Our 100 Top Articles on the Collaborative Economy in 2014

par Marc Arthur Gauthey
This article features the most popular articles and news items that that were discussed and shared in the OuiShare community in 2014.

This article features the most popular articles and news items that were discussed and shared in the OuiShare community in 2014. They have been selected from our Facebook groups OuiShare Global and "en Francais", to highlight the most relevant conversations.

Here are a few insights:

This list is not exhaustive, it rather shows what the OuiShare community cared most about.

Lots of conversations were related to Uber and Airbnb (being the poster children of the collaborative economy, their evolution says a lot about where the sector is heading).

There have been quite a few partnerships between collaborative economy players and incumbents.

Lots of money has been poured into the sector, almost 10 billion USD.

Regulation was a huge topic this year: policy makers are still trying to understand whether they should support or regulate the collaborative economy.

If you don't find them in our list, please share your most important articles of the year with us!

And... Happy New Year, see you at OuiShare Fest !

Ouishare’s 100 top articles on the collaborative economy in 2014 from OuiShare

JANUARY

  • GROWTH. Indiegogo, a crowdfunding platform launched in 2008 in San Francisco, raises $40 million to expand globally. Read more on Mashable.
  • MEDIA. The Guardian launches Contributoria, a collaborative open journalism project. Read More on The Next Web.
  • MEDIA. First International Collaboration Day: icollday
  • PUBLIC POLICY. The UK Government organises a working session with various entrepreneurs on the sharing economy at 10 Downing Street. Read more on task hub.
  • UBER. Taxi protests in Paris turn into a "guerrilla warfare" when the taxi drivers attack Uber cars on the freeway. Read More on Rude Baguette.
  • NEWS. Arguing “volunteering is good for your career and your community”, LinkedIn launches LinkedIn volunteers, a marketplace for volunteers. Read more on Techcrunch
  • GROWTH. Zopa, a peer-to-peer lending service, raises $23 million. Read more on Finextra
  • GROWTH. BlaBlaCar acquires a russian player and launches in Russia and Ukraine. Read more on Maddyness.
  • PUBLIC POLICY. The European Economic and Social Committee adopts a new approach towards collaborative consumption. According to rapporteur Bernando Hernandez, “collaborative consumption can meet social needs in situations where there is no commercial interest and it can help, as a for-profit activity, to create jobs". Read more on Collaborative Consumption.
  • UBER. Uber sued for wrongful death over 6-Year-old child. Read more in Bloomberg

FEBRUARY

  • GROWTH. Collaborative fund, a US fund dedicated to collaborative consumption startups (AngelList, Kickstarter and many more), raises a $33 million Fund 2. Read more on TechCrunch
  • PUBLIC POLICY. The French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault hosts a breakfast in Matignon with 12 entrepreneurs coming from the collaborative economy. Read more on Les Echos.
  • PARTNERSHIP. CircleUp, a crowdfunding platform for startup consumer goods, partners with Virgin Airlines. Virgin will use CircleUp "as a way to discover new snacks and drinks that could be served on its flights”. Read more on Techcrunch.
  • GROWTH. Kantox, aLondon-Based P2P Currency Exchange for businesses raises €6.5M Series A. Read more on Techcrunch.
  • AIRBNB. As it had been done for Paris, Airbnb publishes its first impact study in Barcelona, its 4th most visited city, and declares that the community brings 128M€ per year to the city. Read more on Consumo Collaborativo.

MARCH

  • GROWTH. Kickstarter announces they passed $1 billion in pledges. “That’s $1,000,000,000 pledged by 5.7 million people to creative projects.” See their infography.
  • NEWS. Getty Images, the world's largest photo service, starts providing its pictures free of charge. Read more on The Verge.
  • GAFA. Facebook acquires Oculus Rift, a crowdfunded project, for $2 billion. The catch is that the supporters of the crowdfunding campaign don’t benefit from this acquisition. Read more on Forbes
  • INSPIRING NEWS. After the success of Fairphone V1 with 25K phones sold in 2013, the Dutch cooperative announces that 40K persons expressed the wish to buy the next generation of Fairphone. Read more on the Fairphone blog.

 

APRIL

  • OUISHARE. The Sharing Economy, Capitalism's Last Stand? A critical and analytical article by Arthur De Grave from OuiShare. Read the article here.
  • NEWS. Skillshare, a marketplace for online courses, launches a new offer based on a $10 monthly subscription. Read more on Venture Beat
  • GROWTH. For its development in the US and international expansion, Lyft raises $250 million in Serie D at $700 million valuation. Read more on Forbes.
  • AIRBNB. With almost 600.000 offers in more than 150 countries, Airbnb, raises $500 million at $10 billion valuation. Read more on Techcrunch
  • INSPIRING NEWS. Shareable, an online magazine about the sharing economy, launches the Sharing Cities Network, an online hub with over 30 participating cities. Read more on Shareable.
  • UBER. Uber launches UberRush, “a reliable ride for your deliveries” Read more on Uber’s website.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. Denmark. Two politicians allow their personal data to be mapped down to the last detail. Read More on Politiko.
  • PUBLIC POLICY. Spain. The National Federation of Bus Transportation accuses BlaBlaCar of unfair competition. Read more on Collaborative Consumption.
  • MEDIA. Jeremy Rifkin publishes his new bestseller, The Zero Marginal Cost Society. According to the publisher, “he describes how the emerging Internet of Things is speeding us to an era of nearly free goods and services, precipitating the meteoric rise of a global Collaborative Commons and the eclipse of capitalism.” Read more on Macmillan Publishers website.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. Goteo, a Spanish open source and non-profit crowdfunding platform, is honoured as NGO of the Year by the European Civic Forum. Read more on their blog.
  • UBER. CEO Travis Kalanick declares Uber will eventually replace all its drivers with self-driving cars. Read more on The Verge.

 

MAY

  • PUBLIC POLICY. France. A new law about crowdfunding allows companies to raise up to a € 1 million online, instead of EUR 100,000 before. Read more on Crowdfund Insider.
  • OUISHARE. OuiShare organises the second edition of the OuiShare Fest - The Age of Communities - in Paris and gathers more than 1500 people coming from almost 50 countries. Read the recap on Shareable.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. The Net Democracy Foundation and Pia Mancini launch Democracy OS, a platform on which a city, state or government can submit proposals to a vote of the citizens. Read more on Wired
  • MEDIA. The french channel Canal + broadcasts the documentary Global Partage. Watch the video on youtube.
  • PARTNERSHIP. Lyft and Metlife announce their partnership to provide insurance to drivers and passengers. Read more on CNet.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. Leander Bindewald, a 34-year-old Cumbria University PhD student, becomes the first student in the world who pays his tuition fees using Bitcoin. Read more on the Dailymail.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. Scientists from MIT and CERN (Switzerland) create Proton Mail, an encrypted email service to escape surveillance e.g. from the NSA. The project raises $550 thousand on Indiegogo, the initial target being $100 thousand. Read more on Forbes.
  • INCUMBENTS. During the OuiShare Fest 2014, Castorama's CEO Veronique Laury announces that her company will make its expertise and know-how publicly available and create a Wikipedia for do-it-yourselfers. She also announces an upcoming 3D-printing possibility in the branches, and a MOOC on DIY. Read more on l’ADN.
  • GROWTH. Drivy, a French car-sharing startup, closes €6 million Series A fundingand raises $8.3 million from Index Venture and Alven Capital. Read more on Techcruch.
  • RESEARCH. During the OuiShare Fest Javi Creus presents Pentagrowth, the result of a research project carried out by Ideas for changes on 50 digital organizations that have experienced annual growth rates of over 50% for the period 2008-2012, such as Wikipedia, Spotify and Airbnb. See the results.

 

JUNE

  • INSPIRING NEWS. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Motors, announces that all their patents are now open source. Read more on Tesla’s blog.
  • MEDIA. Virgin and Richard Branson publish an infography on Mr. Branson's facebook page which shows how the sharing economy is disrupting old business models : “The rise of the sharing economy is shaking up how business has traditionally been done, resulting in a growing army of new enterprises that do well by doing good…” Read more on the Virgin Entrepreneur website.
  • MAKERS. The White house hosts its first Maker Faire and Barack Obama proclaims June 18 as National Day of Making. Read more on the White House website.
  • AIRBNB. For the first time an Airbnb host is condamned in Paris for illegal subletting. Read more on Le Monde.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. France. After three years in the suburbs of Paris, La Paillasse moves to Paris and opens the first Bio hackerspace of the capital. La Paillasse dreams of becoming the “MIT for Open Source”. Read more on We Demain.

 

JULY

  • GROWTH. To expand internationally, BlaBlaCar closes a $100 million round which becomes the biggest fund raising activity of a french startup. Read more on Techcrunch.
  • NEWS. The Sharing Bros - 3 french students - start a 21.000 km road-trip in the US and Latin America using collaborative services only. Learn more about their adventure
  • GROWTH. In Spain, the startup Traity raises $4,7 millions and declares its wish to become the international standard for online reputation in P2P. Read more on Techcrunch
  • OUISHARE. OuiShare organises its first OuiShare drink in Beirut. See the video.
  • PARTNERSHIP. Hasbro and Shapway launch the Super Fan Art website. They “allow fans to adapt and modify Hasbro brands into new artwork that can be 3d printed and sold via Shapeways”. Read more in Forbes.
  • AIRBNB. Airbnb has a new logo which is soon ridiculed on various social networks. Read more on Digiday
  • NEWS. TaskRabbit pivots and shuts down its bidding system- a move that the community doesn’t really appreciate. Read more on Venture Beat.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. The city of Helsinki develops a ten-year plan to rethink the public transportation system. “Finland's capital hopes a 'mobility on demand' system that integrates all forms of shared and public transport in a single payment network could essentially render private cars obsolete”. Read more in The Guardian
  • AIRBNB. Airbnb announces a partnership with Concur, a SAAS for business expenses, to help business travelers find a room to stay.Read more in Fortune.

 

AUGUST

  • AIRBNB. Sydney. In partnership with Airbnb, Ikea invites customers to sleep in the store for one night. Read more on Mashable.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. Switzerland. Launch of Pumpipumpe, a project encouraging residents to place stickers on their mailbox to denote the goods they’re willing to lend to their neighbors. Read more on Springwise
  • PUBLIC POLICY. A FAA (the US Federal Aviation Administration) ruling prohibits private pilots to publicly offer seats on their planes in exchange for gas money, including via startups like AirPooler and Flytenow. Read more on Techcrunch.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. For the first time in history, a team of independent amateur scientists takes control over an abandoned NASA satellite. Read more on Beta Beat
  • INCUMBENTS. The spanish hotel chain Room Mate Hotels launches Bemate, "a marketplace that connects tourist homes, travelers and service companies".
  • MEDIA. Evgeny Morozov declares : "Don't believe the hype, the 'sharing economy' masks a failing economy". Read it in the Guardian
  • WTF. Launch of Get Blown, a peer-to-peer platform for blowjobs and an "ultimate hook-up experience”. They declare that “it's the collaborative economy taken to the next level!”
  • INCUMBENTS. The french railway company SNCF launches its own ridesharing service IDvroom which focuses on commuting.
  • AIRBNB. Launch of Huntbnb, a service that helps you identify whether your property is listed on Airbnb without your permission. Read more on Business Insider
  • GROWTH. RelayRides (p2p carsharing) raises $10 million after already having raised $25 million in Series B in June 2014. Read more on Techcrunch.

 

SEPTEMBER

  • INSPIRING NEWS. The Ecuadorean government announces its plan to create what it calls the world's first supplemental digital currency issued by a central bank. Read more in the Guardian
  • GROWTH. Uuzuche, one of the earliest P2P car-sharing platforms in China, announces a $10 million Series A investment. Read more on Yahoo Finance.
  • NEWS. In Denmark, GoMore launches its new leasing concept: lease a car for 6 months, rent it out 8 days of each month when not in use, to make a full return on your payment. Read more on Arctic Startup.
  • INSPIRING NEWS? Ethereum raises $18,5 million in an independent crowdfunding campaign which becomes the second biggest crowdfunding campaign in the world.
  • INSPIRING NEWS. "What if pharmaceuticals could be Open Source like software?" Doctor Isaac Yonemoto founds Project Marilyn, a California-based nonprofit scientific research institute fighting the high prices of anticancer drugs.
  • UBER. An Uber driver bashes his passenger's head with a hammer after a dispute. Uber refunds the ride. Read more in Forbes.
  • GROWTH. Eatwith, Israelian Airbnb-like startup for home-cooked meals, raises $8 million. Read more on Techcrunch
  • RESEARCH. Crowd Companies publishes version 1.2 of the analysis "A day in the life of Collaborative Economy". Read more on Web Strategist.
  • PUBLIC POLICY. First participative budget in Paris. Check it out.
  • PARTNERSHIP. Toyota and Lyft make their first joint commercial with the theme car DiscoLyft. Watch it on Vimeo.
  • GAFA. Youtube tests a new feature called “Fan Funding”: Fans can now donate money to their favorite channels. Read more on the Next Web.
  • PUBLIC POLICY. The Catalan Competition Authority publishes the study “P2P Transactions and Competition”. The study concludes that "this situation raises a dichotomy for the public powers, that is, to work to make it possible for the initiatives the fruit of this innovation to operate in the market, or to hinder it. ACCO advocates the first option". Read More on Collaborative Consumption or read the full report.
  • BITCOIN. PayPal now allows shops to accept Bitcoin. Read more on Money.
  • RESEARCH. Nesta and Collaborative Lab publish the study : Making sense of the UK Collaborative Economy. Read the study.

 

OCTOBER

  • OUISHARE. The OuiShare project Sharitories launches its first collaborative toolkit for territories in Bologna, Italy. Read More
  • GROWTH. India. Zoomcar, a car rental startup, raises $8 millions to democratize the transportation system in India. Read more on Techrunch
  • GROWTH. Korea. Bain Capital announces a Series A investment of $18 millions in the car sharing company Socar. Read more on Venturebeat.
  • AIRBNB. The hotel lobby in New York initiates a defamation campaign against Airbnb called Share Better.
  • INSPIRING OUISHARE NEWS. Albert Canigueral, OuiShare co-founder, publishes his first book in Spain, Vivir Mejor con menos
  • MAKERS. Autodesk Invests $100 Million Toward The First 3D Printing Fund. Read more on Techcrunch.
  • NEWS. Launch of Juggernaut in San Francisco, the first Uber X incubator for P2P platforms
  • PUBLIC POLICY. Estonia creates the first e-resident status in the world to encourage investments. Learn more.
  • UBER. Uber drivers in New York strike to protest against the decrease of their remuneration. Read more on NYPost.
  • RESEARCH. “Shade of Independance, the new workforce reality”. The consulting firm MBO Partners publishes its annual report ab