Rotterdam-based Lance Free, a platform that matches technical companies with technical freelancers, announced on Friday, October 6, that it has raised funding from Eneco Ventures and Zeeland Participation Fund (ZPF) from Impuls Zeeland.
The capital comes as the Dutch company aims to achieve a turnover of over €75M in projects from construction and technical companies by 2026.
Lance Free will utilise the funds to improve its software, strengthen marketing and expand the team.
What does Lance Free solve?
For technical companies, there has been a shortage of technically skilled staff for some time, partly due to the demand for solutions such as solar panels and heat pumps as a result of the energy transition.
This is where Lance Free’s online platform comes into play.
The company connects businesses and freelancers in the construction and engineering sectors.
“Thanks to the energy transition, Lance Free has experienced significant growth recently. Given our ambitious goals and focus on innovation relating to how freelance professionals in the construction and engineering sectors operate, we have decided to accelerate our growth plans. With Impuls Zeeland and Eneco Ventures as partners, we have found a strong combination of capital, expertise, and an extensive network to realise our growth ambitions,” says founder and CEO Oscar Meijerink.
Lance Free: Connecting clients and experts without middlemen
Founded by Oscar Meijerink, Lance Free acts as a marketplace where companies can post their projects, with two available options — projects with an hourly rate and unit-based projects.
The platform automatically matches suitable freelancers to the projects through smart algorithms or actively searches for those freelancers through targeted marketing.
Through the platform, companies and freelancers can collaborate more quickly and efficiently. More than 20,000 self-employed people have already registered on Lance Free, claims the company.
The Investors
Impuls Zeeland helps entrepreneurs, among other things, to finance innovative plans for societal challenges. It is achieved through various funds, including the Zeeuws Participatiefonds fund.
Edwin van Houte, Investment Manager at Impuls Zeeland, says, “Lance Free is a platform with the potential for substantial growth and effectively addresses current developments related to the energy transition and labour market shortages. We are pleased that this promising company is based in the province of Zeeland, and we look forward to working with Oscar and his team and Eneco Ventures to develop the company further.”
Eneco Ventures, a corporate venture capital arm of Eneco, invests in startups & scale-ups that accelerate the energy transition.
Joris de Groot, Eneco director of Home Energy, says, “Eneco is growing fast in installing heat pumps in customers’ homes. Now’ naturally involves a fast and high-quality installation. The professionals we need for this are scarce. That is why we are working hard to find new ways to engage them, and this collaboration contributes to this.”
Read the orginal article: https://siliconcanals.com/news/startups/eneco-ventures-impuls-zeeland-backs-lance-free/
