Freelance Platforms

$7B market where players win with philanthropy

Author

Stan Rymkiewicz
October 10, 2022

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Freelance Platforms

What is it?

You have work and can’t hire an employee. So you got onto hiring a freelancer. Freelance platforms help you source, hire, manage, and pay part-time workers. Features of such platforms include: 

  • A portal for companies to post job spots and for freelancers to create profiles and describe their skills and experience

  • Allow companies to search, filter, and compare freelancers

  • Enable freelancers and companies to work directly

  • Allow companies to provide feedback on freelancers and their work

Who’s the buyer?

It can be every department head in the company. Since this is an SMB-heavy market, the CEO is usually included in the buying process.

64% of buyers are in the SMB segment, 24% in the mid-market, and 12% in the enterprise market.

What is the problem?

Companies have too much work and freelancers are looking for work. So a platform connects these two. The type of work can be split into two categories: (1) skilled strategy tasks, where a company is hiring for expertise; (2) low-value tasks that are just cheaper to outsource. 

How big is the market?

The top 10 players bring about $1.5B in ARR. The combined annual revenue of all players in the market is north of $7B.

How fast is it growing?

In the past 3 years, the market's supply side has grown 44% with an average of 13% year-over-year growth.

Who are the top 10 players?

Revenue numbers are estimated. Since this is a matured market top 4 players have IPOed and we can estimate other players' numbers thanks to public numbers from annual reports.

How much are people paying?

Freelance platforms usually have a 10 to 20% fee on invoiced paid to the freelancer. 

How are they buying?

You can just sign up on the website and hire someone across the globe within minutes of putting your email on the website. Self-serve at its finest. Although you can still book a demo at marketplaces that are focusing on the ENT segment.

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