An online startup makes waves in the professional services market

SkillSetz, an online marketplace that connects buyers and sellers of business and technology services, expects to grow its number of service providers by more than tenfold over the next few months, according to their CEO Mike McCarrick.

SkillSetz, an Illinois-based software start-up specializing in matching consultants, technology professionals and other self-employed service providers with companies looking for help, is making a name for itself in a crowded field. The team’s target is $100 million in project work in 2022.

Matt McCarrick founded SkillSetz in 2018 and launched the online marketplace in January 2021. So far they have three full-time employees and 22 subcontractors, as well as 40 service providers as customers but McCarrick predicts the company will have 500 to 600 by March as well as “a couple thousand” buyers.

SkillSetz has also attracted investment from a bigger company in the same industry, MBO Partners Inc. What attracted MBO to SkillSetz was among other things the open architecture, “streamlined approach” of its system, and SkillSetz’s ability to execute development really fast.

Founded in 1996, MBO Partners says it has served 60,000 independent professionals and 4,000 companies.

There is no lack of platform providers aiming to match independent professionals with organizations that might want their services, including Catalant, Upwork, and Fiverr.

What makes SkillSetz different, according to McCarrick, is that it takes cues from the procurement sector on the one hand and people-oriented services such as the LinkedIn social network on the other. Most competitors, he adds, aim for serving “less-skilled rather than higher-skilled clients.”

Besides a B2B marketplace for service buyers, SkillSetz provides ecommerce storefronts for service providers, and enables direct communication and collaboration between buyers and sellers. Its system manages workflows and generates automated work orders, invoices, receipts, payments, and handles tax and regulatory compliance.

Service buyers typically pay fees starting at $2,500 a month for a basic account, while SkillSetz takes a 5% cut of payments to providers.