Wisconsin-based American Family Insurance (AmFam) has launched a new startup in Chicago that helps match individuals with short-term gig employment.
The insurer launched the on-demand jobs platform Moonrise based on a concept developed by AmFam’s innovation team. The team noticed that the customers of one of AmFam’s subsidiaries – car insurer The General – were having difficulty paying their bills on time, mainly due to the costs. Thus, the Moonrise platform was conceived in order to help customers find flexible, paying work.
“Our workers really value variety,” commented Moonrise co-founder and CEO Kara Kaplan. “They’re not really looking to do the same kind of shift work on a day-to-day basis.”
American Inno reported that, on average, the hourly wage for shifts on Moonrise ranges from $10 to $15. Gig workers signed up to the platform can be paid as soon as 30 minutes after completing a shift, but no later than 24 hours from the time of the job’s completion.
To date, Moonrise has received over 3,000 applications; those interested in applying for a gig job must first submit their work history and undergo a background check to be approved.
Although AmFam is based in Madison, Wisconsin, it chose Chicago as its testing grounds for Moonrise.
“Chicago is viewed as a great city for tech startups,” Kaplan explained. “Not that Wisconsin doesn’t have that, but obviously, Chicago is a much larger market. And due to its close proximity to Madison, it made it an easy choice.”
Kaplan revealed that Moonrise will expand to other states – such as Tennessee and Ohio – by early 2019.
