Fiverr^® press

24 Jan 2018

Fiverr acquires And Co to bolster end-to-end freelance services

Fiverr, a startup devoted to helping freelancers market their expertise, is wielding M&A to bolster its gig economy services.

Fiverr, a startup devoted to helping freelancers market their expertise, is wielding M&A to bolster its gig economy services.

Less than a year after it purchased vertical video marketplace player Veed.me, the company inked a deal with And Co — a fellow startup based here in New York City that shares a like-minded mission.

Founded by entrepreneurs Leif Abraham and Martin Strutz, And Co enables its users to create invoices, file expenses, create contracts and manage projects.

Micha Kaufman, CEO of Fiverr, praised the And Co team for its "beautifully crafted" solutions.

There were other companies Fiverr considered buying, Kaufman told me. However, And Co was "an absolute perfect fit" because there were not many software providers that provided end-to-end solutions, he explained.

"The market is highly fragmented," Kaufman said. "There are plenty of companies out there that provide one particular piece of the puzzle, whether that's building contracts, invoicing, or expense tracking, but And Co is one of the only ones out there that does it all. In addition to the technology offering, we were also looking at companies that share the same mission as us."

Kaufman expects Fiverr to scoop up other startups in the future.

"What is happening in the creative freelancing industry these days is very similar to what happened in the e-commerce industry in the past two decades — a consolidation of vertical businesses into horizontal businesses," he said, citing Amazon.com Inc.'s latest acquisitions as recent examples.

"As we develop and expand our category base, you can expect more acquisition of vertical businesses," he added. "As a technology company and as a marketplace leader in the creative freelancing we also look for technologies and products that can make our offerings more robust and for us to create more value for our community and provide a meaningful difference in their lives."

And Co, a three-year-old startup, is backed by Thrive Capital, BoxGroup, Red Swan Ventures and Designer Fund. FIverr, meanwhile, is backed by Square Peg Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Accel Partners and Qumra Capital.