The Riveter has a taken on another champion for working women with the acquisition of a marketplace platform originally geared toward freelancing moms.
Brooke Markevicius is now chief product officer at The Riveter. Her Durham, N.C.-based company, Allobee, was acquired earlier this year and is now Riveter Work.
The marketplace, founded with mothers in mind, has expanded to include various types of freelancers and consultants, as well as part-time executives, according to Amy Sterner Nelson, who founded The Riveter in Seattle in 2017 as a network of women-oriented co-working spaces.
Nelson said that unlike other companies such as Upwork or Fiverr, talent is not forward-facing on Riveter Work. A proprietary matching algorithm connects users to vetted, expert freelancers.
“It’s simple and fast, and we have a time tracking and reporting feature that allows companies to easily manage projects and get insights into the business,” Nelson said. “It’s a more curated experience than the current offerings on the market — and one that brings together the best of an agency, a work marketplace and freelance management tools.”
During her time in Seattle, Markevicius was an original member of The Riveter, and she told Durham’s Triangle Business Journal the company was one of her early inspirations. She kept in touch with Nelson when she moved her company to North Carolina.
“I really admired that even during the pandemic when they had to shut down their co-working space and pivot the company, she kept it alive,” Markevicius told the Journal.
The pandemic was especially hard on co-working spaces. Among the Seattle area’s co-working casualties were Impact Hall, Atlas Networks, Galvanize, Hing Hay Coworks, Ballard Labs and Office Nomads. More than 800 co-working spaces permanently closed their doors nationwide, according to Upsuite, a flexible office space provider.
After shuttering its spaces, The Riveter’s pivot included focusing on its online community and newsletter. Last year, the company launched a Riveter Spaces initiative in which it partners with high-end hotels to give its members access to underutilized lobbies, conference rooms and other amenities. Hotel 1000 in Seattle is a partner.
Nelson returned in an executive role as co-CEO alongside Heather Carter, The Riveter’s former vice president of operations. Carter left in 2021 to launch Coterie Works, a hotel co-working startup that The Riveter acquired as the foundation for the new approach.
Nelson said The Riveter recently launched revamped memberships for the first time since its doors shut in March 2020. The memberships are the company’s core revenue driver and are “built around the idea of being useful to working women,” she said.
Members get access to a private digital community, office hours and Riveter Build microcourses, in which experts teach on topics such as fundraising, setting prices, podcasting and more. Markevicius led a course titled “What You Need to Know (Right Now) About ChatGPT.”
The Riveter raised about $20 million prior to the pandemic, from backers including lead investors Madrona Venture Group and Alpha Edison. The company employs 10 people and a number of freelancers. Markevicius employed a group of freelancers, some of whom transitioned to The Riveter.
“As we build the future of work, we’re trying to model it ourselves by utilizing a flexible workforce that we can scale up and down as needed,” Nelson said.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
