Have a penchant for pomegranates and or a longing to be Lucius Malfoy? You’re in luck – Rewarder, the startup launching Wednesday with a $ 7 million Series A funding round, hopes to make all your weirdest dreams come true.
Part Kickstarter, part TaskRabbit, part reverse-eBay, Rewarder allows users to post things they want and list a price. But it’s not local like TaskRabbit, and people post both physical items they want as well as tasks they want performed, so it goes beyond Kickstarter. Frankly, searching through the listings on the site, which span an incredible range of topics and categories, reminds you of just how weird humans are. A few examples:
- $ 2 offered for a pomegranate sauce recipe (high sugar suggestions need not apply)
- $ 50 offered for help locating an original set of Dungeons and Dragons dice (all pink)
- $ 50 offered to a Navy SEAL willing to help a Navy SEAL hopeful
- $ 50 for someone willing to locate a duck or goose-hunting field in Minnesota (the poster notes that he’s willing to hunt with people of all ages)
- And my personal favorite, $ 2,000 offered for a legit Lucius Malfoy Death Eater Costume (do not bother with your cheap replica suggestions, the poster is onto you)
While the “unique request” section is especially entertaining to peruse, the site, which has been in beta for almost a year now and raised an angel round last November, has popular categories for collectibles, antiques, clothing, lost pets, crime-solving, business advice, genealogy and diet tips. So pretty much any kind of thing people might have trouble locating and would pay someone to help out with.
The company said users have posted $ 10 million worth of requests, although they would not release the dollar amount associated with fulfilled and paid requests so far.
But investors are betting that the site will become profitable, with Granite Ventures and Radar Partners leading the Series A round, which also includes angels such as Ron Conway, David Lee, and Kenny Lerer. Chris Hollenbeck of Granite Ventures and Doug Mackenzie of Radar Partners will be added to the company’s board of directors.
