Zaarly is a mobile marketplace app that focuses on buyers posting requests (what they want, how much they will pay, and when they need it) and matching those requests to providers. The company launched six months prior to the article and had about 30 employees at the time. Zaarly previously raised a $1 million angel round and has facilitated nearly $7 million in purchases through the service; it charges a transaction fee on credit-card purchases and currently uses PoundPay. With the new capital, Zaarly plans to expand and add security enhancements such as user verification options and buyer/seller reviews, features in which Meg Whitman will be directly involved. The company is also evaluating mobile payments integrations with PayPal, American Express (Serve), and Square as it scales. Zaarly is a mobile-centric reverse-Craigslist service that lets users post requests for items or tasks (coffee, beer, rides, chargers, etc.) and set a price for others nearby to accept. The app uses phone location to surface proximate users and routes communications through anonymous phone numbers powered by Twilio; the team plans to add anonymous texting and mutual ratings. At the time of reporting Zaarly was still on an internal prototype but had gathered thousands of beta requests and planned a public launch at SXSW to drive user density. Cofounder Bo Fishback framed the idea around real-world convenience and small paid tasks, imagining users performing multiple jobs per day. Financially, the startup had closed a $1 million funding round from prominent angels and investors.

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Oct 2011