TEL AVIV, ISRAEL, Global marketplace offering services for as little as $5, today announced it secured $15 million in a second round of funding from Accel Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners.
Fiverr, a global marketplace offering services for as little as $5, today announced it secured $15 million in a second round of funding from Accel Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners. Following previous financing led by Bessemer Venture Partners and angels Guy Gamzu and Jonathan Kolber, the site disrupting the global services economy has now raised a total of $20 million.
Today's funding will support continued company and product growth, as well as increase the pace of global expansion. The company, founded by Shai Wininger and Micha Kaufman, has grown 600% in transaction volume since the beginning of 2011 and currently employs more than 40 people in Israel, the US and Europe. Fiverr plans to double its team by the end of 2012, growing its US and global presence.
Both Accel and Bessemer have a track record of investing in disruptive consumer Internet companies. Accel has invested in Etsy, Kayak, Wonga, Dropbox and Spotify. Bessemer has invested in Skype, Pinterest, LinkedIn and Yelp. Since launching in mid-2010, Fiverr has grown rapidly and now lists more than 750,000 services (GigsĀ®) priced between $5 and $150. Used by millions of people, Fiverr has become one of the top 100 most popular websites in the United States and top 200 in the world.
Micro-entrepreneurs in more than 200 countries use Fiverr to monetize their skills, talents and resources in an easy and fun way. They offer a myriad of "Gigs," ranging from web design, logo creation and market research, to personal greetings, video animation and personalized gifts. Fiverr removes the friction typically associated with starting a business, including startup capital, physical location, client acquisition and payment infrastructure. Fiverr provides all the tools necessary for sellers to engage, build and grow their customer base, including efficient systems for collecting payment, promoting services, managing orders, exchanging files and communicating with buyers.
"Fiverr offers a new way to work. Just as eBay completely changed e-commerce, we're planning to disrupt the services economy. We make it easy for anyone, anywhere, to start a small business and sell their skills and talents -- from the serious and professional to the entertaining and odd," said Micha Kaufman, co-founder and CEO of Fiverr. "We've created a model that allows entrepreneurs to start small, learn and refine their services, and then grow them into a business and strong income source."
In January 2012, Fiverr launched Levels, a reputation-based promotion system to help micro-entrepreneurs build their business and earn more revenue. After sellers successfully complete at least 10 transactions, they unlock advanced up-selling tools to offer Gig extras and charge more for their services. Now more than 30 percent of Fiverr transactions are greater than the site's starting price of $5.
"Fiverr introduces a level of liquidity, velocity and engagement to the services economy not seen before. This is why its marketplace has grown so rapidly," said Adam Valkin, partner at Accel Partners. "Micha and Shai have an incredible vision, which is to be the place for people anywhere to monetize their talents and passions on a global stage. We are very excited to be part of it."
"Fiverr's users are the key to the site's success. Far more than a set of tools, Fiverr creates an entrepreneurial community focused on helping sellers build their Gigs into significant revenue and customer interaction," said Adam Fisher, partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "Together Fiverr and its users are changing the nature of work, building a global groundswell of support for income independence and creative freedom."
About Accel Partners
Founded in 1983, Accel Partners has a long history of partnering with outstanding entrepreneurs and management teams to build world-class businesses. Accel today invests globally using dedicated teams and market-specific strategies for local geographies, with offices in Palo Alto, California, New York City, London and Bangalore, as well as in China via its partnership with IDG-Accel. Accel has helped entrepreneurs build over 300 successful companies, many of which have defined their categories, including Angry Birds (Rovio), ComScore, Facebook, Groupon, Kayak, Playfish, QlikTech, Spotify, and Wonga. For more information, visit the Accel Partners web site at
www.accel.com find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/accel.
About Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners is a global venture capital firm with offices in Silicon Valley, Cambridge, Mass., New York, Mumbai and Herzliya, Israel. One of the oldest venture capital practices in the United States, BVP has partnered as an active, hands-on investor in Ciena, LinkedIn, Celtel, Blue Nile, Skype, Staples, VeriSign and Yelp. More than 100 BVP-funded companies have gone public on exchanges in Canada, India, the U.K. and the United States. Learn more at www.bvp.com.
About Fiverr.com
Fiverr.com is changing the way we work. It's a global marketplace where people all over the world can buy and sell services for as little as $5 -- and currently, lists more than 750,000 gigs across 200+ countries. Fiverr.com is one of the top 100 most popular websites in the United States and top 200 in the world, according to Alexa.com.
