为小公司而生的律师匹配服务 Lexoo 获 40 万美元融资
在我自己的创业冒险旅程中，我得出了这样一条结论，无论你是成功还是失败，肯定能赚钱的只有两种人，云服务提供商和律师。关于前者，价格和竞争形势都相当的透明。然而律师费就远非如此了。这正是英国创业公司 Lexoo 正在着手解决的问题。
为了帮助实现这一愿景，这家提供了自称为“律师匹配”服务的伦敦公司刚刚完成了 40 万美元的种子轮投资，投资方为 Forward Partners——一家 由尼克·布里斯伯恩（Nic Brisbourne）领导 的风投公司及创业公司“工厂”——以及乔纳森·麦凯（Jonathan McKay，JustGiving 董事长）。
“对于小公司来说，找到一名优秀律师并在此过程中不挨宰是件难事，”Lexoo 联合创始人兼首席执行官丹尼尔·范·宾斯伯根（Daniel van Binsbergen）解释道，此前他曾是一位专注于金融与并购领域的律师。“名牌律师事务所通常都很棒，但管理费用繁杂，因此每小时收费很高。对于小公司而言，很难知道哪一位律师真的能干，是否擅长这一领域。最后，如果你采用一名推荐律师的话，很难判断你给出的价格是否合理。”
为了解决这一难题——可以将此视作网络将市场变得更加高效透明的经典案例——公司可以根据工作类型需求，通过 Lexoo 平台获得一批精选律师队伍的多方报价。在 Lexoo 平台发布工作后，你会从多个胜任该工作的律师收到富有竞争力的报价，通常在 24 小时内。
“我们确保只有真正擅长于特定法律领域的律师才能为某件工作报价，每一位律师加入平台之前，我们都会对他进行面试，”范·宾斯伯根说道，“客户可以将报价和律师履历进行比较，做出更加明智的决定。我们的卖点在于，帮你找到曾在大型律师事务所摸爬滚打的资深律师，只不过他们现在因为生活方式的原因选择在家工作或者在小公司工作。这一点使得他们的常规报价只有之前每小时费用的一半左右。”
为此 Lexoo 不收取客户费用，不过律师需要将任何通过这一平台拿到的工作报酬的 10%作为佣金付给这家创业公司。
Lexoo Scores $400K For Its Lawyer-Matching Service For Small Businesses
During my own startup adventures, I came to the conclusion that, succeed or fail, the only people guaranteed to make money are cloud providers and lawyers. With regards to the former, pricing and competition is fairly transparent. But legal fees, not so much. That’s the problem UK startup Lexoo has set out to solve.
To help with that mission, the London-based company, which offers what it calls a ‘lawyer-matching’ service, has just scored a $400k seed round from Forward Partners — the venture firm and startup ‘foundry’ headed up by Nic Brisbourne — and Jonathan McKay (Chairman of JustGiving).
“It’s difficult for small businesses to find a good lawyer and not get overcharged in the process,” explains Lexoo co-founder and CEO Daniel van Binsbergen, who previously worked as a lawyer focussing on finance and M&A. “Brand name law firms are usually great but have a lot of overheads and therefore high hourly rates. With smaller firms it is hard to know which lawyers are actually good and specialised. Finally, if you go with a recommended lawyer it is hard to judge whether the price you are quoted makes sense or not.”
To tackle this — in what can be considered a classic example of how markets can be made more efficient and transparent by moving them online — Lexoo enables businesses to get multiple quotes from a curated line-up of lawyers, based on the type of work required. After posting a job, you receive multiple and competitive quotes from the qualified lawyers on the platform, usually within 24 hours.
“We make sure that only lawyers who are actually specialised in a certain area of law are invited to quote for a job and we screen and interview every single lawyer before they can join the platform,” says van Binsbergen. “Customers can then compare the quotes and lawyer profiles and make a much more educated decision. Our sweet spot is finding lawyers who trained at the largest firms but for lifestyle reasons are working at home, virtually or in a small office. This enables them to usually charge only 50 per cent of their previous hourly rates.”
To that end, Lexoo is free for clients, but lawyers pay the startup a 10 per cent commission on any work they obtain through the platform.
来源：techcrunch
关注员工健康是趋势 促进企业员工运动的应用 Yomp 完成种子轮融资
位于伦敦、此前名为 PleaseCycle 的健康创业公司 Yomp 已从 5 名天使投资人处融资 31.5 万美元（20 万英镑）。该公司将利用这笔资金去拓展其健康平台，这一平台帮助企业员工以游戏的方式形成良好的健康习惯。
Yomp 的平台设计能鼓励企业员工参与运动，从而提高效率，降低缺勤率，让你能喜欢你的老板。
Yomp 的移动应用能记录距离，追踪数据，帮助用户组建团队，设置目标，并赢得积分。这就像是健康市场的 AirMiles。这些数据随后可以换取在线折扣券，奖励，或是向慈善组织的捐款。
已签约使用该应用的公司包括电通安吉斯传媒、彭博社和 EDF Energy，前者已经在 9 个国家部署了这款应用。
Yomp 现年 26 岁的创始人及首席执行官莱伊·摩根（Ry Morgan）表示：“我们此前一直小本经营，利润微薄。不过目前，随着资本的注入，我们将推动业务向前发展。”
Yomp 的竞争对手包括 Global Corporate Challenge、Keas（谷歌前高管创立的一家公司，已实现高速增长）、EveryMove、GetHealth、MaxwellHealth，以及 Challenge forChange / Love2Ride。
这些“量化自我”公司也开始探索 B2B 市场，例如 Jawbone 近期推出 了“Up for Groups”。
传统的员工福利及医疗健康提供商也来到了这一市场，不过它们已经落后，例如 PruHealth 的 Vitality。
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Yomp, An App To Get Employees Fit And Healthy, Raises An Angel Round
Londonbased health startup Yomp, formerly known as PleaseCycle, has raised $315,000 (£200,000) from five angel investors, to expand its heath and wellness platform which ‘games’ company employees into healthy habits.
Yomp’s platform is designed to encourage physical activity amongst a company’s employees, helping to increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and make you like your bosses (ok, maybe not that last bit).
A mobile app logs trips, tracks stats, lets you form teams, set goals and earn points – like an AirMiles for being healthy. These are then used to get online discounts, win prizes, or give donations to charity.
Companies signed up to use the app include Dentsu Aegis Media, Bloomberg and EDF Energy, with the former deploying it in nine countries.
Ry Morgan, Yomp’s 26 year-old Founding CEO, says, “We’ve built everything to-date on a shoestring and retained profits, but we’re now at a stage where an influx of capital will help drive the business forward.”
Competitors to Yomp include the incumbent in the space, Global Corporate Challenge, Keas (ex-Google founders with huge growth), EveryMove, GetHealth, Maxwell Health (bigger remit but similar budgets) and Challenge for Change / Love2Ride .
The QS companies are also starting to explore the B2B space, such as Jawbone’s recent launch of “Up for Groups”.
Traditional employeebenefit and healthcare providers are also in this space too, although they’re lagging behind, such as PruHealth’s Vitality.
来源：techcrunch
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