PeoplePerHour
| File:PeoplePerHour Logo.png | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Internet Service Marketplace Workforce Management |
| Founded | London, United Kingdom 2005 |
| Founder | Xenios Thrasyvoulou Simos Kitiris |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom |
Key people | Xenios Thrasyvoulou (CEO) Simos Kitiris (CTO) |
| Website | PeoplePerHour.com |
PeoplePerHour is a UK-based company that provides a website for the advertisement of freelance work.[1]
History
Founded in 2005 by Xenios Thrasyvoulou and Simos Kitiris,[2] the company has offices in London and New York.[3] Its network consists of about 250,000 active users, of whom 180,000 are freelancers and 70,000 who are clients. The majority of clients using the services are small companies that do not want to hire a full-time professional resources.[4] This type of online marketplace is also referred to as crowdsourcing – using a virtual network to outsource work.[5]
There is some debate as to whether the emergence of this type of freelance marketplace is part of a longer-term structural change in the way that companies across the world manage their human resources.[4] Figures from the UK Office for National Statistics show that 358,000 more people aged 65 or over are currently working than was the case a decade ago.[6] Usage statistics from PeoplePerHour indicate that the number of retirees looking for work using the website has increased by 137 per cent during 2012.[6]
Reception
In August 2012, PeoplePerHour was named by the science and technology magazine, Wired UK as one of "Europe's 100 Hottest Startups of 2012".[7] In 2012 its 50-person engineering department relocated to Athens.[8] One of the major investors in PeoplePerHour's is Index Ventures, which gave the company £2M ($3.2M) dollars in 2012.[8][9] Mike Volpi has named PeoplePerHour among the three "most underrated companies" in the Index's portfolio.[10] In its previous seed round the company had raised approximately £425k.[11]
See also
References
- ^ "Recruitment site offers freelance jobs". Daily Mirror. 20 July 2012.
- ^ Jamillah Knowles (19 July 2012). "PeoplePerHour publicly launches hourlies for freelancers offering services by the hour". The Next Web.
- ^ "Startup News: Brooklyn Tech Triangle Seeks Master Plan; Reuters is Now Distributing Animated Content". Beta Beat. The New York Observer. 17 July 2012.
- ^ a b Maija Palmer (14 November 2011). "Virtual companies face the connectivity challenge". Financial Times. (subscription required)
- ^ Ramon Ray, Business Insider, 9 August 2012
- ^ a b Joanna Robinson, Daily Mail, 20 September 2012
- ^ "Europe's 100 hottest startups 2012", Hugo Cox, Wired Magazine, 15 August 2012
- ^ a b Index Ventures Raises $442 Million in New Fund by Mark Scott, New York Times
- ^ PeoplePerHour Secures $3.2M From Index Ventures, New Hires, New iOS App by Mike Butcher, TechCrunch
- ^ Invest in Bankrupt Europe? Sure! Clean Tech? Oh, Hell No. by Sarah Lacy, pando.com
- ^ Index Ventures invests in PeoplePerHour as business flows East to West