Gigster Expands into the Enterprise with Key Executive Hire

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Gigster, an on-demand software development platform, today announced that Richard Akers, former Informatica and HP Software executive, will join as the company's senior vice president of partnerships to help address the increased demand for access to high quality, on-demand software development within the enterprise sector.

Founded in 2014, Gigster has grown to a network of over 1,000 freelance engineers, software developers, designers and product managers, culled from the top 1 percent of applicants. To support its expansion efforts, Gigster also has a core team of over 40 full time employees. In the last year, Gigster has seen unprecedented momentum in the enterprise sector as more Fortune 500 companies see the benefits of distributed teams for software development. In the last 12 months, Gigster saw a 400 percent year-over-year customer growth rate, and signed over 25 enterprise customers, including PepsiCo, IBM, US Bank, MasterCard and eBay.

Richard Akers brings over 25 years of business and corporate development experience at the world's largest technology firms. Akers was most recently the vice president of global alliances at Informatica, where he led the data integration company's program focused on systems integration partners. Prior to Informatica, he also held senior leadership roles focused on worldwide alliances at HP Software, Oracle and BEA Systems.

Akers' new role will focus on moving the company's business up market through key alliances with global system integrators, independent software vendors, telecommunication services and public cloud platforms.

"Richard's extensive experience in the global system integrations market and passion for technology make him a natural fit for Gigster," said Roger Dickey, Gigster CEO and co-founder. "Our goal of providing great software on-demand to everyone has lead to an efficient delivery platform that serves Fortune 500s and small businesses alike. We saw tremendous growth in the last year, and it became clear having someone like Richard on our side will allow us to make the strategic partnerships necessary to continue growing in a sustainable way."

"Gigster is well-positioned to be a leader in the software development industry, offering top talent and speed at a fixed cost. I'm looking forward to helping the company establish the vital partnerships necessary to bring the on-demand economy to the enterprise," said Richard Akers, senior vice president of partnerships at Gigster.

In its Technology Vision 2017 report, global professional services company Accenture forecasts a surge in on-demand labor platforms as 85 percent of executives surveyed said they plan to increase their organization's use of independent freelance workers over the next year. Paul Daugherty, chief technology and innovation officer, Accenture, commented, "These moves reflect a larger trend – businesses are transforming their organizational models and the way they manage their people to take advantage of an increasingly digital and on-demand workforce."

About Gigster
Gigster is an on-demand software development platform powered by a network of 1,000+ freelance software developers, engineers, designers and product managers. Gigster was founded in 2014 by CEO Roger Dickey, founder of Mafia Wars, and chief technology officer Debo Olaosebikan, a Cornell University Physics Ph.D candidate. A Y-Combinator graduate, Gigster has raised over $12.5 million from Andreessen-Horowitz, Greylock Partners, Bloomberg Beta and Felicis Ventures. In 2016, the company was named one of Forbes' "Next Billion Dollar Startups." Gigster is located in San Francisco, Calif.

To learn more, visit www.gigster.com.

SOURCE Gigster

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http://www.gigster.com