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Updated on Dec 1, 2023
1. The thing is about (two) wheels: Velca raises €5M and Cüimo secures €900K 🔝🏍️.
The most interesting markets: France 🥐, Germany 🌭, Italy 🍝, and Spain 🥘.
What are the drivers?: the new mobility 🛵, electric or not; fewer parking problems 🅿️ and a good response to the transport needs of childless couples 👩🏻🤝👨🏼.
Here are our protagonists:
Velca: this Spanish company manufactures electric vehicles (scooters, motorcycles, and e-bikes). The investment received of €5.3M in Series A round is aimed at the international expansion of the company and the launch of new models of electric vehicles (eager to see them🤩). With an expected 90%💥 growth for this year, Velca is preparing to enter key markets like Italy, France, and Germany, maintaining its focus on meeting urban needs and collaborating with distribution networks in European cities.
Cüimo: on the other hand, Cüimo, the digital marketplace specialized in buying and selling motorcycles, has closed an investment round of €900,000. The platform digitalizes the transaction process, allowing for the decentralization of supply and demand and eliminating the barrier of distance in the buying and selling of motorcycles. With expansion plans and the development of new business lines, such as "Cüimo Prime" for refurbished motorcycles 🔧, Cüimo positions itself as a disruptive player in a traditionally non-digitized market relative to the volume it moves. What is the most attractive figure of all? The month-on-month growth of 25% and the goal of reaching a turnover of 12 million euros by 2024 😎.
👉🏻 Click here to read the news about the €5M round for expansion and product of Velca and here to learn about its philosophy and offering 🛵.
👉🏻 Here to find out more about Cüimo's round that we will be following closely to see how the motorcycle buying-selling market evolves, here is its website 🏍️.
👉🏻 Here are the market growth figures for motorcycles in the first half of 2023 🤘🏼.
2. The future of AI: what is that future scenario everyone talks about but nobody defines? 🤖🧟♀️.
We haven't detoxed from Black Friday when Christmas is already being felt. Work parties, group dinners, WhatsApp silenced 🔕 for mental health. If there’s one conversation that hasn’t even begun to heat up yet, it’s about Artificial Intelligence. If until now you thought the level was a bit amateurish 🍺, wait until Christmas Eve 🎅🏼.
This article, straddling analysis 📈 and philosophy 🧐 from The Verge, can narrow down the questions we face. Given the magnitude of the AI phenomenon, the openness of the scenarios, and the uncertainty it generates, proposing 3 axes around which the questions revolve is helpful:
☝🏼 The first, which stems from the recent crisis at OpenAI: should AI be good for shareholders or for Humanity? business💰 or ethics💙? At this embryonic stage, where it has only just begun, should we let things happen before regulating, or is it a topic to be controlled as soon as possible?
✌🏼 The second, with that ludic tint from the 19th century 🚂 will we see and want to see AI as collaborators (equals, therefore capable of replacing us) or as tools (therefore at our service)?.
👌🏼 The third, is this a revolution comparable to the democratization of internet connection 🛜 or smartphones 📲? It is undeniable that both milestones reorganized our lives forever. Will AI do the same?
👉🏻 Here is The Verge's article that formulates rational and medium-term issues. Stop dystopias🌪️.
3. The luxury sector grows, is the online channel an opportunity? 💍📲
Incredible but true: the luxury sector 🎩 in Spain shows consistent growth, reaching €17 billion in 2022 and even surpassing pre-COVID levels. Moreover, it is not a fleeting joy, as an annual growth of 7% to 9% is projected until 2027🔝.
This sector, which includes fashion and jewelry to high-end tourism and gastronomy, has seen how luxury experiences 🏝️ surpass the billing of personal goods 💍, with €8.6 billion versus €8.4 billion in 2022 🥂.
This change in trend is one of the most interesting drivers in the sector: where luxury used to seek possession, now it pursues experience 💆🏼. The ephemeral versus the permanent, with all its implications. But! by offering a service or experience, the subjectivity of this forces improvements in sales processes, communication, and positioning👌🏼.
The customer base in the luxury sector is growing, driven by high-impact tourists 🏎️ and a growing interest in luxury experiences, despite global economic uncertainty 🧐.
Are luxury actors really becoming effective in the online channel? Is there a difference in user experience when we visit a pure player in the luxury sector and an offline luxury company that has entered the online channel?
👉🏻 Here is the article that breaks down the keys and roles of pure luxury players against their more established offline competitors 🔛.
👉🏻 Here to read the news about the growth of the luxury sector in Spain 🇪🇸.
👉🏻 If you are looking to start an online business 🚀 in the luxury sector 💎, we can help you develop an attractive business model with the best User Experience and Technology. [Schedule an appointment here with our experts]📅 and one of our advisors 📲 will contact you to discuss your project.
4. Facebook and Instagram already have their subscription version operating and Threads will arrive in Europe in December 👩🏻💻🎄
After solving the little Privacy issue that was troubling Meta with its operations in Europe 👩🏻⚖️, Threads is coming. Not without problems, the solution that Meta launched was to offer a monthly fee to enjoy Facebook and Instagram without ads and without data tracking 🫣. Consumer organizations are launching strong complaints with slogans like Pay or Okay, stating that it is not freedom of choice when the alternative is to pay 🪧.
Meanwhile, Instagram's Threads is preparing for its launch in Europe, marking its arrival in December. Zuckerberg's new social network, which was initially available only in some countries like the USA 🇺🇸 or the UK 🇬🇧, due to European restrictions, expands after complying with European data and service regulations ✅.
The platform brings to the old continent an innovative approach to social interaction, for example, allowing users to browse without the need to create a profile 🥷🏼 and offering freely available content 🌼, promoting a more flexible and less committed interaction 🪁.
Can Threads represent a significant change in the social media market, challenging competitors like X from Elon Musk? With Threads now allowing independent Instagram accounts, the platform positions itself as an alternative 💪🏼 and we will see if it carves out a niche among the other already established social networks 🪑.
👉🏻 Discover more about Threads' launch in Europe 🇪🇺.
👉🏻 Here are the complaints from user organizations PAY OR OKAY about the arrival of Facebook and Instagram by subscription to avoid ads and data tracking 😤.
👉🏻 The last thing Elon has done is send a loving GFY (go fuck yourself) to his advertisers on X 🤬 for withdrawing advertising for finding racist and antisemitic content. I just hope Linda Yaccarino takes him by the elbow to his office and takes the mobile away from him 🔐.
5. Aitaca, avoid returns by scanning the body with AI 🩻👗
Born from an academic project, it uses AI to solve (once and for all) one of the main challenges of online fashion retail: unnecessary returns 👕👋🏼. This continues to be the Achilles' heel of online retail and some of the big players are already beginning to charge for returns at home to mitigate it 🙅🏻♂️.
Aitaca's technology allows for accurate size predictions and recommendations, thus optimizing the shopping experience and reducing costs and environmental impact associated with returns 🌿. With two different measurement models, Aitaca allows users to measure sizes autonomously using their mobile phones 🤳🏼, for both rings and clothing.
This innovative approach has captured the attention of companies across various sectors, including clothing and work uniforms, and is launching to the market backed by a recent funding round of over €300,000💰.
👉🏻 Meet them here or book a demo if you are interested in incorporating them into your fashion ecommerce 🧑🏼💻.
