local-marketplace
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Palm Springs Had Faces. Face Models Built the Rolodex.
A modeling agency is really a machine for reducing uncertainty. Face Models left only a few public clues about its machine - and those clues reveal how a local talent marketplace wins or disappears.
Thumbtack Wants to Be the Operating System for Your House
The local-services marketplace spent years helping people find a pro. Its bigger wager is to become the place homeowners turn before they even know what is broken.
Jingle
Jingle is a Menlo Park marketplace that flips food and services delivery on its head. Instead of the usual model where a courier is dispatched to fetch your order, Jingle runs a 'push' model: mobile stores - shops on wheels - stocked with ice cream, pastries, and services like grooming or knife sharpening drive through neighborhoods and ping nearby users through the app when they roll by. Think ice cream truck, but with software, a map, and a flat $2.99 delivery fee. Founded in 2022 by former venture capitalist Baris Karadogan, the company raised a $2.9M seed round led by Bessemer Venture Partners to help local and artisanal vendors go mobile, reach customers directly, and skip the fees and wait times of conventional delivery apps.