Futurist > Companies creating the future > 3 expert-network marketplaces and aggregators
3 marketplaces and aggregators reinventing how companies access expert talent
This article is part of a series on AI and expert networks. Read the overview and market trends, 5 leading established expert networks and how they are responding to AI, and 7 AI-native companies reinventing the expert network model.
A second category of player stands apart from the traditional expert-network model. Rather than maintaining a single proprietary pool for short consultations, these companies operate marketplaces, connecting clients with independent consultants for longer project work or aggregating access across several underlying networks. AI here focuses on matching consultants or networks to a client’s need, and increasingly on assembling teams rather than individuals.
The three companies below take different routes. Inex One aggregates access across existing networks and helps clients choose the right provider. Catalant connects enterprises with independent consultants for longer engagements and uses AI to assemble teams. Expert360 operates as a regional marketplace combining human-curated matching with managed delivery.
| Company | Founded | HQ | Scale | Funding | AI signature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inex One | 2018 | Stockholm | 20+ networks | ~$3M | Provider matching, network metrics |
| Catalant | 2013 | Boston | 70k+ consultants | $100M+ | AI team assembly, project scoping |
| Expert360 | 2013 | Sydney | 40k+ experts | Private | Human-curated shortlists in 48h |
Inex One
A marketplace above the networks, matching the brief to the right provider.
Founded: 2018
HQ: Stockholm, Sweden
Funding: ~$3M seed
Inex One occupies an unusual position, operating as a marketplace above other expert networks so clients can compare and access more than twenty providers through a single platform rather than committing to one upfront. It was founded by Max Friberg, formerly of McKinsey and Oliver Wyman, with three co-founders from consulting and technology backgrounds.
Rather than building its own pool, Inex One applies intelligence to a meta-problem, which network and which expert best fit a given brief given cost, speed and compliance. It has also built quantitative metrics for comparing expert-network performance, a genuinely unusual platform-level asset.
Inex One is betting that as sourcing options multiply, the valuable position is knowing which network to use, not owning any single one.
Catalant
Longer projects and AI-assembled teams, not one-hour calls.
Founded: 2013 (as HourlyNerd, rebranded 2016)
HQ: Boston, USA
Funding: $100M+ raised
Catalant works in different territory from most expert networks, focusing on longer project engagements measured in weeks or months. Its network includes former Fortune 500 executives and alumni of major consulting firms working independently, and a machine-learning system recommends consultants whose skills match a client’s project.
Its more distinctive application is composing multi-person teams calibrated to a project’s requirements rather than surfacing individuals one at a time. Embedding into enterprise procurement and HR workflows makes that adoption structural rather than occasional.
Team assembly is a harder and more defensible problem than one-to-one matching, and it points expert marketplaces toward flexible workforce infrastructure rather than research tools.
Expert360
Human-curated shortlists of vetted consultants, delivered fast.
Founded: 2013
HQ: Sydney, Australia
Funding: Privately held
Expert360 is Australia and New Zealand’s leading on-demand talent network, connecting businesses with vetted consultants, interim executives and fractional leaders, with more than 40,000 experts and over 3,500 clients served. It was co-founded in Sydney by Bridget Loudon and Emily Yue, and most consultants come from tier-one or tier-two consulting backgrounds, with roughly one in ten applicants accepted.
The company markets careful human curation over algorithmic matching, delivering shortlists within 48 hours, and offers managed services that range from a single fractional expert through to a fully managed delivery team.
Expert360 is a useful counterpoint in this set, a reminder that in a market rushing to automate, some buyers still value a human guarantee over an algorithm’s.
This article is part of a series on AI and expert networks. Read the overview and market trends, 5 leading established expert networks and how they are responding to AI, and 7 AI-native companies reinventing the expert network model.
