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South African startup Neighbourdo has launched its task marketplace, which allows clients to request for general tasks to be undertaken by “runners”, and provides escrow and scheduling services.

Neighbourdo describes itself as the Uber or Taxify of services.

“We designed the platform to handle basic tasks that fit the format: “go here, do this and that, then go to another location, do this and that”. Examples of Neighbourdo tasks involve asking someone to help you move, someone to fetch or deliver something for you, and similar tasks that have few variables,” Bontle Ragolile, the startup’s chief marketing officer (CMO), told Disrupt Africa.

Neighbourdo only accepts “runner” registrations after individuals pass identity verification checks. Runners then get to set their schedules and rates, though assigners can negotiate with runners within the app.

Ragolile said the gap in the market is the fact that service marketplaces in South Africa are mostly classifieds sections where true identity can never be guaranteed. Meanwhile, there can often be a long time lag between a task being requested and it eventually being performed.

“We are here to disrupt the industry with a product that seeks to enhance the experience using on-demand economy tactics,” Ragolile said.

Neighbourdo is initially launching in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban.

“This is so that we can improve our offering in main centres through safety initiatives such as partnering with security companies to provide emergency assistance in the rare event that something goes wrong,”  Ragolile said.

The startup charges a service fee equivalent to 20 per cent of a task’s cost, and is currently self-funded.

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