Gannett, McClatchy, Tronc Invest in Moonlighting
Charlottesville, VA (PRWEB) October 06, 2016 -- Moonlighting, one of the fastest growing marketplaces in the gig economy announced today the closing of $2.3M in funding. The strategic investment was led by global news media leaders Gannett, McClatchy, and tronc, Inc. – bringing the company’s total financing to $4.2 million to date. The new financing will help support Moonlighting’s market development and deeper penetration in more than 140 cities nationwide.
“At Gannett, we have a rich tradition of promoting small business solutions that can make a positive impact on people’s lives,” added Gannett’s Chief Strategy Officer, Maribel Perez Wadsworth. “We are excited to partner with Moonlighting and share their mission to help the gig economy thrive.”
In only twenty months since its inception, Moonlighting has created the first digital job exchange where anyone can easily participate in the gig economy. Moonlighting has transformed the way people create jobs, hire and pay for services and is now used by more than 175,000 “moonlighters” across the country. Their mobile platform allows anyone at anytime to connect with their local communities, create their own personalized career plan and conduct payment transactions.
“By investing in Moonlighting, these three industry leaders are showing how committed they are in delivering innovative digital solutions that can help their readers build their own freelance careers,” said Moonlighting CEO and co-founder Jeff Tennery. “For decades, Gannett, McClatchy, and tronc have been at the forefront of creating commerce in their local communities. Now with Moonlighting, they can help millions of people succeed in the new gig economy.”
Gannett (NYSE: GCI) and tronc, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRNC) will join McClatchy (NYSE: MNI), who also invested in 2015, to promote Moonlighting to over 200 million people worldwide.
“McClatchy believes in delivering quality content to people when, where and how they want it -- finding the right person to do a job shouldn’t be any different,” said McClatchy Vice President of Products, Marketing and Innovation, Christian Hendricks. “We are thrilled to welcome Gannett and tronc to the Moonlighting family.”
Each company has agreed to incorporate Moonlighting into its digital and mobile media platform and they will promote through 140 local media outlets including leading news publications like The Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Arizona Republic, Detroit Free Press, the Charlotte Observer and USA TODAY.
“Classifieds remain a key solution we offer to our readers, and our collaboration with Moonlighting represents a radical shift in the job-search experience,” said tronc Chief Technology Officer and President of New Ventures Malcolm CasSelle. “In a gig-based ecosystem, we are taking that solution and putting it directly in the hands of our users on the device that increasingly matters the most: mobile. At its core, this relationship combines content and commerce in an innovative, effective way.”
About Moonlighting
Moonlighting is the first mobile, on-demand solution that empowers everyone to earn extra money and get tasks done instantly. Moonlighting creates a virtual marketplace for individuals and small businesses to hire or be hired right from their mobile device. Through the Moonlighting platform, users eliminate anonymity by posting jobs and sharing their favorite hires within their trusted social networks like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Moonlighting’s ground breaking feature “Moonbeam” is a real time hiring grid that allows users to make more intelligent hiring decisions when looking for professionals in their local area. Using Moonlighting’s proprietary mobile payment platform, users can easily complete hiring transactions worry free. Moonlighting is a privately held; Charlottesville, VA based company built from the ground up for the gig economy. Please visit http://www.moonlighting.com for more information.
Mack McKelvey, SalientMG, +1 (443) 878-5763, [email protected]
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