About LiftOff
Why we built LiftOff
We built LiftOff because we needed it
LiftOff started the way most startups do — with two founders and more ideas than hands. When Wilbur came to Jake wanting to build something together, we kept hitting the same wall every early-stage team hits: there's far more to do than any founding team can do alone.
So we looked at the obvious answer — freelancers — and found the experience was the problem. The big marketplaces felt crowded and overwhelming: endless near-identical profiles, bidding wars, no clear way to know who to trust or where to even start looking. Hiring help was supposed to buy us time; instead it cost us more of it.
LiftOff is the tool we wished existed. Post a task, get matched with a short, curated list of freelancers who actually fit it, and pay through Stripe Connect with the money only released when you approve the work. No noise, no bidding wars, no permanent-hire commitment — just execution.
Who we are
LiftOff was founded in Manchester in 2026 by Wilbur (CEO) and Jake (CTO), and launched in July 2026. We're currently in open beta, building in the open and shaping the product with our earliest startups and freelancers — which is also why early adopters currently pay no platform fees.
What LiftOff is
A task marketplace for startups and small businesses: get real work done by matched freelancers, without the stress of permanent hires or the messy, noisy nature of traditional freelance platforms. Startups we call Drivers; the freelancers who power their growth, we call Accelerators.
Our mission is to give every founder the execution power of a team they trust, one task at a time.