Fiverr, the freelance gig hub, files to go public
Freelance marketplace hub Fiverr has filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange despite recent IPO flops from ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft.
The Israeli-based startup filed its paperwork on Thursday with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission with initial plans to raise as much as $100 million under the ticker "FVRR."
Fiverr works as a marketplace for freelancers, where businesses and individuals can hire people to do an array of work, including copy editing, logo design, voiceovers and translations.
The company was founded in 2010 and has since facilitated more than 50 million transactions around the world between 5.5 million buyers and 830,000 freelancers.
While it has grown rapidly, it is also losing money. According to its filing, net losses for the company grew from $19.3 million in 2017 to $36.1 million in 2018 while revenue grew by nearly 45 percent from $52.1 million to $75.5 million.
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Fiverr described itself as both an "emerging growth company" and a "foreign private issuer."
It got its start --and name initially-- as a platform for buying and selling tasks for a fixed fee of $5. However, prices have since grown drastically with a range of rates.
The startup has also made headlines over the years for its controversial ads.
The "gig economy" is literally killing us.
— it's B! Cavello 🐝 (@b_cavello) March 9, 2017
Most depressing ad of the day goes to: @fiverr 🙃 pic.twitter.com/xq0sxsL55t