Former Birchwood High School and Hockerill Anglo-European College student Karl Swanepoel successfully launches Revolancer platform for freelancers with digital skills

A former Birchwood High School student has successfully launched his online business which matches talented freelancers with start-ups seeking digital services.

Karl Swanepoel developed the Revolancer platform - formerly Topwork - to remove the barriers of entry to starting and growing a business online and earning a remote income.

It connects entrepreneurs and small business owners with talented, remote-working freelancers and students whose specialisms include, but are not limited to, graphic design, writing, programming and media.

Swanepoel secured a £13,000 investment for his business earlier this year after winning the InvEnterPrize - one of the biggest student enterprise competitions in the UK - run by Aberystwyth University, where he has just completed a computer science degree.

Now working on the project full time, the 22-year-old has attracted well over 100 users to the platform and has given vouchers to more than 30 businesses, funded through part of the award cash.

He has also expanded his team by taking on advisor Mat Braddy, who was formerly the chief marketing officer at Just Eat.

"My goal with Revolancer is to build a platform that freelancers love using, complete with everything they need to manage their work remotely," said Swanepoel.

"We're currently implementing new features for this, including an integrated video chat and calendar system, and we're just about to start raising a pre-seed funding round."

Swanepoel was a teenage entrepreneur who started trading online while studying for his GCSEs at Birchwood and taught himself to code and build websites to supplement his pocket money.

He began carving out a career as a digital marketing specialist working with clients including the NHS, and his work led to him becoming the youngest ever ambassador of the Great British Business Show at the age of 15.

Swanepoel, who attended sixth form at Hockerill Anglo-European College, was appointed chief marketing officer of a seven-figure social media marketing company based in Germany by the age of 16 and acknowledged as a social media influencer.

Find out more at https://revolancer.com.