Sharing is Caring - 10 hot startups in the sharing economy space

We're all familiar sharing economy pioneers like Uber and AirBnB, but there's a whole new wave of companies creating opportunities in all kinds of areas.

Here are 10 new startups that are leading the way in the sharing economy:

• TechBuddy - Tech support on demand
• Universal Avenue - Sales force on demand
• Triple - Visitor experiences on demand
• Beleco - Furniture on demand
• Yepstr - Help from neighbours on demand
• Corso - Driving instructors on demand
• Fliffr - Experts on demand
• Workaround - Office space on demand
• Urbit - Delivery on demand
• QuestionMe - Q&A on demand

TechBuddy - Tech-support on demand

TechBuddy offers on-demand tech-support in the home, by phone or chat. The concept of TechBuddy is to make technology enjoyable, not only by supporting you when things don't work but also inspiring you and guiding you in everyday situations - especially in purchase decisions. And the long-term vision is huge: bring transparency to the consumer electronics industry. In the long term TechBuddy aims to create a specific label for consumer electronics that guarantee fair conditions in production, sustainable materials etc.

The sharing economy angle is that any tech-enthusiast can apply to become a TechBuddy and join the platform. So if you're the one who your friends and family call when the "internet isn't working", you might want to become a TechBuddy and make some extra income. 

Universal Avenue - Sales force on demand

Universal Avenue is in my opinion one of the most interesting companies in the sharing economy space. It allows brands to access an on-demand sales force. In this case it means that a group of trained brand ambassadors (people who already love your brand!) can make extra income by selling and promoting the brand. 

What I think is so interesting with Unversal Avenue is that from the brand perspective it gives access to markets that would otherwise be hard to reach. Form the brand ambassadors perspective Universal Avenue opens up an opportunity to with when you want, where you want, with what you want.

The approach is only for B2B services today, and some of the brands on the platform include Soundtrack Your Brand (Spotify for Business), Shopify and Bambora.

Triple - Visitor experiences on demand

Triple allows you to “show travellers your hidden gems and earn extra money”. The visitor industry is ripe for innovation, and the team behind Triple is well positioned to be part of that development. As a local resident you can create and offer your own tours and experiences on the platform, and as a traveler you can take part of these experiences to get more out of your visit. Some examples could be “Oil painting with local artist”, “The History of architecture in Stockholm” and “Tour of Subway station in Stockholm with Russian Engineer”. Triple is launching in 2017 and you can sign up here to stay updated.

Beleco - Furniture on demand

Beleco offers furniture as a service. It's the worlds first marketplace and community for renting and sharing furniture. You can rent, rent-to-own or buy your furniture. The company even offers a so called white-gloves logistics solutions to pick up and drop off the furniture. Beleco is set to launch in Sweden in 2017, starting with Stockholm and later expanding to Gothenburg and Malm?. It's a company to follow as I'm sure they will quickly expand globally.

Yepstr - Help from neighbours on demand

Usually when you need help with things like babysitting, lawn work or tutoring you turn to teenagers and students in your neighbourhood. Yepstr is a platform for these types of gigs. By turning the process digital you get greater transparency and the payment happens on the platform and will therefor never be awkward. The platform is currently up and running in Stockholm and so far there are 1900 Yepsters that are ready to help.

Corso - Driving instructors on demand

Getting your drivers licence in countries like Sweden is difficult and time consuming. Driving lessons are expensive and you need many hours on the road to pass the exam. That’s why many drive with their family or friends in their spare time. But not everyone has access to a car or mentor that can help . That’s where Corso comes in. Corso connects driving instructors with people who want to drive in their spare time between driving classes. The platform has not launched yet but the team was awarded the Stockholm Innovation Scholarship for their idea, so it looks promising.

Fliffr - Experts on demand

Fliffr is a “mobile advice” marketplace where talented people and customers can meet through live-video. The platform makes it simple to find the advice, expertise and skills you are looking for, and it makes it equally simple for you monetize your time as an expert. What’s interesting about Fliffr is the business model: you pay?—?and get paid?—?by the minute. You can get help with all kinds of things: accounting, tech-support, workouts, interior design and much more. Once you find your expert in the Tinder-style mobile app, you initiate a video call and the clock starts ticking. Some of the services are free, I recommend trying it out!

Workaround - Office space on demand

Workaround is a platform where you can rent?—?and rent out?—?office space. For those who have extra space in their office it’s a great way to share the cost of rent, and for those looking for flexible office space it’s a great way to easily and quickly find a place to work from or hold your meeting. Workaround has grown quickly since it launched and has many of the major companies in Stockholm use the platform. 

Urbit - Delivery on demand

Urbit is a new way of shopping. It combines e-commerce and physical stores to deliver products in lightning speed. The products you buy are from a physical store in your city but you decide when and where the products are delivered. The process is simple: you buy products in their app, you decide on the delivery and an “Urber” picks up the items in a nearby store and delivers them to you. Urbit has raised $4.2 million at a $50 million valuation.

QuestionMe - Q&A on demand

QuestionMe is a Swedish startup with an experienced team that are developing a global social media platform based on Q&A where users can directly communicate with A-list celebrities and skilled experts. QuestionMe is launching soon and you can sign up to their newsletter now to get the latest updates.

Bonus:

TipTapp - Recycling on demand

If you've ever needed to take a trip to the recycling center, but just didn't have the time or the means, then TipTapp is for you. Conversely, if you have a car or truck and want to make some extra income by helping people recycle, then TipTapp is for you. Now finally there's a platform that makes recycling easy. Simply take a photo of what you need hauled to the recycling center and set the price you're willing to pay. You'll get a notification when someone accepts the job, and you finally get rid of that thing while being kind to the environment. The platform works just as well for things you'd like to donate, it's a win-win-win.

Sharing economy grew by 30% last year

By the way, all of these companies are based in Stockholm, Sweden :)

The sharing economy is growing rapidly in Sweden: it grew by 30% in the past year. And about 15% of the population have used Airbnb at some point.

Sweden is an excellent test market for digital sharing economy companies. Yes, regulation is a challenge as it is in most places, but you have a population that is willing to try new things and that own 1.5 smart device per person on average.

If you'd like to know more, don't hesitate to get in touch.

What do you think of the Sharing Economy model? Share your thoughts in the comments.