Abundance Labs incubates and builds alternative currency marketplace…
Abundance Labs incubates and builds alternative currency marketplace…
Key people at Abundance Labs.
Abundance Labs was founded by Kjerstin Erickson (Founder/CEO).
Abundance Labs was founded by Kjerstin Erickson (Founder/CEO).
Key people at Abundance Labs.
Abundance Labs is a startup incubator and builder focused on alternative currency marketplace businesses, primarily operating in the cryptocurrency and digital currency space. It was founded to create marketplaces that leverage alternative currencies to facilitate peer-to-peer exchanges and services, aiming to solve inefficiencies in traditional marketplaces by using digital currencies as a medium of exchange. The company notably developed Simbi, a services marketplace powered by a digital currency, serving users who want to trade services without conventional money. This approach addresses problems related to trust, liquidity, and accessibility in service exchanges. Although Abundance Labs showed early promise, it is currently inactive, with its last known operations around 2018[1][2][3].
Abundance Labs was founded by Kjerstin Erickson, who has a background in building digital marketplaces and alternative currency systems. The idea emerged from the desire to create a marketplace that operates on a digital currency, enabling users to exchange services in a decentralized and trust-minimized way. The company was part of Y Combinator’s Summer 2016 batch and was based in San Francisco with a team of about 12 employees. One of its pivotal moments was the creation of Simbi, which became the world’s largest services marketplace run on a digital currency, highlighting early traction in the alternative currency marketplace niche[2][3].
Abundance Labs rode the wave of growing interest in cryptocurrency and decentralized marketplaces during the mid-2010s, a period when blockchain and digital currencies were gaining mainstream attention. The timing was significant as it aligned with the broader trend of leveraging blockchain to disrupt traditional financial and service markets by enabling peer-to-peer transactions without intermediaries. This positioned Abundance Labs as an early player exploring how alternative currencies could reshape marketplaces and service economies. Their work contributed to the ecosystem by demonstrating practical applications of digital currencies beyond speculation, focusing on real-world service exchanges[1][2][3].
Although Abundance Labs is currently inactive, its early efforts with Simbi and alternative currency marketplaces laid groundwork for future innovations in decentralized service economies. The ongoing rise of blockchain, decentralized finance (DeFi), and token-based marketplaces suggests that the core ideas Abundance Labs explored remain highly relevant. Future trends such as AI-enabled marketplaces and more sophisticated digital currency ecosystems could revive and expand upon the concepts pioneered by Abundance Labs. The company's legacy underscores the potential for alternative currencies to create new economic models in the digital age[3][7].
