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Taskrabbit
View on WikipediaTaskrabbit, Inc. d/b/a Taskrabbit operates an online marketplace that matches freelance labor with local demand, allowing people to find help with tasks including personal assistance, furniture assembly, moving, delivery, and handyman work.[1][2][3][4][5] The company was founded in 2008 by Leah Busque and was acquired by an affiliate of IKEA in 2017.
Key Information
More than 200,000 independent workers use the Taskrabbit platform.[6]
History
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2008 to 2016
[edit]The company was founded as RunMyErrand in Boston in 2008, during the Great Recession, by Leah Busque, a former software engineer for IBM.[3][7] She got the idea to start the company when she needed dog food but didn’t have time to get it herself.[8][9]
In 2009, the company received funding from Facebook's startup incubator, fbFund, and Tim Ferriss became an advisor.[10][8]
In 2010, the name of the company was changed from RunMyErrand to Taskrabbit.[11] The company also moved its headquarters to San Francisco.[12]
In May 2011, Taskrabbit raised a $5 million Series A financing round from Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital, Baseline Ventures, Floodgate Fund, Collaborative Fund, 500 Startups, and Lisa Gansky.[13][14][2] In July 2011, Taskrabbit launched a mobile app for iOS.[15][16][17][18] At that time, the company had 1,500 active taskers.[12]
In October 2011, former Hotwire.com CEO Eric Grosse was named CEO.[19] At that time, the company had operations in Boston, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York City; Chicago; Los Angeles; and Orange County, California.[20][21] In December 2011, Taskrabbit received an additional $17.8 million in a Series B round of funding from existing investors as well as Lightspeed Venture Partners, Allen & Company, and The Tornante Company. It also engaged Michael Eisner as an advisor.[14][22][23] At the time, the firm had 35 employees and generated $4 million in business each month.[2][24]
In 2012, Busque reassumed the role of CEO, with Gross staying on with the company's board of directors, advising on strategy and operations.[25] The company raised $13 million in funding, bringing its total funding to $37.5 million.[26]
In January 2013, the company hired Stacy Brown-Philpot, formerly of Google, as the company's first COO.[27][28] In March 2013, "Taskrabbit Business" was launched. It allowed businesses to hire temporary workers from the Taskrabbit users, with a 26% commission.[29]
In November 2013, the company launched in London, its first international market.[30] Because of declines both in bids and in completed and accepted tasks in the U.S., the company chose to test a new system in London whereby Taskers set their own rates and schedules, and when a new job was posted that matched their profile, the platform would send them an alert. The first to respond got the job.[9][5][31] In London, the results were positive: almost all the company's metrics improved, and the average amount of money that individual Taskers on the platform were taking home increased.[5] In June and July 2014, Taskrabbit began implementing this new format in all markets.[32] The new format was met with significant backlash from the Tasker community.[33][34] Taskrabbit incorporated some of the feedback into an updated version of its app that launched in January 2015.[33] In 2014, Taskrabbit received 4,000 applications to be a tasker; it received 15,000 applications in 2015.[5]
In 2016, Stacy Brown-Philpot was promoted from chief operating officer to CEO, and former CEO and founder Leah Busque became executive chairwoman.[35][36][37][38] In late 2016, Taskrabbit increased its fees by discontinuing its 15% service fee for repeat customers and introducing a 30% service fee for all tasks. It also increased its Trust & Support fee from 5% to 7.5%.[39]
2017 to present
[edit]By January 2017, the company had 55,000 active taskers.[40] In September 2017, the company was acquired by the IKEA Group.[41]
In February 2018, Taskrabbit began operations in Birmingham, Bristol, and Manchester.[42] In March 2018, IKEA launched a furniture assembly service from Taskrabbit in the U.S.[43][44][45][46] In April 2018, the company was affected by a data breach. At that time it had 60,000 taskers and 1.5 million users.[47][48][49][50] In September 2018, Taskrabbit expanded to Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, and other Canadian cities.[51][52] In December 2018, the company launched operations in Brighton, Cardiff, Coventry, Liverpool, Warrington, Oxford, and Reading.[53][54]
In September 2019, Taskrabbit launched service in Paris and followed it with a rollout to other French cities.[55] In October 2019, the company launched in Germany, with operations in Berlin, Bochum, Cologne, Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Krefeld, Monchengladbach, Oberhausen, Wuppertal and the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.[56] Taskrabbit was the subject of a class action lawsuit in which 10,000 taskers alleged that they had been improperly labeled as "independent contractors" rather than employees. On August 17, 2020, the plaintiff was awarded $1.75 million by the court.[57][58]
In January 2020, Taskrabbit launched service in 39 cities in Spain.[59] In August 2020, Brown-Philpot resigned as CEO.[60] Taskrabbit named Ania Smith, formerly of Walmart, Expedia, Airbnb, and UberEats, its new CEO.[61][62] In November 2020, the company launched service in Portugal, with operations in Lisbon, Porto, Braga, Coimbra, and Faro.[63]
In March 2021, Taskrabbit launched in Italy in Rome and Milan.[64]
In May 2022, Taskrabbit announced that it would close its physical offices, including its San Francisco, California headquarters, and transition to becoming a distributed company, with all employees engaging in remote work.[65][66] Taskrabbit launched a global brand refresh, introducing an all lower-case wordmark with two different "a" characters. The company also removed the image of the "rabbit" from its logo and updated its default brand colors.[67][68][69] In July 2022, Taskrabbit launched service in Monaco.[70]
In November 2024, Taskrabbit acquired Dolly, which was a moving services company based in Seattle. The two brands continued to operate separately.[71] In June 2025, Taskrabbit added Partner Pages, customizable landing pages for retailers to offer on-demand services like assembly and installation to customers.[72]
Operations
[edit]Taskrabbit functions as a marketplace in which users seeking help post jobs and workers, called "Taskers", are suggested based on the best fit for rates, skills, and availability.[5] Tasks can include errands, house cleaning,[2] help moving, assembling furniture, and other chores.[73] Users can then select a specific Tasker and send a booking request to be confirmed by the Tasker.[74]
The platform handles payment of the Tasker and allows the user to leave a review or get customer service.[73] Users can also opt to give the Tasker a tip through the platform,[75] with Taskers receiving 100% of tips.[76] Taskers undergo criminal background checks and other screenings when setting up their profiles.[2]
After IKEA's parent company acquired Taskrabbit in 2017, the store in 2018[77] began allowing shoppers to reserve and pre-pay for Taskrabbit assembly of furniture purchases with in-store employees or via Taskrabbit's website or mobile app.[78] In February 2025, IKEA added the ability to book Taskrabbit assembly as part of the purchase process on IKEA's site, rather than routing buyers to Taskrabbit's site.[77]
As of June 2025[update], Taskrabbit operated in eight countries;[79][80] it also operates in all 50 U.S. states.[81]
Reception
[edit]Taskrabbit has been criticized by users and in the media for high fees on tasks; fees added by the platform can be as high as 70% of the original bid. Users of the platform have complained that this contributes to an exploitative attitude by clients using the platform.[82] Taskers have also complained that decisions taken by the platform have detrimental effects on taskers, and leave them no recourse to address their grievances.[83] In 2016, MIT Technology Review wrote about the research related to racial and gender biases in Fiverr and Taskrabbit's recommendation algorithms.[84][85] Taskrabbit's "Happiness pledge" which allows users to claim up to $10,000 for damages caused by taskers has been criticized as deceptive due to numerous exclusions and clauses.[86] The company has also been criticized for its terms of service, which claim indemnity even in cases where a court determines taskers can be legally classified as employees.[87]
In popular culture
[edit]- The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt episode "Kimmy Bites an Onion!" centers on a character creating a song for the service.[88]
- The iCarly (2021) episode "iGot Your Back" parodies the service as PostRabbit.[89][90]
- In Single All The Way, the main character Nick subsidizes his career as a writer by working as a handyman for Taskrabbit.[91]
- In Killing It, a cash-hungry character Jillian works for Taskrabbit.[92]
- In Magic for Humans' "Guilt Trip" episode (aired December 4, 2019), a character telecommutes with a Tasker.[93]
- The Silicon Valley episode "Exit Event" series references Taskrabbit.[94]
- In Girls5eva's "Triumphant Return to the Studio" episode, Dawn searches Taskrabbit for "geriatric button pushers with no opinions."[95]
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