Startupsmart.com. A Sydney startup that landed a partnership with Uber has now secured $3 million in funding from Investec to expand its fleet of hire cars for on-demand drivers. Splend founder and chief executive Chris King says the business is in for a prosperous year ahead now that the platform is setup and the right team and facilities are in place. King says Splend will focus on engaging drivers for any on-demand ridesharing app.
“We’ve got a huge opportunity to grow from 2017 and beyond,” King tells StartupSmart. “The last 12 to 18 months has been about tweaking the business model and getting the right team in place, and getting the back end up as well as the front end. “Although, we’ve been cashflow positive and profitable since day one, it was important to have a credible equity partner to take the next step and to scale up.” Read more: How a Sydney entrepreneur partnered with Uber against the odds Here are two tips from King for founders who are considering raising capital. 1. 2. AutoGravity Expands to 46 States, Partners with Captives | Auto Finance News.
Via YouTube The California-based digital car buying company AutoGravity announced today that it’s now available in 46 states across the country. There are at least four lending partners available in each state where the platform is offered, the company told Auto Finance News. “You can expect multiple captive lenders and we’ll be making announcements about them over the coming months,” Serge Vartanov, chief marketing officer at AutoGravity, told AFN. “Multiple OEMs have indicated interest in investing in AutoGravity as well.” The new partners can’t be named due to dealer and lender non-disclosure agreements, but two lenders already disclosed are Mercedes-Benz Financial Services and First Investors Financial Services, which have both been operating in California.
When testing out the app in the New York City area, AFN found that AutoGravity features six manufacturers at the top of the page during the new car selection process: Audi, Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and Volkswagen. Digital world changing consumer behaviour in cars, 2wheelers industries, Auto News, ET Auto. By Anindya Basu and Prabhjit Didyala Rapid adoption of digital technologies has resulted in changing consumer behaviour across industries, including in the Passenger Car (PC) and Two Wheeler (2W) industries.
Customer journeys today are more dynamic, more accessible, and increasingly continuous. Hence the traditional "engagement funnel" starting from discovery and moving through consideration, evaluation, purchase, and finally, use, has perhaps lost its relevance. The key implications for PC and 2W OEMs will be in the way they engage with prospective customers and sell product and services, which should be in line with changing customer shopping behavior. Buying a car or a two wheeler is no longer a predictable, linear, unidirectional process. Drawing on research on consumer behavior and client experiences, Accenture has developed the Nonstop-Customer Experience Model which shows that customers frequently re-evaluate their decisions and available alternatives.
This American Life spends a week selling Jeeps in Long Island. Log In - New York Times.