Free Kiwi peer-to-peer creative platform launches

1 October 2018

A Kiwi peer-to-peer creative courses platform — which connects people with creative skills to people who want to learn them — is launching today.

The innovative platform is a marketplace that enables people to share their creative passions with their community by listing courses others can sign up for.

The platform, enrichme.io, is a great way for those in creative industries to use their talents to generate additional income.

People who list courses set the price they want to charge. Payments, refunds, notifications, and other course admin is entirely automated by the platform, allowing creatives to focus on what they do best.

What’s more, they don’t have to pay a cent to use the service, with the commission defaulting to 0%.

Wellington-based co-founder Tomas van Ammers says the platform allows people to decide what they think it’s worth, and he hopes it will support the arts in New Zealand while also becoming a self-sustaining business.

“The arts are incredibly important to a well functioning society, and they have been massively underfunded for too long. We are here to provide an alternative to the grants-based funding model.

“We want to bridge the gap between those who want to rediscover their creative side, and those who have held onto it.”

There’s a hugely diverse range of courses currently on the platform, from a $2,000 mandolin making course to a $35 life drawing class.

Teachers are given an option to give back a certain percentage of their revenue to enrichme, but only if they want to.

10% of whatever commission enrichme does make will also go straight back to supporting New Zealand arts charities.

“We want to see the creative community flourish while having enough people paying commissions to support a small but passionate team,” van Ammers says.

van Ammers, whose expertise is in technology, is joined by Sydney-based co-founder Jibran Siddiqi and three other team members.

Everyone in the enrichme team pursue creative projects in their spare time and van Ammers says there’s a growing desire among New Zealanders to do the same.

“People, especially millennials, are becoming more interested in accumulating experiences rather than accumulating things. enrichme makes it easy to find something unique to do with a partner, friends, or just by yourself, and that one-off experience could spark a new life-long passion.”

enrichme is working with creative hub The Big Idea to get its platform in front of as many creatives throughout New Zealand as possible.

“Our message to creatives throughout New Zealand is: ‘Come on board and give it a go; you’ve got nothing to lose.’

“Running courses through our platform is a great way to supplement your income as a creative, while giving your community a unique experience.”

ENDS

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