The founders of a ‘task app’ helping students to earn money say they will launch in the USA next month.
UniTaskr connects students with employers ranging from Spotify to the NHS, who pay for skills such as digital marketing, design, proofreading and photography.
Joseph Black and Oliver Jacobs have accelerated the app from 4,000 members, 7,000 tasks and £150,000 in work income opportunities created during 2020 to 200,000 members, 190,000 tasks and £10.7 million in opportunities during 2021.
“We’re looking to launch UniTaskr in multiple markets this year, starting with the USA next month,” CEO Black tells BusinessCloud.
The young entrepreneurial duo has secured £1.25 million in funding after scaling its monthly recurring revenue by 1,900% over the last 18 months to six figures. Key to the angel funding was the prior launch of ‘SHOUT by UniTaskr’, a dedicated nano-influencer agency that connects leading brands with tens of thousands of readily engaged students.
Working closely with household names including Iceland, Redbull and Groupon, SHOUT by UniTaskr is fast-becoming an influential agency within the growing, nano-influencer space – recently positioned by TikTok as the largest nano-influencer organisation worldwide with an estimated combined reach in excess of 500 million followers.
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Its next offshoot will be RECRUIT by UniTaskr. “This is our entry into the grad recruitment market, which will help place graduating members of our workforce into full-time work post graduation,” continued Black.
“We’re looking to build our member base to 500,000 total members this year and provide students with in excess of £10m worth of job opportunities.”
Black says its users are incredibly engaged, averaging at 20-25% active monthly users. He points to the experience of single mother Megan, who left university twice – once because of mental health issues and secondly after she fell pregnant – as an example of how the platform can help.
Megan is now in the final year of a drama, film and television degree at Canterbury Christchurch university, juggling being a mum to 11-month-old Eva with her studies. She estimates she’s completed between 30 and 50 tasks, generating around £2,500 via UniTaskr and its new venture SHOUT, which enables her to take part in social media campaigns for major global brands.
Her work has included promotional tasks, working on apps and social media.
Megan said: “In the past I’ve looked for part-time jobs but they had to revolve around studies and childcare so it wasn’t something I had much success with. I feel really lucky to have found UniTaskr because it fits around everything else in my life and I can earn money from home in my spare time.
“Many of the tasks will be social media-based, usually on Instagram, and I can complete the tasks when my daughter has a nap or has gone to sleep in the evening, so it’s perfect.
“I was worried when I left uni that I wouldn’t be able to still apply for the work, but I spoke to the founders and they were really understanding.
“Because they were students and know how challenging things can be, they were happy to talk it through with me and let me carry on, which is very different to how I imagine it might be with a big corporation.
“I’ve also become part of a network of people sharing WhatsApp conversations so I’ve met new people I wouldn’t normally have linked up with.”
Headquartered in London with offices in Manchester, UniTaskr now employs a team of 24 individuals, with five based in India. It is currently recruiting for 10 roles which will take its headcount to 34 by the end of March, with further hires planned for Q3 and Q4.