After months of successfully connecting businesses with for-rent MBAs in the United States, the Harvard Business School-spun startup HourlyNerd is taking its mission global.
The online marketplace announced a partnership Tuesday with Idea and Company FZ LLC, or Ideanco., based in Abu Dhabi, expanding the company's client base to the Middle East and Africa.
The Abu Dhabi-based management consulting firm also has offices in New York and Beirut, and the newly-inked co-marketing agreement will allow the firm to source HourlyNerd's "highly skilled and experienced consultants" to its client base, according to HourlyNerd co-founder and CFO Peter Maglathlin.
HourlyNerd's network has grown to include more than 6,000 MBAs, who hail from top-tier business schools like Stanford, Tuck and Wharton. With the platform, small businesses can rent a seasoned professional for an hourly rate of $30 to $100, depending on the bids MBAs put in. Companies can now have their smaller strategic questions answered without needing to sign on a behemoth, McKinsey-like consulting firm.
"This partnership is a fantastic opportunity for HourlyNerd to enter the high-growth Middle East and African markets," added Maglathlin in a statement.
The news comes on the heels of HourlyNerd securing an undisclosed Series A, and sounds like just the beginning for the startup, currently located in Downtown Crossing.
Ideanco. CEO Maher Ezzeddine, a Harvard Business School alumnus, lauded HourlyNerd, saying in a statement:
Leveraging HourlyNerd’s “elite crowd” of MBA consultants, will enable Ideanco. to offer the highest quality of strategy consulting service at a lower cost, effectively growing the addressable market for consulting services. I am confident this will be just the first of many successful partnerships together.
Image via HourlyNerd
