The on-demand market is poised to explode with investments in 2015.
[Related: Activist Urges Use of Live Video Streaming Apps in Social Justice Movements]
According to CNET, a new report from data analyst firm CB Insights found that venture funding for the on-demand industry jumped to 79 deals in 2014, with that total reaching $4.12 billion. Those figures come from just 13 investments in 2010 that collectively brought in $57 million.
forwp-incontent-custom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad1">The report adds that this segment of business has taken in $9.4 billion since 2010, with deals growing more than 513% over just the last year, and with 39 deals to date in 2015 totaling $3.79 billion. And it’s only May!
The on-demand market is made up of services such as Uber, with CNET noting the widening array of jobs people are taking on for those willing to pay, such as babysitting, haircuts, food delivery, housecleaning, parking cars and much more. The article also notes that the sector was nearly nonexistent five years ago and analysts predict that it will just continue to grow as more people access these services via their mobile devices.
This news further supports earlier findings that nearly 60% of adults saw access as the new ownership, based on a PwC Consumer Intelligence Series study that was reported in April by USA Today.
And these “digital disruptors,†such as Airbnb and OpenTable, have been embraced mostly by millennials and praised for their “radical cracking open of established markets through the savvy use of cutting-edge technology,†according to an earlier write-up in Forbes.
But while
some have praised the flexibility that they can provide to workers’ schedules, some of these firms have been criticized for not offering quality benefits to the employees who work for them. Some critics have even said that the on-demand economy creates a class of haves and have-nots, further creating a divide between the technology rich and the economically poor. But despite those concerns, investors continue to pour money into on-demand apps and users seem to keep clamoring for more.