Gig Wage founder Craig J. Lewis hopes to create a more convenient payment process for gig workers

Founder of Gig Wage fintech platform, Craig J. Lewis aims to build a payment legacy as he seeks to create a more simplified way to process payroll for gig workers.

Gig Wage was created to address the needs of the underserved 1099 employee or the “gig” worker, which includes freelancers, independent contractors, etc.

“For over a decade, I’ve seen the impact that technology has on the payroll space. After reading an article about the global independent workforce, aka the gig economy, I realized that there wasn’t a payroll space for that group, meaning, people who do work for a company but the companies aren’t really designed or don’t have access to the technology to pay these type of people. These are your freelancers, contractors, 1099 employees,” Lewis said.

According to the Gig Wage team, the gig economy pays between 65 to 75 million people as independent contractors, amounting to almost $2 trillion in transactions. However, the payroll structure is designed to accommodate traditional workers and leaves 1099 workers to lose 2-20 percent of their income.

Gig Wage provides a solution that benefits both traditional employers and gig workers. The platform allows employers to pay 1099 workers

The Black founder has so far raised $13.2 million in funding for the platform and hopes to quadruple the company’s size by the end of 2021.

In an interview with Afrotech, Lewis explained the importance of representation in the venture capital space, and how the industry can correct the misconceptions it has about gig workers. He said there is room for improvement for investors and a lot of “missed opportunities on the entrepreneurial side.”

“I believe that investors are truly missing out on a lot of innovation, ingenuity, and ROI by not investing in more underestimated investors and I think the leading cause of this is not having enough diverse talent on the investor side of the table, although that’s not an excuse,” Lewis told Afrotech.

In October, Gig Wage raised a $7.5 million in Series A round, and raised an additional $2.5 million in January to continue to expand its operations, and create a more reliable platform. The latest funding round brings Gig Wage’s total funding to nearly $10 million.

The Series A round was led by Green Dot, alongside other investors like Continental Investors, Techstars, and Rise of the Rest.

Through the new partnership with Green Dot, Gig Wage will leverage its partner’s banking service platform to offer more enhanced services, including the introduction of a new debit card to provide free withdrawals for users.

“The fast-growing gig economy presents tremendous demand and opportunity for enhanced banking and payments tools and experiences,” said Green Dot CEO Dan Henry.

Lewis hopes to use his banking platform to create an infrastructure that gives every gig worker seamless access to their money. The goal for Gig Wage and Green Dot is to offer the first-ever “comprehensive end-to-end solution for the gig economy.” He seeks to shape the modern financial infrastructure for what he calls ‘Future Work.’