Steady is a web and
mobile app
A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...
lication that lets users access a platform listing part-time, hourly and on-demand work opportunities. Listings are customized according to a user's geographical location and skills.
Steady Platform, Inc. was founded in 2017 in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
. CEO Adam Roseman says he came up with the idea for the platform with co-founder Michael Loeb after analyzing statistics on the transition of full-time employees to part-time work. The Steady platform aims to help independent workers find new income streams and manage their earnings so they do not have to rely on high-interest credit, according to Roseman.
The company released its application in 2018. The application is available online, as well as on Apple's iOS and Google's Android platforms. Currently, Steady's platform only lists employers in the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
.
Service
Steady can be accessed via the company's website or application. Web users are asked for their five-digit
ZIP code and to fill out a brief survey. They are then connected to an online platform where they can view and sign up for various work opportunities. Companies listed on Steady's platform include
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...
,
Target
Target may refer to:
Warfare and shooting
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artille ...
and
Instacart
Maplebear Inc., doing business as Instacart, is an American retail media and delivery company based in San Francisco that operates a grocery delivery and pick-up service in the United States and Canada accessible via a website and mobile app. ...
.
Steady includes an income tracker to help users monitor their different income streams and total monthly earnings. The application also offers discounts for registered application users at partnering pharmacies and retailers.
History
Steady Platform Inc. was founded in June 2017 by Adam Roseman, Michael Loeb and Eric Aroesty. In a September 2018 interview with the Ready. Set. Work
podcast
A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...
, Roseman said the idea came after he and Loeb reviewed reports on the changing
labor market
Labour economics seeks to understand the functioning and dynamics of the Market (economics), markets for wage labour. Labour (human activity), Labour is a commodity that is supplied by labourers, usually in exchange for a wage paid by demanding ...
and the millions of Americans with
consumer debt
In economics, consumer debt is the amount owed by consumers (as opposed to amounts owed by businesses or governments). It includes debts incurred on purchase of goods that are consumable and/or do not appreciate. In macroeconomic terms, it ...
. He said the company is “focused on helping individuals who either currently have more than one source of income or those who are requiring a second source of income for one reason or another.” Another inspiration, according to Roseman, was his 71-year-old father's efforts to keep living costs low and search for additional
retirement
Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload.
Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...
income.
In September 2017, Steady received support from non-profit startup
accelerator Fintech71. In October 2017, it won a competition the Startup Pitch at the Money 20/20 conference in 2017 in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
receiving an award of $40,000.
In an interview with Money 20/20, Roseman said the company's “focus is on delivering to what’s going to be more than half of the workers in the U.S., and the ability to create steady income for themselves.”
A
beta version
The software release life cycle is the process of developing, testing, and distributing a software product (e.g., an operating system). It typically consists of several stages, such as pre-alpha, alpha, beta, and release candidate, before the fi ...
of the app was launched in April 2018 and the application has been downloaded by over 200,000 users.
Investors
The company received seed funding from Michael Loeb in July 2017. Most recently, the company raised $9 million in
Series A round
A series A is the name typically given to a company's first significant round of venture capital financing. It can be followed by the word round, investment or financing. The name refers to the class of preferred stock sold to investors in excha ...
funding in August 2018. Series A investors in the company include 25Madison, Abstract Ventures, Commerce Ventures, Propel Venture Partners, Clocktower Technology Ventures and
Omidyar Network
Omidyar Network is a self-styled "philanthropic investment firm," composed of a foundation and an impact investment firm. Established in 2004 by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, Omidyar Network has committed over US$1.5billion to no ...
, an investment firm headed by billionaire and
eBay
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
founder
Pierre Omidyar
Pierre Morad Omidyar (born Parviz Morad Omidyar, June 21, 1967) is a French-born Iranian-American billionaire and the grandson of General Mahmud Mir-Djalali. A technology entrepreneur, software engineer, and philanthropist, he is the foun ...
.
In August 2018, former basketball player
Shaquille O’Neal also invested in Steady. O’Neal serves as an advisor and advocate for the company. At the 2018 Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, O’Neal discussed his investment with Steady. “Everybody wants to work,” he said. “And it shouldn’t be hard to do that.”
[{{Citation, last=Steady, title=Shaquille O'Neal Invests with the Steady App, url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFMjHLNjx4M, access-date=2018-12-20]
References
Online marketplaces of the United States
Freelance marketplace websites
Internet properties established in 2017
Companies based in Atlanta
Employment websites in the United States