Meet Unbench, Startups of the Year 2024 Nominee

Hey Hackers,

Unbench has been nominated in HackerNoon's annual Startups of The Year awards in Clearwater, FL, North America.

Please vote for us here:

Meet Unbench

Unbench is an innovative platform designed to connect tech companies with top-tier development teams from around the world. We focus on helping businesses scale efficiently by matching them with highly skilled developers who are available immediately. By leveraging a growing network of tech contractors, Unbench enables companies to quickly fill critical gaps in their projects, speeding up delivery times and reducing costs without compromising on quality.

How Unbench achieved product-market fit

Unbench has achieved product-market fit by addressing the key pain point faced by growing tech companies—scaling their development resources without the time and overhead of traditional hiring processes. We recognized that companies, especially scaleups, often struggle to balance the need for flexibility and quality when it comes to tech talent. Our platform provides an agile solution that connects them with vetted development teams that can step in and hit the ground running.

Several key indicators demonstrate Unbench’s solid product-market fit:

• High Developer Availability: 71% of developers on Unbench are available ASAP at competitive rates, offering companies a cost-effective alternative to full-time hires or expensive agencies.
• Diverse Client Base: Unbench has attracted clients from high-growth tech companies across the USA, UK, Germany, France, Canada, and Eastern Europe, showing its appeal across different geographies.

The evolution of Unbench

Unbench’s journey began with the simple idea of connecting tech companies with pre-vetted development teams. Early on, we focused on ensuring that we built a robust and trustworthy pool of tech companies. But as we gained more users, we realized that companies needed more than just a marketplace—they needed speed and efficiency. As a result, we evolved our platform to offer not only talent matching but also tools for collaboration and communication.

User feedback has been crucial in shaping Unbench’s priorities. For example, clients frequently asked for more sophisticated search filters and better visibility into developer availability. As a result, we introduced advanced filters and an availability tracking system. This has improved user satisfaction and boosted client retention.

Milestones and achievements

2018: Unbench began as a pet project by Kitrum to automate processes and was initially created using Google Site.

2019-2020: Developed a custom solution independently, without using low-code platforms. Onboarded first 100 companies.

2021-2022: Introduced an "Access type" billing system to cover the costs of platform support.

2023-2024: Launched an updated version of the platform under the new brand name "Unbench," and onboarded over 300 new companies.

Unbench was honored with notable awards in 2023 from CSS and Awwwards. These recognitions celebrate our outstanding achievements in design and functionality, underscoring our dedication to providing top-tier solutions and exceptional user experiences.

Lessons learned

One of the biggest challenges Unbench faced was building trust and attracting both sides of the marketplace—the companies looking for developers and the development teams offering their bench developers. Early on, it was difficult to attract companies that needed developers quickly, as well as tech service providers who were willing to list their developers on our platform. We realized that both sides wanted guarantees: companies wanted assurance of developer quality, while service providers needed confidence that the platform could bring them high-value projects.

A related challenge was positioning Unbench as a trusted partner for bench developers from top tech companies. To address this, we focused on curating a strong network of development teams, ensuring that only the most experienced and reliable developers from top tech companies joined our platform. This helped us offer a compelling value proposition for both sides—companies could access high-quality developers immediately, and tech teams could consistently find meaningful projects for their bench talent.

The lessons we learned from these challenges revolved around trust-building and user experience. We found that delivering a seamless experience and providing clear value to both sides of the platform was crucial. To build this trust, we improved transparency by allowing companies to directly see the availability and expertise of the developers, while also offering flexible terms that suited the needs of our service providers. Today, we proudly help companies connect with bench developers from top-tier tech firms, bridging the gap between supply and demand in the tech talent marketplace.

What Startups of The Year means to us

Participating in HackerNoon’s Startups of the Year is an exciting opportunity for us to gain visibility within the global tech community. We hope to share our journey, learn from other innovators, and attract new clients and partners who can benefit from the Unbench platform. Being part of this initiative is also a great way for us to celebrate the hard work of our team and the progress we’ve made, while looking forward to the next stage of growth.

Conclusion

Unbench has come a long way from its initial concept to becoming a trusted platform for tech companies in need of high-quality development resources. We’re proud of our product-market fit, our ability to scale, and the trust we’ve built with our clients. As we continue to evolve, we remain committed to helping businesses grow by providing the tech talent they need, exactly when they need it.

Vote for us today!