Commerce

Google, Speedinvest back Kenya’s Leta, which uses AI to make logistics cheaper

Commerce /

African businesses pay up to four times the global average to transport goods, driving up prices for essentials like food and medicine. Logistics make up 75% of product costs on the continent, according to the African Development Bank (AfDB). Many of these businesses also rely on manual logistics, leading to delays. Nairobi-based logistics software-as-a-service provider […]

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How La Fourche, an online organic supermarket, is thriving after q-commerce’s bust

Commerce /

La Fourche is just seven years old but it has been quite a rollercoaster for the French startup. During this time, the online grocery retailer has gone through a global pandemic, followed by the rise of venture-backed quick-commerce startups that promised grocery deliveries in less than 15 minutes, followed by the implosion of that vertical.

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CollX raises $10M to grow its card collection marketplace

Commerce /

CollX, a company offering an online trading card marketplace, has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Austin-based Brand Foundry Ventures and Philadelphia-based 114 Ventures, both of which were previous investors in the company. Other investors such as Next Coast Ventures, FJ Labs, and Ben Franklin Technology Partners also participated

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eBay makes it easier to find fast-shipping items and local listings

Commerce /

eBay announced on Thursday that it has updated its platform to help buyers find fast-shipping items and local listings, thanks to changes to Search item cards and additional usage of AI. The company is making it easier to identify items with fast delivery, as search item cards now display delivery range estimates for all fast

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Europe’s Relay pulls in $35M Series A after applying Asia’s model to delivery

Commerce /

Being somewhat later than Europe in adopting the idea of parcel delivery, much of Asia built its delivery infrastructure around e-commerce, effectively ‘Uberising’ how deliveries worked down to the last mile. Think DoorDash but for parcels, not food. This is what the founders of Europe’s Relay realized and decided to bring to the region —

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Commercetools, a pioneer in ‘headless commerce’, lays off dozens of staff

Commerce /

Commercetools — a “headless commerce” platform that provides APIs to companies building online storefronts — saw a major boost in its business just a few years ago, raising money at a whopping $1.9 billion valuation as the world went shopping online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and businesses rushed to improve their e-commerce

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Shop Circle raises $60M to encircle ecommerce with an app suite

Commerce /

The boom in ecommerce post-pandemic meant shops moved online. However, some merchants ended up with dozens of separate app providers to accommodate everything from supply chains, inventory, and marketing. The founders of Shop Circle realized this and either built or bought many such apps. The company has now raised $60 million in a Series B

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The pain of discontinued items, and the thrill of finding them online

Commerce /

We’ve all been there. A favorite item is suddenly unavailable for purchase. Couldn’t the manufacturer have given you advance warning? Whether owing to low sales, changing habits, production costs, or even because something is a little wrong with your favorite product (shh), discontinued items are part of life. In a weekend piece, the New York

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