There are hundreds of startups in the sharing economy# MobileDevelopment - 移动开发
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By Lyndsey Gilpin September 12, 2014, 4:00 AM PST
There are hundreds of startups in the sharing economy and collaborative
consumption industry. Here are 10 you might not have considered.
The sharing economy, or collaborative economy, or peer-to-peer consumption -
- however you want to phrase it -- is transforming the way we relate to one
another and is starting to shift our economy. By now, most of us are
familiar with the main players -- companies like Airbnb, Lyft, Feastly, and
TaskRabbit. But, there are many startups that go unnoticed, even though they
are faithfully displaying the mission of the collaborative economy.
Here are 10 sharing economy startups that are making strides in the industry.
SEE: We-commerce: The sharing economy's uncertain path to changing the world
1. Skillshare
Skillshare offers a different approach to collaborative education. With this
website, users can pay $10 a month for a subscription to thousands of
online courses in business, design, fashion, photography, video, and more.
The founders are trying to reinvent the education system, from the ground up
. Anyone can teach at Skillshare, they just have to fill out this
application.
2. Getaround
Use Getaround to search for cars in your area that you can rent hourly or
daily. All rentals include insurance and 24/7 roadside assistance. You
simply sign up with your smartphone and find cars (if you're a renter) or
jobs (if you're a driver) through the app. The company reports that every
car on Getaround takes 10 cars off the road,and the service is available in
several cities in the US.
3. TimeBank
TimeBanks USA is nothing new -- the service was formed in 1995 -- but it's a
fresh way to look at sharing economy companies. People trade their skills
in whatever field for someone else's skills in another area. For instance,
they exchange time as a tutor, maid, tour guide, babysitter, chef, or
otherwise. The organization is trying to start a movement, promoting
timebanking in cities around the world.
4. Open Shed
"Why buy when you can share?" is the tagline for this collaborative
consumption company, which is based in Australia. Use the website to search
for tools, electronics, or camping gear that you can buy, rent, or borrow
from people in your area. For instance, rent this projector for $20 a day or
$50 a week. It's a novel idea to give people access to tools that are often
only needed one time or in specific situations.
5. Pivot Desk
Find and share office space with Pivot Desk. This company was created for
small startups and teams to find spaces to work with month-to-month
contracts. The spaces are available in more than a dozen cities and users
can also choose specific neighborhoods they want to work in in larger areas
such as New York City
6. My Turn
My Turn allows businesses to share assets in order to have a better impact
on the environment. This public benefit corporation has a marketplace where
people can find products, tools, and office equipment that aren't being used
by other companies. To get started donating, businesses, universities, or
other organizations can upload their inventories to the cloud platform, look
through their inventory, and then manage reservations and rentals for the
things that would normally be gathering dust, all through My Turn.
7. PiggyBee
PiggyBee connects people who need to ship something with travelers who are
headed to that same destination. It's crowdsourced delivery. Users post an
object to send, pick a reward (such as pick-up from airport or a trip upon
arrival) and then wait to see who wants to travel. As a traveler, you can
simply post what reward you want and where you want to go. Some things that
people ship are boxes of clothes, furniture, or food.
8. Vayable
This service aims to redefine the travel experience. Locals volunteer to
partner with tourists, serving as historians, tour guides, and friends. The
people signing up to take tourists around are often Peace Corps volunteers,
journalists, musicians, tour guides, and students -- really, anyone can do
it. The guides create their own hours and can get paid virtually anywhere
around the world.
9. EatWith
EatWith is a service to find locals to share meals with in a variety cities
around the world. While most of them are in Europe, the company is
constantly expanding. You can book a specific date or contact a host and
request a date in advance. For instance, one host in Cape Town is offering a
"French country style-dinner" for $34 a person. The couple is offering a
choice of three different menus at their home.
10. CasaVersa
CasaVersa is a home-swapping service. It's small, but it's starting to catch
on. Users find a person around the world to swap homes with for a vacation.
You spend time on the website getting to know the people you will be
swapping with, and eventually completely immerse yourself in their world for
your stay. Users can charge money upon finalization of the exchanges, or
they can use an "IOU" exchange for a later date. The first time costs, but
the more you use the service, the cheaper it gets -- until it's eventually
free. More companies like CasaVersa are emerging as an alternative to Airbnb
.
There are hundreds of startups in the sharing economy and collaborative
consumption industry. Here are 10 you might not have considered.
The sharing economy, or collaborative economy, or peer-to-peer consumption -
- however you want to phrase it -- is transforming the way we relate to one
another and is starting to shift our economy. By now, most of us are
familiar with the main players -- companies like Airbnb, Lyft, Feastly, and
TaskRabbit. But, there are many startups that go unnoticed, even though they
are faithfully displaying the mission of the collaborative economy.
Here are 10 sharing economy startups that are making strides in the industry.
SEE: We-commerce: The sharing economy's uncertain path to changing the world
1. Skillshare
Skillshare offers a different approach to collaborative education. With this
website, users can pay $10 a month for a subscription to thousands of
online courses in business, design, fashion, photography, video, and more.
The founders are trying to reinvent the education system, from the ground up
. Anyone can teach at Skillshare, they just have to fill out this
application.
2. Getaround
Use Getaround to search for cars in your area that you can rent hourly or
daily. All rentals include insurance and 24/7 roadside assistance. You
simply sign up with your smartphone and find cars (if you're a renter) or
jobs (if you're a driver) through the app. The company reports that every
car on Getaround takes 10 cars off the road,and the service is available in
several cities in the US.
3. TimeBank
TimeBanks USA is nothing new -- the service was formed in 1995 -- but it's a
fresh way to look at sharing economy companies. People trade their skills
in whatever field for someone else's skills in another area. For instance,
they exchange time as a tutor, maid, tour guide, babysitter, chef, or
otherwise. The organization is trying to start a movement, promoting
timebanking in cities around the world.
4. Open Shed
"Why buy when you can share?" is the tagline for this collaborative
consumption company, which is based in Australia. Use the website to search
for tools, electronics, or camping gear that you can buy, rent, or borrow
from people in your area. For instance, rent this projector for $20 a day or
$50 a week. It's a novel idea to give people access to tools that are often
only needed one time or in specific situations.
5. Pivot Desk
Find and share office space with Pivot Desk. This company was created for
small startups and teams to find spaces to work with month-to-month
contracts. The spaces are available in more than a dozen cities and users
can also choose specific neighborhoods they want to work in in larger areas
such as New York City
6. My Turn
My Turn allows businesses to share assets in order to have a better impact
on the environment. This public benefit corporation has a marketplace where
people can find products, tools, and office equipment that aren't being used
by other companies. To get started donating, businesses, universities, or
other organizations can upload their inventories to the cloud platform, look
through their inventory, and then manage reservations and rentals for the
things that would normally be gathering dust, all through My Turn.
7. PiggyBee
PiggyBee connects people who need to ship something with travelers who are
headed to that same destination. It's crowdsourced delivery. Users post an
object to send, pick a reward (such as pick-up from airport or a trip upon
arrival) and then wait to see who wants to travel. As a traveler, you can
simply post what reward you want and where you want to go. Some things that
people ship are boxes of clothes, furniture, or food.
8. Vayable
This service aims to redefine the travel experience. Locals volunteer to
partner with tourists, serving as historians, tour guides, and friends. The
people signing up to take tourists around are often Peace Corps volunteers,
journalists, musicians, tour guides, and students -- really, anyone can do
it. The guides create their own hours and can get paid virtually anywhere
around the world.
9. EatWith
EatWith is a service to find locals to share meals with in a variety cities
around the world. While most of them are in Europe, the company is
constantly expanding. You can book a specific date or contact a host and
request a date in advance. For instance, one host in Cape Town is offering a
"French country style-dinner" for $34 a person. The couple is offering a
choice of three different menus at their home.
10. CasaVersa
CasaVersa is a home-swapping service. It's small, but it's starting to catch
on. Users find a person around the world to swap homes with for a vacation.
You spend time on the website getting to know the people you will be
swapping with, and eventually completely immerse yourself in their world for
your stay. Users can charge money upon finalization of the exchanges, or
they can use an "IOU" exchange for a later date. The first time costs, but
the more you use the service, the cheaper it gets -- until it's eventually
free. More companies like CasaVersa are emerging as an alternative to Airbnb
.
