Micro-jobbing platform, Money for Jam (M4JAM), is looking for a buyer after the company failed to reach profitability within the initial funding timeframe.
M4JAM caused a flurry of online speculation after it told users to cash in their wallets by the end of the month. The two-year-old start-up tweeted: "M4JAM is in the process of restructuring the business. All jobbers: Please cash out the money in your wallet before 31/03/2016."
However, CEO Andre Hugo says this does not mean the business is closing, but is rather a precautionary warning to users in case it has to.
"M4JAM was unable to achieve profitability within the investment time frame. As a result, the board has decided to cease trading and sell the assets to interested parties over the course of the next month," explains Hugo.
"We are in the process of meeting with a number of interested parties currently. If we are successful, the business will be restructured. If not, the business will be closed. Therefore, we are urging jobbers to cash out their wallet balances."
M4JAM breaks down large projects into small tasks so that geographically dispersed people with access to a mobile phone can complete a job quickly and independently in exchange for payment. It runs on instant messaging service, WeChat - one of its early partners and investors.
"While WeChat Africa is willing to make select early stage equity investments into promising start-ups with potentially interesting use-cases for the WeChat Africa platform, WeChat Africa is not a venture capital fund that can provide multiple rounds of equity funding to portfolio companies."
Hugo says the platform has successfully signed up 130 000 micro-jobbers, who have completed over 300 000 micro jobs for more than 137 brands.
"Micro-jobbing as a concept remains a very viable opportunity with the potential to uplift skills and drive a brighter future for all South Africans," says Hugo.
Shortly after M4JAM was launched, Hugo told ITWeb the start-up had exceeded growth targets by well over 300%.
"We put R854 000 into our jobbers' wallets within the first 21 days of business. This is real money going into the economy in increments of R15 to R25," he said at the time. "That's a lot of jobs, proving the demand for this type of platform is very real - where micro-jobbing is an effective mechanism to stimulate the economy."
However, in early 2015, the company ran into trouble after it was hit with an onslaught of complaints from "jobbers" around late - or no - payment for jobs done and a lack of follow-up or support. At the time, the six-month-old M4JAM said it was going through "teething issues" and the problems have since been resolved.
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