular sites in the United States and top 200 in the world since the beginning of 2013.
On June 1, 2010, Fiverr received a seed investment of US$1 million from Guy Gamzu and other angel investors, and in May 2012, Fiverr secured US$15 million in funding from Accel Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners, bringing the company's total funding to US$20 million.
In December 2013, Fiverr released their iOS app in the Apple App Store, and in March 2014, Fiverr released their Android app in the Google Play store.
During August 2014, Fiverr announced that it has raised US$30 million in a Series C round of funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel (formerly known as Accel Partners) and other investors. The round brings their total funding to date to US$50 million.
In October 2015, Amazon.com started legal action against 1,114 Fiverr sellers it claims provide fake reviews on the US version of its website. Fiverr did not dispute Amazon's allegations and stated: "As Amazon noted, we have worked closely together to remove services that violate our terms of use, and respond promptly to any reports of inappropriate content."
In November 2015, Fiverr announced that it had raised US$60 million in a Series D round of funding, led by Square Peg Capital. The round brings their total funding to date to $110 million. At the same time, the company announced that it was expanding the marketplace to allow sellers the ability to price productized services, known as Gigs, at prices above the original US$5 price.
Acquisitions
VeedMe
In 2017, Fiverr acquired video creation marketplace VeedMe.
AND CO
In January 2018, AND CO, maker of software for freelancers, was acquired by Fiverr. CEO Micha Kaufman said at the time that many of AND CO's capabilities, such as invoicing, are "baked into" the Fiverr marketplace, but "the vast majority of freelancing is happening offline"--and Fiverr wants to enable those offline relationships.
Maps Fiverr
Gigs
Fiverr serves to allow listing and applying for small one-off jobs, or gigs, online. Jobs listed are diverse and range from "get a well-designed business card" to "help with HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and JQuery". Fiverr is a company built on the model of listing temporary work positions. Freelancers work in a variety of workplaces, ranging from home to office.
User demographics
The Fiverr marketplace is dominated by young adults (only 2% of sellers are over the age of 55), the company has stated that the rate of sellers aged 55-64 grew 375% at the end of the second quarter of 2015, compared with the year before.
Criticism
Fiverr has received criticism for advertising very cheap graphic services. At the end of 2014, Fiverr's Facebook page advertisement saying "You're paying too much for design" caused a public outcry. In 2013, Fiverr lifted the five dollar base price and began allowing logo designers, graphic artists, voice over artists and other sellers to charge the base prices they set for themselves.
In 2017, Fiverr has come under fire for portraying unhealthy living and excesses in work behaviours as ideals to live up to.
Fiverr has an "F" rating, the lowest possible, from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in New York, where their office is located, and has a one star rating out of five, also the lowest possible. 93% of the reviews of Fiverr on the BBB website are negative.
See also
- Gig economy
- E-lancing
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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