Were you able to do some spring-cleaning? We couldn’t as we just couldn’t wait any longer to enjoy the reopening and spring weather! Some of us have changed jobs, others enjoying spring vacation. What’re you up to?
This week we have Apple’s bigger bite of Fintech; Shein hits Hectacorn status; India’s Super-App; Alphabet’s Wing takes flight; and Twitter’s newest backer.
Don’t forget Nominations for our second cohort are ongoing for our Expert Circle!
Analytics, Digital, Design In Action
Apple’s Next Big Bite
Apple to bring more financial services in-house. Apple is developing its own payment processing tech and infrastructure for future financial products, a move that would reduce its reliance on outside partners over time. Products such as payment processing, risk assessment for lending, fraud analysis, credit checks, among others, are seen to be considered in this change.
This amplifies Apple’s growing fintech capabilities, building on a lineup that already includes an Apple-branded credit card, peer-to-peer payments, the Wallet app and a mechanism for merchants to accept credit cards from an iPhone. Apple is also working on its own subscription service for hardware and a “buy now, pay later” feature for Apple Pay transactions.
While the change is for future products, this further endangers consumer facing fintech companies such as Block and Affirm. On the other hand, the “pipes”, companies like Visa, Mastercard, Adyen, GlobalPayments, are relatively unscathed.
Shein Hits Hectacorn Status
Chinese fast fashion e-commerce startup Shein is weighing a funding round at a valuation of about USD100Bn. Shein is in talks with General Atlantic for this new funding round, according to Bloomberg. The company counts Tiger Global, IDG and Sequoia among its existing investors.
This puts Shein in a super-elite club of “Hectacorns”, companies that achieve USD100Bn+ in valuation, in contrast to Decacorns (USD10Bn+) or Unicorns USD1Bn+). Shein is also bucking the tough trends we’re seeing in the market.
While no longer a start-up (Shein is 14 years old), the company has come up with a data-driven, supplier-supported formula to success. Its designers closely track social media influencers and runway shows to devise new pieces, a technique that mirrors traditional fast-fashion brands.
India’s Super-App
Indian conglomerate Tata Group unveiled its long awaited super-app, Tata Neu. Tata Neu brings together all of Tata’s digital services and apps on a single platform. On its Play Store page, the app’s description reads: “Consume cutting-edge digital content, make payments, manage your finances, plan your next holiday or perhaps just your next meal – there’s lots to explore and experience in the world of Tata Neu”.
Tata is hoping that customers will find its one-stop shop offering and rewards lofty enough to make the bold switch. Tata plans to offer them “NeuCoins” as reward, where one NeuCoin is equivalent to one Indian rupee.
It’s been remarked that it was only a matter of time before a local Indian champion could rise to the scale of WeChat, Alibaba, Shopee, Grab, Uber, or Amazon. However, while it’s relatively easy to staple different consumer apps together, running them in unison under one app, a super-app, is an exponentially difficult exercise.
Wing Takes Flight
Drone delivery company Wing, a subsidiary of Alphabet, has announced that its drone delivery service will launch for suburban homes on April 7. The Dallas-Fort Worth area is the first in the U.S. with access to on-demand drone delivery, according to Wing.
“This will be America’s most scalable drone delivery operation to date,” said Jacob Demmitt, marketing and communications manager, in an email. “Walgreens team members will process their own orders and load packages onto drones themselves–while Wing oversees the delivery from a remote location.”
This marks Alphabet’s strategic entry into the futuristic and important drone delivery category. Amazon has been trying to crack this market for years, though with relatively steady, not explosive, progress.
Twitter’s Newest Backer
Twitter stock price soars after Elon Musk acquires 9.2% stake. While the stock movement is mostly speculation at this point, it seems the market is anticipating major overhauls in the blue bird’s app following Elon’s wake. He’s already at work trying to gauge the demand for an edit button.
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