- Charging regular cost of US$ 20 for piano,  , US$ 40 for team
- Model is expected to remove the need for skill to keep the platform ,  ,
” You are the one delivering the job, you should get paid the full amount for that work”, said Rashvin Pal Singh, team CEO of Mereka, an education tech company.  ,
He refers to knowledge-based gig workers rather than delivery and rideshare, where the business models of platforms like Upwork and Fiverr are set to take a cut, ranging from 10 % to 20 % from each job the workers receive through the platforms. One platform, Toptal which connects businesses with software engineers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers, charges up to 40 %.  ,
With the launch of its subscription-based skill marketplace platform in June, where talent do not have to give the platform for the number of work they get, Rashvin found this to be fundamentally unjust because” the person delivering the service is the expert, but the system as an entity takes a big slice of their income.” Rather users pay a US$ 20 ( RM88 ) monthly fee for individuals or US$ 40 ( RM176 ) for teams. ” You pay us for access, versus the other way around where you come on board the platforms for free, but they keep taking 20 % to 40 % of what you earn” . ,
Mereka has launched an ownership fundraising strategy on pitchIN with the aim of raising RM1.5 million in addition to the launch of the skills system. As of 6 Nov, it has reached RM800, 700, primarily from existing owners from its 2018 battle that raised over RM1.6 million.  ,
]RM1 = US$ 0.227]
The money will solve Rashvin’s two main issues. Finding the balance between having an impact and being equitable while simultaneously addressing its individual business needs is a high wire work, like all socially-driven effect companies. If the money is depleted, it will work as a security net.
The second is that a seven-person software team requires ongoing investment in software development in order to achieve long-term results as opposed to balancing cash circulation for the current year.  ,
” We want to improve our technical advancement”, Rashvin said.
Having said that, Mereka has had a positive cash flow for the past three decades.
changing the subscriber type
To be sure, when the program initially launched in 2021, it did not begin with the subscription model. Although it provided career matching and training programs, it primarily served as a resource management platform that made it possible for users to book both the Mereka training programs and the huge makerspace’s rental facilities. Additionally, it partnered with Taylor’s University and a few TVET/vocational center in Kuala Lumpur to record their services for rent.  ,
Because it posed the least obstacle to entrance and was the norm in the market, it decided to adopt the commission model.  ,
Despite seeing 220, 000 learners access various courses ( from 2021 to 2023 ), 80 % of those who attended the Skills for Jobs Indonesia program with Mereka serving as implementing partners had a bad year.
Rashvin even noticed the problem with all programs that match gig workers to jobs, with employees leaving the platforms to deal with clients immediately. ” There was no commitment to the systems, but I understood this”, said Rashvin. The problem with transaction-based models is that once you start finding a few projects on the program, you will typically find a way to keep because you would like to avoid paying the fee per job.
The subscription design, which allows ability to retain all of their earnings, not only generates good publicity, but it also helps to foster loyalty and lessens the likelihood of talent wanting to deal with clients outside of their own country.
” We will also continue to add value to our customers by providing them with access to our university courses and putting them in work via our work board. We can stick to our motto, “Skills to Income,” by strengthening our brand and making the system more equal, said Rashvin.
The phrase “expert” is used to describe the skills is intentional because the market does not only target knowledge employees but also those who are experts in their fields, ex-craftsmen, even though this group only accounts for 5 % of the ability.
With the job market in Southeast Asia valued at US$ 3 billion, said Rashvin, Mereka is targeting to sign-up 50, 000 authorities on the software over the next eight years.
The discrimination in compensation between workers and knowledge-based job
Rashvin, a co-founder and CEO of Biji-Biji Initiative, was first exposed to the unfairness of compensating skills. Biji-Biji, a social organization founded in 2013 by some companions, focuses on sustainable development through education and technology in Malaysia.
During the first three years of Biji-Biji, although they were doing production work like woodworking, metal fabrication, handmade bags for women, the challenge faced was being valued as mere’ labor’ work. They were not being compensated fairly for what Rashvin claims was skilled labor that was being paid between RM100 and RM150 per day.
He only realized this when Biji-Biji began providing educational programs in 2015 and this realization only hit him. We realized that customers who were learning from instructors were receiving RM150 to RM200 per hour, as opposed to the same rate per day for any production work, according to Rushvin.
Mereka, a division of Biji-Biji Initiative, established as a result of this glaring pay gap in 2017, which aims to provide higher-quality education and coaching to businesses.  ,
Seven years later, Mereka has evolved into a talent development ecosystem that trains artists, professionals, and businesspeople for the future of the workforce. Through our talent marketplace, Rashvin stated,” We give our learners access to digital entrepreneurship content and opportunities to make money,”
He anticipates a positive response from the market for the model. Because the money is yours, there is no incentive for you to transact off-platform. ”  ,
He anticipates the business to be viable because Mereka will earn recurring income while talent who joins the platform will have access to two things: ongoing income-generating opportunities and job opportunities ( which they have to pay for ).
Mereka will launch a free tier in January, where users can access the platform’s digital content but not its income-generating opportunities.