Jade Magnet

Jade Magnet was an online crowdsourcing platform founded in Bangalore in 2009 by Sitashwa Srivastava and Manik Kinra. The business connected companies seeking marketing and creative support with a distributed network of freelancers, professionals, small agencies, students, and technology teams. Its service categories included logo and brand identity work, websites, brochures, print and digital advertising, animation videos, application interfaces, search-engine optimization, social-media marketing, and other marketing collateral. The company developed from an earlier pilot known as creADivity. That pilot tested whether businesses could post creative requirements to a large community of providers and receive competing solutions. After receiving support through The Indus Entrepreneurs' Entrepreneurial Acceleration Program, the founders launched the rebranded Jade Magnet platform on 15 October 2009. The new name was intended to communicate value and attraction, while the logo itself was selected through a crowdsourced design exercise. Jade Magnet initially used an open, contest-based model. A customer could publish a design brief and budget, after which registered providers submitted proposals or finished creative work. The client reviewed the entries, shortlisted submissions, requested modifications where necessary, and selected a winner. The platform established minimum payouts for categories of work and allocated most of the contest budget to the selected provider. This arrangement was designed to make professional creative services more accessible to small and medium-sized businesses that could not afford conventional agency fees, while also creating paid opportunities for independent designers. The company later supplemented the open contest approach with closed groups and delivery-assurance processes. In 2013 it moved toward a managed-crowdsourcing model, in which Jade Magnet curated teams from its provider network rather than simply presenting a broad pool of submissions. The company handled project management, payments, contractual arrangements, and delivery assurance, combining the reach of a distributed creative community with a more managed agency-like client experience. Providers who performed well and received favorable client feedback could become Jade Magnet Champions, a status associated with more regular work. The platform also used appraisals, accreditation, feedback, and skill-development opportunities to manage and develop its provider community. According to the company's historical account, during its first three years Jade Magnet built a network of approximately 8,000 freelancers and small agencies, completed more than 2,000 design and technology projects, served nearly 1,000 customers, and distributed approximately $650,000 in prize money to designers. These figures are historical operating claims rather than current financial disclosures. Jade Magnet also pursued regional expansion through partnerships and joint ventures. In September 2012 it entered Qatar through Mixilion, a Doha-based venture using Jade Magnet's technology and a localized delivery model. In October 2012 it expanded into Singapore and the wider Asia-Pacific region through id8on, a venture with a Singapore technology firm. Other announced relationships included partnerships or collaborations with Wanobe, IndiaMART, Zipdial, Appsfunder, Kuliza Technologies, and NASSCOM-related activities. The platform's technology was described as a cloud-hosted application built with the Symfony framework and a MySQL backend, hosted on Amazon Web Services. Jade Magnet also worked on sales-support and portfolio tools intended to organize creative work by category and cost, help account teams close projects, and showcase provider capabilities. Public reference material records several startup awards and recognitions, including selection for TiE's acceleration program, inclusion in Business Today's list of India's hottest startups, recognition at the Global Technology Summit, inclusion in NASSCOM's EMERGE 50, and selection of an associated case study for business-school publication. Later public material indicates that both founders moved on to other ventures, but it does not establish the company's current operating status.

Jade Magnet originated in an experiment called creADivity, created by Sitashwa Srivastava and Manik Kinra while developing a business model for distributed creative services. The founders, who had been classmates at the Great Lakes Institute of Management, focused on a gap between the needs of small and medium-sized businesses and the economics of traditional advertising and design agencies. Their premise was that a geographically dispersed network of creative professionals could supply useful marketing solutions at lower cost and with greater variety than a conventional agency structure. During the pilot, the company recruited 45 providers and acquired its first five customers. In July 2008, creADivity was selected for The Indus Entrepreneurs' Entrepreneurial Acceleration Program. The program offered mentoring, networking, entrepreneurial role models, and assistance in raising early funding. With this support, the founders developed the commercial platform and relaunched it as Jade Magnet on 15 October 2009. The name replaced creADivity because the earlier name was considered difficult to pronounce and did not clearly communicate the business. The Jade Magnet logo was also produced through a crowdsourcing exercise involving more than 15 design options. The original operating model was contest-based. Customers posted creative requirements and budgets, while registered providers chose projects and submitted designs. The customer selected a preferred entry, sometimes after requesting revisions, and the winning provider received the award. Jade Magnet set minimum payout levels for different categories to preserve provider participation. The platform administered the process and sought to make creative procurement accessible to organizations that lacked the budget for large agencies. Its provider base included freelancers, students, moonlighting professionals, small agencies, and participants from cities outside India's largest metropolitan centers. Jade Magnet expanded its service range beyond identity work into web design, advertising, brochures, animation, application interfaces, digital marketing, and templates for routine business communications. It also developed procedures for recruiting and evaluating providers. Applicants could join the network and receive invitations to projects matching their interests. Strong performance and client feedback could lead to Champion status, while appraisals, accreditation, feedback, and training opportunities were intended to improve quality and engagement. The company experimented with both open crowdsourcing and more restricted delivery groups. By 2013 it had adopted managed crowdsourcing, assembling curated teams from its strongest providers and supervising the work through completion. This approach retained the breadth of a crowd while addressing a common weakness of open contests: the uncertainty over quality, consistency, ownership, deadlines, and coordination. Jade Magnet took responsibility for project management, payments, legal contracts, and delivery assurance, thereby positioning itself between a software marketplace and a creative-services agency. International development followed through partnership-led models. In September 2012 the company formed Mixilion in Qatar, headquartered in Doha, to serve Middle Eastern small and medium-sized businesses with Jade Magnet technology and local execution. In October 2012 it entered Singapore through id8on and used that relationship to support Asia-Pacific expansion. Earlier or contemporaneous collaborations were announced with Wanobe for the United Kingdom, IndiaMART, Zipdial, Appsfunder, Kuliza Technologies, and NASSCOM activities. These relationships were aimed at distribution, cross-marketing, SME digitization, or access to regional business communities. The technical platform was described as a Symfony application with a MySQL database, hosted in the cloud on Amazon Web Services. Jade Magnet also worked on a portfolio and sales-support application that organized prior work by category and price, serving both internal sales needs and public provider showcasing. Historical company material reported roughly 8,000 providers, over 2,000 completed projects, close to 1,000 customers, and around $650,000 in prize payments during the first three years. Public recognition included startup and technology awards, NASSCOM's EMERGE 50, TiE-related recognition, and business-school case-study attention. The available reference material does not provide a reliable current website, ownership record, financial statement, or definitive closure date. It does indicate that Srivastava subsequently moved into financial-services entrepreneurship and Kinra into real estate, but does not document a formal end to Jade Magnet's operations. The brand's present status should therefore be treated as unknown rather than definitively active or defunct.

• 2013

  Shift to managed crowdsourcing

  [1]Jade Magneten.wikipedia.org

  The company moved toward curated teams, stronger project supervision, and delivery assurance rather than relying solely on open contests.

• 2012

  Regional joint ventures announced

  [1]Jade Magneten.wikipedia.org

  Jade Magnet expanded through Mixilion in Qatar and id8on in Singapore, while also pursuing several distribution and cross-marketing relationships.

• 2011

  Technology and startup recognition

  [1]Jade Magneten.wikipedia.org

  The company received recognition including a technology-startup award and inclusion in NASSCOM's EMERGE 50, according to the historical reference material.

• 2009

  Jade Magnet platform launched

  [1]Jade Magneten.wikipedia.org

  The founders rebranded creADivity and launched Jade Magnet on 15 October as an online creative crowdsourcing platform.

• 2008

  creADivity selected for TiE's Entrepreneurial Acceleration Program

  [1]Jade Magneten.wikipedia.org

  The predecessor pilot was selected for an acceleration program that provided mentoring, networking, and support for early funding.

A technology-enabled alternative to traditional creative agencies, intended to give small and medium-sized businesses affordable access to distributed creative talent while providing freelancers and small agencies with paid project opportunities.

• Crowdsourcing marketplace · 2009

  Contest-based creative platform

  The original Jade Magnet service allowed customers to post creative briefs and budgets, then receive competing submissions from registered designers and agencies. Clients could review entries, shortlist proposals, request changes, and select a winning submission. The model targeted affordable creative procurement for businesses that could not use large agencies while offering independent providers access to paid work.

• Creative services · 2013

  Managed crowdsourcing

  Introduced as the company's later operating model, managed crowdsourcing used Jade Magnet's provider network to assemble curated teams of designers and specialists. The company added project coordination, payment handling, contracts, quality control, and delivery assurance, seeking to combine the scale of a crowd with the predictability of an agency-managed engagement.

• Design services

  Brand and graphic design

  Services included logos, visual identities, brochures, stationery, newsletters, emailers, presentation templates, document templates, and other marketing collateral. Work was sourced from the platform's distributed community of freelancers, professionals, and small agencies.

• Digital services

  Web and digital design

  The platform offered design support for basic and dynamic websites, microsites, prototype platforms, application user interfaces, online banner campaigns, and other digital experiences. These services complemented the company's wider marketing and technology offering.

• Marketing services

  Digital marketing and advertising

  Jade Magnet's listed marketing services covered online, print, and outdoor advertising, along with search-engine optimization and social-media marketing. The offering was designed to give smaller businesses access to campaign concepts and production support without commissioning a full traditional agency.

• 2013

  Adoption of managed crowdsourcingStrategy

  Background

  The open contest model provided reach but could leave clients with uncertainty about quality, coordination, contracts, and delivery.

  Action taken

  Jade Magnet began curating expert teams from its provider network and took a larger role in project management, payment administration, contracts, and delivery assurance.

  Aftermath

  The platform moved closer to a managed creative-services model while continuing to use a distributed provider base.

  Source

• 2012

  International expansion through localized venturesStrategy

  Background

  Jade Magnet sought to extend its crowdsourcing model beyond India while adapting delivery to local markets.

  Action taken

  It established or entered joint-venture arrangements associated with Mixilion in Qatar and id8on in Singapore.

  Aftermath

  The arrangements provided a route into the Middle East and Asia-Pacific regions using local delivery and Jade Magnet's technology.

  Source

• 2009

  Rebrand from creADivity to Jade MagnetStrategy

  Background

  The founders determined that the pilot name was difficult to pronounce and did not clearly convey the business.

  Action taken

  They renamed and relaunched the platform as Jade Magnet on 15 October 2009, retaining the crowdsourcing concept.

  Aftermath

  The new brand became the identity used for the company's subsequent platform, partnerships, and market expansion.

  Source

1. 1Jade Magneten.wikipedia.org