The Definitive History: When Was Freelancer.com Founded and How It Revolutionized the Gig Economy

Introduction

The global gig economy is now a multi-trillion-dollar force, connecting talent with opportunity regardless of geography. At the heart of this revolution stands one of the oldest and largest online marketplaces: Freelancer.com.

But tracing the origins of such a massive platform is more complex than simply citing a start date. It’s a story of ambitious mergers, strategic acquisitions, and a visionary founder who saw the potential for a truly borderless workforce.

If you’ve ever searched for remote work, hired a global team, or studied the rise of digital entrepreneurship, understanding the history of this platform is essential.

This deep dive answers the fundamental question: When was Freelancer.com founded? And more importantly, how did its founding change the professional world forever?

Answering the Core Question: The Pivotal Founding Date

While the roots of the platform go back slightly further through strategic mergers, the entity known today as Freelancer.com was officially launched in 2009 by Australian entrepreneur Matt Barrie.

This 2009 launch marked the definitive transition to the centralized global marketplace structure that professionals recognize today. However, to truly understand its establishment, we must look at the digital landscape that preceded it and the foundational acquisitions that built its massive user base.

1. The Pre-Digital Era: The Need for a Global Marketplace

Before the late 2000s, hiring and managing remote projects were cumbersome. Outsourcing was primarily reserved for massive corporations engaging with established foreign BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing) firms. Small businesses and individual entrepreneurs were largely excluded from accessing affordable global talent.

The internet boom of the early 2000s saw the birth of several fragmented, smaller online job boards and escrow services. These platforms proved the concept worked, but they lacked scale, international reach, and robust safety mechanisms.

The industry was ripe for consolidation and professionalization—a gap that Matt Barrie and his team were ready to fill.

The Visionary Behind the Platform: Matt Barrie

Matt Barrie, a highly successful technology executive and investor, recognized that the internet could break down geographic barriers entirely. His vision was not just to create a job board, but to build a transparent, scalable, and secure environment where a freelancer in Manila could compete fairly for a project posted by a startup in London.

He understood that scale was crucial. To build the world’s largest marketplace, Freelancer.com couldn't start from scratch; it needed to acquire existing communities.

2. The Foundation Years: 2007–2009 and the Power of Acquisition

While 2009 is the foundational year for the Freelancer.com brand, Barrie's entry into the space occurred earlier through strategic M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions).

The Precursor: GetAFreelancer

One of the most critical components of the eventual Freelancer.com empire was GetAFreelancer. This precursor platform provided the initial infrastructure and much of the existing user base that would catapult the new company to global dominance.

When the team behind the venture secured and integrated the technology, it immediately inherited a massive pool of users and job listings, allowing the new company to hit the ground running with unprecedented scale.

The Official Launch of Freelancer.com (2009)

The rebranding and official launch of Freelancer.com in 2009 was more than just a name change; it was a promise of a unified, professional, and secure platform.

By this time, the platform already had hundreds of thousands of registered users and had processed a significant number of projects. This immediate market share was key to fighting off emerging competitors in the rapidly growing market. The defining characteristics of the 2009 launch included:

A Robust Bidding System: Allowing freelancers to compete on skills, price, and reputation.

Escrow Protection: Providing security for both the buyer (employer) and the seller (freelancer).

Global Currency Support: Facilitating payments across borders efficiently.

3. The Decade of Consolidation: Rapid Growth and Market Domination

The years immediately following the 2009 launch were characterized by aggressive growth fueled by further mergers and strategic buyouts designed to eliminate regional competition and capture niche markets.

Freelancer.com executed one of the most effective rollup strategies in the history of online marketplaces, absorbing many of its key rivals.

Key Acquisitions That Defined the Platform:

ScriptLance (2012): This was a major coup. ScriptLance was a highly respected U.S.-based freelance marketplace. Its acquisition instantly added hundreds of thousands of skilled professionals, particularly in the software development and IT sectors, significantly strengthening Freelancer.com’s presence in the North American market.

vWorker (2012): Formerly known as RentACoder, vWorker was another significant player, especially known for its structured coding and development projects. Integrating vWorker solidified Freelancer.com’s position as the dominant player for technical sourcing.

Acquisition Spree: Between 2011 and 2014, Freelancer.com acquired more than 15 global marketplaces, including platforms from Poland, Spain, and Canada, strategically consolidating the fragmented international landscape under one umbrella.

By rolling up these competitors, Freelancer.com achieved an economy of scale that allowed it to offer the largest pool of workers and the largest volume of projects compared to any other platform at the time.

4. Going Public: The Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) Listing

A clear sign of the company’s success and maturity came in November 2013 when Freelancer Limited listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) under the ticker FLN.

The Initial Public Offering (IPO) was a resounding success, demonstrating massive investor confidence in the long-term viability of the gig economy model. The IPO valued the company at hundreds of millions of dollars, providing the capital necessary to fuel continued global expansion and the development of new features.

This successful public listing cemented Freelancer.com’s status as a legitimate, high-growth tech company, moving it beyond "startup" status and into the realm of established, publicly traded tech giants.

5. The Economic Impact: Shaping the Gig Economy

The founding and subsequent growth of Freelancer.com did far more than just create a successful company; it fundamentally altered how businesses operate and how individuals earn a living.

Democratization of Opportunity

Before platforms like Freelancer.com, talented individuals in developing nations faced significant hurdles in accessing international, high-paying work. Freelancer.com created a meritocratic system where talent and ratings determined success, not geographical location or networking connections.

This lowered the barrier to entry for millions of people worldwide, particularly in fast-growing markets like India, the Philippines, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

The Rise of the Digital Nomad

Freelancer.com helped legitimize the concept of the "digital nomad" and remote work on a massive scale. By providing guaranteed payment security, dispute resolution, and a centralized hub for project management, it made the leap into full-time freelancing less risky for both employers and workers.

Today, the strategies and structures pioneered by Freelancer.com (including escrow, milestones, and feedback systems) are standard across the entire sector, from specialized coding markets to general creative platforms.

6. Freelancer.com Today: A Legacy of Disruption

More than a decade after its official launch, Freelancer.com remains a dominant force in the global talent market. While the competitive landscape has evolved significantly with the rise of specialized platforms and vertical marketplaces (like Upwork, Fiverr, and various niche sites), Freelancer.com continues to leverage its foundational scale.

The platform boasts:

Tens of millions of users worldwide.

Billions of dollars in total project value transacted.

Millions of projects are posted across virtually every professional category (from graphic design and writing to engineering and aerospace).

The company is constantly iterating its platform, focusing heavily on artificial intelligence tools to improve job matching and integrating new forms of payment to serve its highly globalized user base.

Conclusion: The Date That Defined Digital Work

When historians look back at the origins of the digital economy, they will see 2009 as a pivotal year. When Freelancer.com was founded in that year, it formalized the idea of a truly global, scalable talent marketplace.

Matt Barrie and his team didn't just build a website; they constructed a powerful engine of economic growth that provided a blueprint for the modern gig economy. Its successful integration of competing platforms and its commitment to security laid the necessary groundwork for the remote work revolution we continue to experience today.

For those looking to hire talent or start their own freelance journey, understanding the foundation of Freelancer.com is key to appreciating the opportunity it represents: a global office, accessible to everyone, everywhere.