Young Entrepreneurs From Uttar Pradesh Got Scammed While Freelancing – So They Built A 0% Commission, Blockchain-based Freelancing Platform

Scroll through Instagram for fifteen minutes and you're guaranteed to come across a fancy freelancing reel. 

Someone telling you to freelance for global clients, earn in dollars, work from the comfort of your home, or make aesthetic cafes your workspaces….you know the gist.

But, very early on, Chanchal Kuntal and Sumit Nirmal identified that freelancing is one of the best things for students and early professionals — but it can also, almost paradoxically, be a daunting experience.

“If you're new and have no reviews, you become invisible on freelancing platforms. Then, you might get scammed, get no payments, and complain to a chatbot that doesn't respond. Or if nothing of that sort happens, you pay high commissions to the platform you secured your gig from. We wanted to solve all of that and build a student-first freelancing platform and community,” Chanchal Kuntal, co-founder of PeerHire, tells Startup Pedia in an exclusive interview.

Founded in 2025, PeerHire is a Noida-based student-first, trust-driven freelancing network and community that aims to tangibly help students, fresh graduates, and early professionals start their freelancing careers.

With features like blockchain-secured payments, community-led resolutions, skill-tagged ratings, and 0% commissions, PeerHire is set to officially launch in the Indian market in September 2025.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

Hailing from Ayodhya, Sumit Nirmal is a civil engineering graduate from IIT Kharagpur.

As someone with a strong background in software, hands-on coding, and blockchain, he developed multiple apps from scratch and led Web3 initiatives during college.

Later, he secured technical roles in startups like Cograd and Density.

Chanchal Kuntal, on the other hand, comes from Mathura, Uttar Pradesh.

Currently pursuing a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering at Banasthali University, she is in her final year of college.

“I come from a non-technical academic background, but built my way up. I secured my first internship in the first year itself. Since then, I have gone all in when it comes to the tech world. To date, I've done more than fifteen internships at companies like Microsoft, Meta, and Bobble.ai,” Chanchal says.

While still in college, she has mentored students under Microsoft programs and spoken at Google Developer Group events and international summits.

“I've also worked to build real-world AI and SaaS solutions for edtech and fintech startups across India and South Korea,” she adds.

Recently, in the Asia-Pacific region, Chanchal won the prestigious Women in Tech® Global Aspiring Teen Award 2025.

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THE GAP

As individuals who have been freelancing since the start of their college life, Chanchal and Sumit ran into numerous struggles:

Most platforms were either overcrowded or charged high commissions.

“Some even were just scammy in nature. I've gone through that too,” Sumit remarks.

Breaking into the freelancing world as a complete fresher with no experience was next to impossible.

“And that's where the paradox sets in, right? We encourage students to freelance so they can get experience for full-time, high-paying jobs. But even freelance gigs start asking for experience,” Chanchal mentions.

“I, for instance, had a non-CS background and found it very difficult to survive without a network. I was once even ghosted after submitting an assignment. No payment, no follow-up,” she adds.

Most freelance platforms had no role in helping young professionals build verifiable, skill-based career credentials that actually matter outside the platform.

“You'll be shocked to know one in three early freelancers loses money on their first project. Scams and ghosting are to blame. And finding help? That is chaotic and scattered across WhatsApp or Discord with zero accountability,” Sumit Nirmal tells Startup Pedia.

After meeting during an event and discovering their shared frustration with freelancer pain points, Sumit Nirmal and Chanchal Kuntal teamed up to establish PeerHire as a student-first, trust-driven freelancing network.

The mission was simple: do everything that other platforms aren't doing for early professionals, students, and freshers.

The entrepreneur duo pooled their savings of Rs 7 lakh and started the journey of building PeerHire from scratch.

CHALLENGES AND JOURNEY

Initially, startup founders Chanchal Kuntal and Sumit Nirmal decided to bring together a team of interns from IITs across India to build the product.

First, they focused on developing the blockchain smart contracts and wallet infrastructure. Next, they started building the web platform layer by layer.

However, building deep tech like blockchain smart contracts, wallet abstraction, and synthetic stablecoins came with its own set of challenges.

Most of the interns didn't have prior Web3 experience – so they spent time self-learning, coming up with multiple iterations, and often scrapping codes before arriving at workable solutions.

“Another obstacle was doing all of this while remaining completely bootstrapped. Chanchal and I had to strategize extensively so as to not burn out our personal savings and keep everything balanced and running,” Sumit Nirmal mentions.

During the initial days, the startup founders made the mistake of hiring 15 interns at once. Their logic? Quantity would speed progress.But what happened next was pure chaos and mismanagement.

“We quickly learned to prioritize quality over quantity, scaling the team down to high-performing contributors,” entrepreneur Chanchal Kuntal says.

PeerHire navigated these challenges by staying lean, learning fast, conducting community-driven outreach, creating a waitlist, and keeping a sharp focus on solving the real market pain points. The founders consciously chose not to get distracted by vanity marketing features or growth tactics.

The focus was unwavering – build a freelancing platform that actually delivers.

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PEERHIRE: “UNRIGGING” THE RIGGED GAME OF FREELANCING

Today, PeerHire is all set to launch officially in the Indian market during September 2025.

The freelancing platform has seen strong early traction, with 1,500+ registrations already received during the first week of opening the waitlist sign-ups.

PeerHire has been deliberately built to be simple, seamless, and effective when it comes to delivering results to freelancers.

To register, a student or freelancer signs up with their basic details and goes through a quick identity check. Then, they receive a decentralized ID and a smart wallet in the background.

They can then create a detailed profile highlighting their skills, certifications, and past work.

Once that is done, the user can either apply to projects posted on the platform or get matched automatically through PeerHire’s AI engine. This AI system automatically recommends gigs based on skills, interests, and experience.

On the other side, companies or individuals can post gigs by clearly specifying the scope, budget, and timelines.

Once a freelancer is selected, the project terms are locked into a smart contract, payments are held in escrow, and funds are released automatically when milestones are met.

“This is supremely important to ensure that payments reach freelancers on time, every time. These blockchain contracts ensure there is full security throughout the process and prevent payments from disappearing,” startup founder Chanchal mentions.

PeerHire runs on a 0% commission model. This means freelancers get to keep 100% of the earnings they make via completing gigs on the freelancing platform.

The student-led, trust-driven freelancing platform has a community-driven dispute resolution system which is fair, just, and unbiased.

Users can also build dual profiles. This means they can hire as well as secure gigs at the same time.

PeerHire also offers premium SaaS tools such as collaboration dashboards and workflow automation. The freelancing platform will also offer B2B talent solutions for colleges, startups, and enterprises.

“At PeerHire, students and young professionals also get skill-tagged ratings which truly reflect their abilities. With this feature, freelancers no longer need to struggle to get reviews and experiences to finally land gigs,” Sumit explains.

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GROWTH AND FUTURE

Instead of charging freelancers a certain percentage as commission, PeerHire follows a flipped model of earning revenue from the demand side.Companies and hirers pay PeerHire a small platform fee, which is between 6% to 12%, when they post or complete gigs.

“It is important to note that we are not competing with LinkedIn. That is great for networking. We are serving a separate use-case for freelancers – bringing to them a platform that guarantees trust and enforces payments without charging any commission,” entrepreneur Chanchal Kuntal tells Startup Pedia.

PeerHire is set to launch publicly in September 2025, starting with students and early professionals in India. Moving on, the student-first and trust-driven freelancing platform will expand regionally and globally across Southeast Asia, the European Union, and beyond.

“Our long-term vision is clear – we want to make PeerHire the default career launchpad for students worldwide. It should be the place where a fresher’s first gig, first credential, and first client happen seamlessly, without any hiccups,” Chanchal Kuntal signs off. 

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