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US - Online staffing firm’s revenue up 77%, CEO sees Amazon-like market

February 28, 2014

Online staffing provider Freelancer Limited revenue jumped 77 percent in 2013 from the previous year. CEO and Chairman Matt Barrie also predicted the online staffing marketplace would grow to the size of marketplaces served by firms such as eBay and Amazon.

Freelancer revenue was $18.8 million in Australian dollars (US$16.8 million) in 2013. The Australia-based company posted revenue of AUS$10.6 million in 2012.

“The result for FY13 has been driven by accelerated growth in our online marketplace, continued product development and site optimization, and we are pleased to have exceeded our prospectus forecast,” Barrie said.

Gross margin improved to 87.6 percent from 87.4 percent in the previous year.

However, Freelancer's net income rose 3.4 percent to $753,000 in Australian dollars (U.S. dollars $673,355).

Shares in Freelancer ended the day up 3.57 percent to AUS$1.450 on the ASX.

Freelancer conducted an initial public offering in November. And it has made several acquisitions in its history, including vWorker in November 2012 and R3N3 in July 2012.

The company reported 2.9 million new users in 2013. And a majority of jobs posted are in Web, information technology & software and design.

Online staffing refers to an online platform that facilitates interaction between workers and staffing buyers. Often, workers and buyers may not meet in person.

“We are at the very beginning of a global revolution in the way that we do work,” Barrie said. “Over the decades to come, the rest of the world’s population will be connecting- at an accelerating pace. More and more industries will be eaten by software, and more and more jobs will be performed with a computer and will head into the cloud. People on opposite sides of the world will increasingly work together, and through software it will be as seamless as if they were in the same room together.”

Barrie added, “We believe, that in time, it is inevitable that a global marketplace for services will emerge, that will be of a similar size and scale as global marketplaces for products like eBay, Amazon and Alibaba.”