Freelancer.com is Australia's largest company that most people have never heard of. Founded in 2008 by Matt Barrie in a granny flat, it has grown to a $700 million company that connects freelance workers with clients online. It has around 9 million users and allows complex work like web design and accounting to be done remotely by workers in developing countries. Barrie predicted Freelancer will continue growing rapidly as online outsourcing of services increases globally in the same way Amazon and eBay grew for goods.

1. 13/05/2018 Freelancer.com is the biggest Aussie company you've never heard of
http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/freelancercom-is-the-biggest-aussie-company-youve-never-heard-of/news-story/0f63cd002f252893fbbbdb3c8c339ec7
VICTORIA CRAW & AAP AAP  NOVEMBER 25, 2013 12:18PM
Freelancer.com is the biggest Aussie company you've
never heard of
IT'S the $700 million firm that started in a granny flat so who is the man behind Australia's answer to Amazon and
eBay?
business
Matt Barrie is the founder and CEO of Freelancer.com. Source:News Corp Australia
IT'S Australia's answer to Google - with plans for world domination to match.
Now Matt Barrie, the founder of employment outsourcing firm Freelancer has
predicted his business will enjoy growth similar to that of web giants eBay and
Amazon.
The company was formed in 2008 in a granny flat and describes itself as the world's
biggest outsourcing site, allowing users to get complex work like web design and
accounting done by workers in developing nations.
It has around nine million users at present, with Barrie ranked number seven on the
BRW Young Rich list with a fortune of $185 million.
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2. 13/05/2018 Freelancer.com is the biggest Aussie company you've never heard of
http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/freelancercom-is-the-biggest-aussie-company-youve-never-heard-of/news-story/0f63cd002f252893fbbbdb3c8c339ec7
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After knocking back a takeover bid of more than $400 million from a Japanese
company, Freelancer.com listed on the sharemarket in what has been described by
Quartz as "the most significant IPO of 2013".
The stellar debut means it's now valued at around $700 million with Barrie's personal
stake rising to $320 million BRW reports.
However Mr Barrie dismissed a suggestion Freelancer could be facilitating
exploitation in poorer countries, telling the ABC it's "completely the opposite".
"The freelancers on the marketplace are the elite of the elite of the elite in their
countries: they are technically literate, they have access to the internet and their
wages are orders of magnitude higher than what they would earn locally."
Mr Barrie predicted a global market for services would emerge in five to 15 years in
the same way Amazon and eBay sparked a worldwide demand for the online sale of
goods more than a decade ago.
"This is all playing out again in the developing world," he said.
"There's going to be a huge future here."
Freelancer does not advertise full-time, contract or manual trade jobs, but instead
brings together buyers and sellers of computer-literate labour for short-term projects.
The company's shares more than tripled to $1.60 on the day the company floated in
mid-November.
But at the end of last week, Freelancer lost 8.5 per cent, or 5.26 per cent, to $1.53
even though the broader Australian share market ended a four-day losing streak.
###
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