London-based Passionfruit, a freelancing platform for Gen Z, announced that it has raised $4.3M (approximately €4.3M) in a seed round of funding co-led by firstminute Capital and Playfair.
FJ Labs, and Portfolio Ventures, along with scouts from Atomico, Accel, and Notion, also participated in the round.
Passionfruit has been also supported by founders and early executives of companies such as Stripe, Airbnb, Deliveroo, Turo, Trouva, and Workday, and operating partners from Softbank and L Catterton.
Passionfruit solving the pain point
As the traditional paradigm of full-time, on-site firm employment begins to lose prominence, a new age of work is starting to emerge. One of the defining characteristics of this period pertains to control: today’s youth want to direct their professional lives on their terms. It is not ‘cool’ to climb the ladder of a single company for your whole career any longer.
But, for many, the structure and simplicity of the corporate cushion on which they lie – combining paid job, community, and financial wellbeing – is gone in the realm of freelancing.
Unless one has decades of experience, a black book of connections, a private accountant, and substantial money, it is impossible to do it alone.
Passionfruit’s ideology behind building a freelancing platform
Passionfruit‘s comprehensive operating system would coordinate the fragmented sector allowing anyone to start, sell, market, and manage their professional services independently. As per the company, there should be a single platform for Gen Z freelancers to get what they’re looking for.
Passionfruit’s future plans
The remote-first company is set to enhance the user experience by investing in the full suite of working, learning, and earning tools to become a freelancer’s one-stop tool. The company claims it has been the choice for hundreds of fast-growing technology companies and is planning to open up the platform for a select few enterprise customers.
