8 Two-Sided Marketplace Startups to Watch

by Startacus Admin

We only have to look at the likes of eBay, Craigslist, or Uber to see how lucrative a simple two-sided marketplace business can be, but don’t let the seemingly effortless success of such businesses fool you. Starting a business and trying to build up a consumer base is never an easy task. Building up two separate consumer bases at the same time is an even bigger challenge; yet this is what businesses within the two-sided marketplace must do. Here are 8 startups doing just that.

RangeMe

Sydney-founded RangeMe is a fast growing startup that connects retailers with suppliers. The simple dashboard allows suppliers to create profiles and list their available products, and retailers to search for products in the same way we as consumers search the likes of Amazon. RangeMe is successfully expanding into America, and has recently secured $4m funding from some big-name US investors.

Snappr

Another Sydney-based startup, Snappr is a two-sided marketplace for professional photography services. The platform vets freelance photographers before allowing them to become a part of the Snappr community. After this, it’s a simple matter of users in need of a photographer to tell Snappr what they need the photographer for, and they’ll be matched with someone with the corresponding speciality. Snappr raised AU$200,000 in under a month, only 60 days after launching, making it a startup to keep an eye on.

Droners.io

Droners.io connects experienced drone pilots and people in need of...well, drones and drone pilots. From weddings, to parties, to TV and film production, users in need of aerial photography and video can post details of their specific needs and drone pilots experienced in that specific category will bid. Droners.io vets every pilot for experience and the necessary licences before their profile is approved, leaving the user to concern themselves only with finding the right pilot for them.

Airstoc

Similar to Droners.io, Airstoc allows users to find drone pilots all over the world for aerial footage. Airstoc is aimed more at businesses than individuals, however, from the TV and film industry, to real estate and tourism, to surveying and thermal imaging. Airstoc also differs from Droners.io in that it is a supplier of Ultra HD aerial stock footage. For more on them, read our interview with the co-founder.

Tutora

We have written about Tutora before, and it remains a startup to watch. Tutora connects parents with rigorously-vetted tutors for their children. Whether their children need help with school subjects, learning a musical instrument, or martial arts, parents will find a qualified, hand-picked tutor for these things and more, all rated and reviewed by other parents.

Liven

Another Australian startup, Liven is a way for restaurants, retailers, and entertainment venues to entice customers, and for those customers to find savings via cashback. For example, you might go to a popular restaurant in Melbourne, pay your bill through the Liven app, and come home with 25% cashback. This cashback can be kept to yourself or shared with a number of charities. Although Liven is only available in Melbourne and Sydney at the moment (with Brisbane on its way), this is the kind of startup we can see going global, with 30,000 users taking to the app in its first year.

Robinhood

Robinhood is a little different to the others, but it’s an interesting one to end on. It connects people interested in the stock market with the stocks and shares they’re interested in. Unlike traditional stock market trading, Robinhood offers 0% commission trading through an easy to use app, with low latency trading wherever you are. It’s bound to give the likes of eToro a run for its money.

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Published on: 24th October 2016