The gig economy is increasingly becoming full of apps that help people find specific types of services or work.
There’s Uber for riders and drivers, Airbnb for renters and hosts, and Dolly for those moving and those who can help. But a new local startup has created a gig economy app that’s much broader, and allows users to post and find listings for just about anything.
Dablr, launched in September by Jake Obremski, CEO, and Neil Glazier, CTO, lets users post a task or job they need done, set a wage, and filter through and hire applicants who are interested in the gig.
Whether someone needs help moving, needs someone to operate a cotton candy machine at a birthday party or needs assistance with a garden project, they can post it on Dablr. The platform has about 1,500 users, which includes both those posting tasks and those looking for them. The minimum task wage is $25 and all transacations are completed electronically through the app.
“The original idea came from us trying to create something that lets people still make money without having to stop doing what they love,” Obremski said. “On the flip side, someone can get something done in the least expensive way possible and in the simplest way possible.”
Obremski and Glazier first thought of the idea in 2015 while they were high school juniors in the Chicago suburb of Maple Park.
“We went to school for half days,” Obremski said. “The school let us out half way through as long as we had as many credits as we needed. So that was half of our day, and the other half was spent working on Dablr.”
After graduation, Obremski and Glazier, both 19, decided to skip college to begin working on the company full time. They now work out of wherever they can—the library, coffee shops or their basements.
Dablr takes a 20 percent cut of all transactions on the app, but workers can keep 100 percent of their tip, if one is given, Obremski said.
Obremski said the startup is raising a seed round for $600,000, which will be used to help the startup expand to more cities. The app is only available to users in Chicagoland right now, but Obremski said they are looking at possibly expanding to New York, Pittsburgh and or cities in Florida by the end of the year.
