Well, they bought their own Christmas gift early. Kustomer was just acquired by Facebook for $1 billion. Kustomer is a CRM startup that helps their clients stay in touch with customers in any and every way they like — be it via phone, email, texting, or messaging in apps like WhatsApp or Facebook’s Messenger.
We haven’t seen a big buy like this from Facebook. Normally they buy consumer-focused companies. However, it makes sense with the number of businesses popping up on the social platform.
Now Facebook will be able to give small businesses new features that help them increase sales directly on their platform. AKA drive them to buy ads. Which Facebook likes.
Actually, more than likes. They make 99% of their revenue from ads. Talk about diversifying your revenue streams.
Kustomer is only five years old and has raised $173.5 million during its lifetime. The Facebook-Kustomer deal was led by JPMorgan, and again, is a new type of deal for Facebook. Do you think we’ll see more B2B or business-focused companies acquired by Facebook in the next coming years? Or will this become a dud and they’ll go back to focusing on consumers?
Hit reply and tell us your thoughts!
Make Money With Those Muscles
If there’s one industry that’s struggled this year, it’s the fitness industry. Gyms saw a $10 billion loss in revenue since working in person has been rarely available. Instead, online fitness gurus are the next big thing. If any type of business owner in the fitness and health industry wants to succeed, they better make the shift to online, virtual classes and build a new type of community.
Jen Selter has equity in the company BlendJet and predicts the future is video. Sharing video on social media is digestible content in the form everyone loves. Plus, it lets viewers connect with you in a way they would in real life.
The founder of JustLift, Simeon Panda, claims that social media and online classes are the only way to provide fitness services sustainably. Knowing that a lot of clients are lucrative, once they sink their teeth into a fitness influencer or trainer online, they’re never going to go back to long hours at the gym. On the expo side of things, he doesn’t see that coming back to life either. Why spend thousands of dollars and hours on an exhibit when deals are now being made over Zoom and email?
Dee Gautham founded The Boss Body Revolution before the pandemic and warns other fitness professionals to make the move now otherwise it will be too late. Not only is it convenient for customers and clients, but the community aspect, similar to Crossfit or SoulCycle, is essential during these times. It’s what everyone craves and how they get results, especially with fitness, because they hold each other accountable and lean on one another for support.
What other industries do you see succeeding online that don’t have the option to wait around until the pandemic has lifted? Hit reply and tell us!
China’s Getting Hungry
Which is why HungryPanda just came up with an app specifically for Chinese customers that aren’t in China. The app is made in Mandarin Chinese and is going worldwide with their food delivery service from Asian grocery stores and Chinese restaurants. Oh, and they just raised $70 million in their Series C, so they’re obviously looking good to consumers and investors alike.
There’s about 50 million Chinese people living outside of China’s mainland, Hong Kong or Taiwan. Most are still in other Asian countries, but there are plenty of expats and immigrants in Europe and the US. If the app does well with Chinese customers, they’ll expand into different languages as well.
HungryPanda is already in 47 cities and has grown 30-fold (yes, that’s a thing) in under three years. Plus they’re already profitable in the UK and NYC.
Food apps have already been ‘the thing’ for the past few years, then of course with COVID we’ve seen them boom (by as much as a 25% increase). This whole targeting specific individuals via language will be a hit, though, and HungryPanda better gear up for their competitors.
Eric Liu founded the app from his personal experience. When he moved from China to attend school at the University of Nottingham, he experienced the same issue as other Chinese students: difficulty ordering food from Chinese restaurants. All of their menus are in English and often, the dish names are translated and altered for Brit’s taste, which is a big deal for Chinese expats who take eating their traditional food seriously.
We’ll see how well this app does in the next few months and what others pop up over 2021 targeting a specific language or culture. What language do you think would be next for a competing startup? Hit reply and give us your thoughts!
