Ii) Uber (Mobile Application For Car Service Booking)
allows users to hire private cars and their drivers on short-notice via mobile phones. They are not a tech company but a hospitality firm with the traveller being the customer. It started in 2009; now in 115 cities globally with 900 employees; takes 20% commission. But it is facing regulatory issues around safety, non-licensed drivers, tax plus taxi-cab industry protests, eg 10,000 in London (mid 2014). It was valued at US$ 3.5 b (2013)
- 1000tools.com (re-purpose owned assets as a rental service) allows people to rent each other's power tools and equipment that they otherwise would have to buy directly
- Kitchit (professional service provider) allows customers to find skilled chefs to cook meals in their homes for dinner parties
- eBay and Etsy (peer-to-peer asset sales)
- Translators (freelance labour to be exchanged)
- Flatmates (online directory for room share partners) was started in 1997
- Property Collectives (property investment syndicate) was started in 2007