Israeli startup Fiverr ($PRIVATE:FIVERR) is the latest tech startup to make an IPO, with the stock trading up 20% on its market debut Thursday June 13.
Outside of Fiverr, the gig economy is gaining validation as more companies, such as Uber ($UBER) and WeWork ($PRIVATE:WEWORK), are heading toward public markets. Here, we present five charts covering Fiverr and its biggest listed competitor to separate the hype from the noise.
Good Social Mojo
From a social engagement perspective, there's a lot to like about Fiverr. The company has seen both its Twitter ($TWTR) and Facebook ($FB) followers and likes grow substantially in recent years, as it has gained traction with consumers.
Building (and Building, and Building)
Most companies' LinkedIn ($MSFT) Employee Charts require no explanation. Fiverr is a little bit different. The startup's employee count reflects that its the size of most Fortune 100 companies, tallying a total of 29,100 workers. This is because it's not just Fiverr executives and engineers aligned with the company on LinkedIn - it is also its gig employees. Therefore, the increase of 22% this year is a helpful signal for engagement with the app.
Slimming Down Before the Big Debut
Startups, they're just like people. Some of the biggest IPOs of 2019 spent spring slimming down in advance of their offerings, and it seems like Fiverr was no different. In fact, it seems like the startup is part of a continuing trend of companies making sure they're as efficient as possible before picking out a ticker.
Competitive Comps
Fiverr is heading for public markets a few months after competitor UpWork ($UPWK) made its market debut.
UpWork, another freelancing platform, saw shares rise 50% in its first day of trading in late 2018, only to see the stock slip in the time since. The data on UpWork's total registered users - which picked up, post-IPO, reflects that the brand had a little bit more name recognition after making its market debut. No doubt Fiverr executives are aware of the trend, and would like to apply it to the next freelancing platform to IPO.
An earlier version of this story appeared three weeks ago with data from that time period. We’ve updated the data in anticipation of Fiverr’s IPO today.
Further Reading:
- Is the gig economy all that? Competition is growing for the same number of jobs
- As Upwork cashes in on gig economy, here are its top freelancer categories
- The coworking world: How WeWork, Regus, and Industrious measure up
