Gigwalk raises a fresh $6M, expands Bing Maps partnership

Temp work marketplace Gigwalk has raised another $6 million.

Gigwalk pairs businesses with short term workers for a wide range of jobs, including mystery shopping, photography, and flier distribution. Launched last year, the company has raised $7.7 million to date, underscoring investor interest in the approach.

Newly-minted CEO Bob Bahramipour says that with the funding Gigwalk plans to expand its marketplace and further the development of its underlying technology, much of which is becoming increasingly data-driven.

That’s key. For Gigwalk, better data means more effective pairing of workers and gigs. This means better experiences, which in turn increases the chances that users will return for more work.

“It’s a positive feedback loop,” Bahramipour said, arguing that it’s this feedback that’s going to be key to continuing and hopefully accelerating Gigwalk’s growth.

Another part of that feedback loop, of course, is cash. While Gigwalk doesn’t plan to announce its latest payout numbers until later this year, Bahramipour did say that the average numbers were increasing on the whole (some payments cap out as high as $600).

Also increasing is interest in the company from Microsoft, which is expanding the Bing Maps partnership it announced last year by hiring 100,000 new gigs in 35 cities. Using Gigwalk, Microsoft has enlisted workers to photograph 3D panoramas of businesses and restaurants, which are then integrated into Bing Maps data.

“We expect to be a major weapons supplier in the maps wars,” Bahramipour said.