Gigalocal

Gigalocal operated as a mobile-first, location-based marketplace for local services, positioned as a digital classifieds board for everyday tasks. The company was established in April 2011 by founders Sebastian Diemer and Alexander Graubner-Müller, in collaboration with the German startup incubator Hanse Ventures. Prior to Gigalocal, both founders were active in the technology scene; Graubner-Müller had experience in financial engineering and co-founded a prediction market engine, while Diemer later became a prominent figure in the German fintech industry. Their collective experience pointed towards leveraging technology to create new market efficiencies.

The platform aimed to revolutionize the micro-job market by enabling users to outsource small jobs and errands to others within their vicinity. It functioned as a virtual wish list where a user could post a request, for instance, for help assembling furniture or with a house move, specifying the location, time, and proposed payment. This request, or "gig," would then be broadcast to a network of over 150 premium partners and thousands of individual users who could fulfill the task. The service was initially launched in Hamburg and Berlin. Gigalocal's business model was based on acting as an intermediary, likely taking a commission or fee for each successfully completed transaction on the platform. The target clients were broad, encompassing anyone needing a quick, simple task done, and on the supply side, it included local businesses and individuals looking to earn money by completing these neighborhood jobs.

Gigalocal's primary service was its smartphone application, which served as the main interface for posting and accepting jobs. The key feature was its real-time, location-aware functionality, which distinguished it from traditional web-based classifieds. It aimed to provide a seamless and quick connection between a need and a solution, bypassing the cumbersome process of searching through directories or comparing quotes manually. The company attracted significant attention and secured investments from notable venture capital firm Holtzbrinck Ventures, as well as business angels like Heiko Hubertz, the founder of Bigpoint, and Edgar Berger, then-CEO of Sony Germany. Despite the initial hype and backing, Gigalocal struggled to achieve the necessary market penetration and user density required for its business model to become profitable. The founders, Diemer and Graubner-Müller, both left the company by early 2012 to found Kreditech, a fintech venture. Subsequently, in early 2013, Hanse Ventures announced the discontinuation of Gigalocal's operations, citing that the required future investment to reach profitability was too high.

Keywords: local services marketplace, micro-jobs platform, mobile-first app, location-based services, peer-to-peer services, gig economy, Hanse Ventures, Sebastian Diemer, Alexander Graubner-Müller, Holtzbrinck Ventures, on-demand services, task outsourcing, Hamburg startup, Berlin startup, service booking app, neighborhood jobs, virtual classifieds, errand running app, local business connection, P2P marketplace