Finnish startup shapes new kind of job marketplace

Does this situation sound familiar? You quickly need somebody to take care of an easy task at the home or around the office, but do not know who to ask. At the same time you know there will be plenty of people in close proximity who could do this task, but have no easy way of reaching them.

Well now you do:

“With our mobile app anyone can find help when they need it and easily take care of the employment process,” explains Matias Mäkitalo, founder of Helsinki-based startup Treamer. “When you need a babysitter or someone to fill in Excel sheets, the right person could be just a few clicks away.”

How Treamer works is simple. Both individuals and businesses can use the Treamer app to broadcast a task they need done quickly. The app then scans available workers within a 20-kilometre radius, notifies them of the task and can match the job to the right worker in the matter of minutes. A review system ensures both parties are happy with the results.

“After the job has been done, the employer can pay the salary using their bank card. We automatically ensure all taxes and obligatory employment fees are handled from that single lump sum,” Mäkitalo adds.

The tasks advertised on Treamer can be anything from dog walking to graphic design, but they are strictly limited to jobs that will take a maximum of one day. And this approach is having success. According to Mäkitalo, Treamer has doubled its (currently undisclosed) user numbers every month since launching in April and shows no signs of slowing down.

The solution is in our pockets

Although anyone can sign up to Treamer, the role of worker is proving particularly popular with students and young adults looking to increase their work experience and boost their income. It is a group Mäkitalo knows well. The now 20-year-old entrepreneur got the idea four years ago when he had just started college.

“I had done different kinds of temporary jobs and gigs for a few years and I really liked it as a student,” he recalls. “It was a great way to find out what you are good at and what you might like to do. At the same time you were able to define your own schedules.”

But Mäkitalo quickly realised that finding these jobs without previous connections was not easy, even when companies were struggling to find enough helping hands.

“I thought, ‘everybody has a phone in their pocket and they use it everyday so what if I take the work and the workers there’. That is how Treamer started to take shape,” Mäkitalo says.

Finally a year ago Mäkitalo found experienced partners to accelerate development and Treamer was born. Today the company has four full-time employees and 500 000 euros of backing from private investors.

Global gigs

Mäkitalo believes the key to Treamer’s speedy start is solving a real need, and the need is not limited to Finland.

Treamer is already scouting international markets, and while Mäkitalo remains tight-lipped on the details, he promises there will be news next year. One thing is clear: the plans will be ambitious.

“There is a global need to better connect temporary work with workers,” he offers. “We are building the world’s largest marketplace for them.”