Passionfruit - making freelancing work better for everyone
by Startacus Admin
London-based startup Passionfruit is transforming the world of freelancing by providing work opportunities, access to financial tools, mentorship, upskilling and lots more besides...
Something that startups need is work. What business doesn’t need people getting work done? The disadvantage that a startup has is that it is, of course, just getting started and will often not have the funds to hire many, if any, staff to begin with. But who specialises in getting jobs done before drifting off to the next town in need like the Magnificent Seven (but hopefully losing fewer people)? Freelancers! The answer to so many of life’s questions, freelancers can come in, kickstart your marketing, get your conversion rates up, and put you on a better footing moving forward. But how do you find the best, most trusted marketing freelancers?
London-based freelancer platform Passionfruit was created by Raffi Salama and Issah Abdul-Moomin after seeing so many younger people doing away with the traditional 9-5 work structure. Particularly with the COVID lockdowns, more people have realised in recent years just how much they dislike the restrictiveness of being a cog in someone else’s machine, and have turned to newer ways of regaining a little freedom, be it simply working from home or hybrid working, or working self-employed as a freelancer. But for freelancers to find work, they have to have a large network of contacts and/or a platform through which clients know how to find them. Passionfruit is that platform.
Freelancers are put through a vetting process that starts with looking at their experience, skills, and professionalism, and goes through 5 more steps of reviews, interviews, a written test, and on-going monitoring. This means that only 12% of freelancers actually get through the vetting process, allowing the platform to boast a pool of only the best freelancers. The startup is also able to provide those freelancers with financial tools, mentorship, and opportunities to upskill.
When a client needs to find a freelancer, rather than browsing through a load of potentials like other platforms, they will speak to the Passionfruit team, who will match them with the perfect freelancer for their needs. The client will then meet with that freelancer before getting to work.
With such a solid platform, it’s no wonder that Passionfruit closed a £3.6 million seed funding round in July. Led by Firstminute Capital and Playfair Capital, the round also saw participation from FJ Labs, Portfolio Ventures, and angels from Stripe, Airbnb, and Workday, and comes on the heels of a December pre-seed round of £581,000. This will be used to increase their service offerings and bring in more clients.
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Published on: 23rd August 2022
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