Lemon.io waives its fees to connect crisis-hit startups to top developers for as little as $25/hr

KYIV, Ukraine - April 6, 2020 - PRLog -- The outbreak of COVID-19 has wreaked havoc across many industries globally, forcing a large number of startups to put their development plans on hold as they enter full survival mode. What's more, as a result of the general downturn, freelance programmers and outsourcing teams are losing projects, leaving them with increasing amounts of spare time on their hands.

Lemon.io, a platform that matches tech startups with the best software developers, has come up with a way to bridge the gap and help the affected startups to keep fighting in times of uncertainty. The solution is twofold:

1. The platform will forgo its fees completely for two months for startups hit hard by the crisis and those pitching in to fight the pandemic.
2. The developers on Lemon.io will support the initiative by lowering their own rates by at least 33 percent.

"We've had many conversations with freelancers and startups over the past weeks and realized that they all had essentially the same problem, which we can solve," said Aleksandr Volodarsky, founder and CEO of Lemon.io. "We're a startup ourselves, and we know how important it is to keep building your product in the toughest of times. So we've waived our own fees and turned to our developer community, convincing them to bring down their hourly rates for the clients who need it most."

A curated marketplace for startups on one side and vetted software developers and firms on the other, Lemon.io has already attracted over 350 professionals and teams from across Eastern Europe.

The average hourly rate on Lemon.io is about $45, but for startups affected by the coronavirus crisis, it's going down to approximately $25 for the first two months on projects of 200 hours and longer. This is a no-strings-attached offer that doesn't require the customers to stay on the platform after the normal rates kick in.

In no way do lower rates mean lower quality, however. The platform's strict selection process consists of multiple steps: an English language and portfolio assessment, a reference check, a skills test, and a personal interview. Only three out of ten applicants get accepted on Lemon.io on average.

It only takes up to 24 hours to find a perfectly matched developer who will get things up and running. Startups can apply to get lower rates on https://lemon.io/dontpanic/.