Autofun says it could be offered with two engines at the start (2.0L 1TR-FE 4-cyl petrol, 139 PS/183 Nm or 2.4L 2GD-FTV turbodiesel, 150 PS/359 Nm), but knowing of Toyota's multi-pathway strategy, we wouldn't discount electrified options in the future.

The John Cena of trucks? Toyota Hilux Champ plates seen on IMV0 Concept; specs and name seemingly confirmed before Nov launch

according to AutoFun. Competition is tight in the compact SUV segment across the Straits of Malacca but PT Honda Prospect Motor (HPM), the distributor for the marque there, has had several clever strategies in marketing the car. Prior to its launch there ...

Indonesians continue to pick the Honda WR-V over the Toyota Raize despite the former being pricier

Welcome to WapCar.my's live coverage of Budget 2024, in which the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be tabling in Parliament later today. All transport-related highlights and quick updates will be posted here. The 2024 Budget is the highest of ...

Malaysia's Budget 2024: Live updates of all automotive and transport announcements

According to our colleagues over at AutoFun TH, the Lightning Cat will be given a new name, Ora 07. It might seem the Chinese EV brand of Great Wall Motor (GWM) would like to present a more mature and less feline connotation to the Panamera mimic.

Losing its feline connection, Ora Lightning Cat EV to be renamed as Ora 07, launching in Thailand in Nov

The Suzuki Swift Sport is a pocket rocket and although the manual transmission which isn’t offered in Malaysia is the preferred choice to enjoy the hot hatch’s capabilities, there is a shocking update over in Japan. Goodbye manual Swift Sport, for now ...

Updated 2024 Suzuki Swift Sport drops 6MT in Japan - Only 6AT offered with 10% price increase

Photo by Autofun.id Its 'GT' suffix brings with it a 1.6-litre turbocharged inline-four engine, making 200 PS and 290 Nm; paired to a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission (DCT). Two drivetrain configurations are available: front-wheel drive (FWD) or all-whel ...

Chery Omoda 5 GT now in Indonesia; more powerful with 200 PS 1.6 TGDi, multi-link suspension; prices equal up to RM 148k

Our colleagues over at AutoFun Thailand have experienced the Tank 500 before its Thai launch on 28-September. Prices for the SUV have not been announced though it is estimated to start below THB 3 million (~RM 300k) across two variants. If the official ...

Priced equivalent to RM 300k, here's what the Thais think of the GWM Tank 500

Our colleagues over at AutoFun ID reported that the Jimny 5-door is listed on its latest Motor Vehicle Sales Value (Nilai Jual Kenderaan Bermotor, NJKB) document. 4 variants of the Jimny 5-door are listed but were given codenames instead. The NJKB document ...

Suzuki Jimny 5-door hinted in Indo tax office docs, 4 variants valued from RM 92k

Selling your car can often feel like a daunting task, laden with paperwork, negotiations, and uncertainty about the final price you'll receive. However, with CARSOME, selling your car is a seamless and hassle-free experience. Here's why you should sell ...

Sell your car to CARSOME and get paid within 24 hours, hassle free

The Federal Government has agreed to give Sarawak 1,000 Approved Permits (APs) as well as tax exemptions to import battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and hydrogen-powered vehicles (FECVs) into the state. According to Malay Mail, the APs were awarded to the ...

Putrajaya grants Sarawak 1,000 APs to import EVs and hydrogen vehicles

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Logistics Specialists — Serve — Are Putting Their Skills on The Blockchain All of us exchange various forms of value every single day. Whether it’s time for money or money for products and services, everyone is at once a taker and a giver. The wheels of commerce never stop spinning. Internet connectivity paved the roads of instant gratification, and most of us are happy to drive them daily. As consumers — conditioned by the advertising industry and deeply influenced by social media — we tend to lack any semblance of patience. We want things immediately, and we want them to get here on the cheap, preferably free. Because, you know, that shiny new gadget is all the shinier when it arrives on Saturday rather than Monday. And the food always tastes better if you didn’t have to fetch it on your own. Unsurprisingly, the ‘must have it now’ mentality presents unlimited opportunities for entrepreneurial ventures. A shining example is the rise of same-day deliveries. The industry is piping hot. Warm cookies and muffins, family-size meals, electronics from the Apple store, iced coffee, fine wine, and chilled beer. All of these goodies can be yours in about an hour by tapping a few buttons in an app. Overnight shipping isn’t practical for vegan smoothies, now is it? However, the logistics of satisfying our endless wants and desires can be super-tricky. Loads of moving parts make for challenging efforts of coordination. Unfairly compensating themselves are the companies behind those apps, making a killing off of our impatience. Enterprising intermediaries are seizing every chance to fleece us for the once-unfeasible services now ingrained in our everyday lives. Now, the web carried us quite far in our quest for convenience. But the blockchain can propel us even farther, trimming the fat along the way. New crypto startup — — is busy building a platform that leverages the organization’s logistical experience to create a global economy of incentivized participants. Serve You see, disintermediation creates a natural reduction in fees for every transaction within any given economy. Cut the middleman out of the equation and the rest of the players — buyers, sellers, and providers— do more winning. And on the Serve network, those winnings flow to consumers and businesses, as well as the service providers working so hard to ensure your ice cream doesn’t melt before arriving on your doorstep. Now, food delivery is only one of many industries the Serve project plans to infiltrate. We’ll cover general deliveries in this article, but it’s worth noting here that the platform intends to dive much deeper into the pools of global commerce. How exactly is the Serve project going to shake things up? Keep scrolling, and you’ll find some answers. But first, here’s a special delivery with your name on it… Disclaimer : This is not investment or financial advice. I’m not a financial expert by any stretch of the imagination. Most information within this article is speculative and merely personal opinion. Always conduct your own research before contributing to any startup projects. Always remember that what you do with your funds is your decision to make. And if that decision proves too difficult for you alone, seek guidance from a financial professional. I may or may not receive a small allocation of tokens for creating this content. That said, I do my best to remain unbiased and fair. I try to avoid all FOMO and FUD and don’t wish to evoke those emotions in my fellow crypto-heads. How to calculate the best value for online purchases Amazonian Inefficiencies Ever ordered several items from Amazon only to have them arrive in a few separate boxes? Maybe one of them was mostly air. Ugh. My toothpaste had to ride solo in there, huh? I don’t know about you, but to me, that’s the opposite of efficient. Sure, products reside in different warehouses spread across different regions. But what’s that got to do with the UPS hub making the deliveries? Shouldn’t the trigger the guys and gals in brown to assimilate before delivering? Do you really need to burn all that gas driving to my house three separate times? single order Unless I chose overnight shipping for something, slow your roll! In situations where a single online order becomes a decentralized mission of separate deliveries, I often wonder about the actual costs UPS must incur. Surely the Amazon/UPS partnership is large enough to warrant special handling of split-delivery orders. The current state of fragmentation within last-mile delivery services is an epic failure — in terms of greenhouse gases alone. Hey, UPS, can you HODL this package for us while we wait for the others to get here? Thanks, buddy. Inconvenient Truths About Postmates, Uber Eats, & Similar Platforms Over a six-month stretch of 2017, I drove bringing food and random goodies to random people. all over town I enjoy the freedom of driving, and the gig gave me access to parts of my hometown — some replete with security guards in little shacks — that I never knew existed. Now, downtime can be disastrous to your bottom line. Not long after starting to drive for one service, I added another so that the gig would, theoretically, become more profitable. Shifts began with two apps open. First come, first served. I’d often switch back and forth all shift long. On rare occasions, I’d drive solely for one service or the other, but usually both. Even with both apps active, I’d still encounter lulls, and some 4-hour shifts ended with less than $20 heading to my account. Yes, the pay for delivering food can be abysmal. Because, no, most of the extra fees customers pay won’t go to the driver. Not every customer is aware, but the system runs on tips. Without them, the gig pays . Gas and vehicle maintenance only deepen the wounds. less than minimum wage And the underlying reason for all of this insufficient compensation is the enormous fees the platforms — rather than the hardworking drivers— enjoy raking in. Many patrons are under the assumption that their driver is making more than they truly are. “I don’t need to tip since it’s already factored in,” they must tell themselves. Nope, not the case! Prices balloon because of the platform operators, not the act of delivery, which the system have. must Food-delivery platforms’ lopsided pricing structure Let me give you a real-life example. There’s a Mediterranean restaurant in my neighborhood that serves tasty gyros. I eat them so frequently I’ve memorized the post-tax, in-person price of $8.67. One rainy day found me feeling unusually tired and lazy yet hungry. I figured I’d just use Uber Eats. I opened the app, found the restaurant, and then proceeded to find my beloved sandwich. Where $7.99 once stood, $9.99 was now in its place. Yes, a 25% bump in cost. I was already aware of delivery fees plus a tip for courteous service, but this unsavory morsel of an upcharge left a sour taste in my mouth. Everyone Must Pay Now, although the customer lines the platforms’ pockets the most, the restaurants take a hit as well. As do the drivers. How Customers Get Milked Hungry eaters may think they’re only paying two fees, but in reality, there’s a trio: — Regular prices don’t apply here. Expect to pay 10–20% more for the same food that dine-in or take-out customers eat. Inflated Menu Pricing — In addition to swollen prices on menu items, we get to pay another fee for the sake of being overcharged in the first place. Service Charge — No surprises here. Somebody’s got to compensate the (hopefully) friendly driver that brings your food to wherever you are. Delivery Fee How Restaurants Get Squeezed Eateries using outside delivery services can expect to pay a service charge in exchange for the uptick in orders. In the case of Uber Eats it’s 30%. Yikes. Let’s do a little math, shall we? Our menu item is sushi-grade poke bowls. For the sake of argument, we’ll say a busy restaurant sells 200 bowls in a day. Half of the bowls stay inside, and the other half hit the road. Poke Bowl Pricing Metrics Restaurant cost = $8 Dine-in price = $20 Delivery price = $24 Service charge = 30% of gross sales In-house Orders Sales: 100 X $20 = $2,000 Cost: 100 X $8 = $800 Sales minus Cost = Profit = $1,200 Upcharged Delivery Orders Sales: 100 X $24= $2,400 Cost: 100 X $8 = $800 Service charge: $2,400 X 30% = $720 Sales minus Cost minus Service Charge = Profit = $880 Profit Difference = negative 27% So, in this example anyhow, for the privilege of using the Uber Eats service, restauranteurs pay what’s essentially a hefty tax. Every dollar that comes in sees 27 cents go right back out. Maybe it’d be worth it if a restaurant can utilize bulk prep methods to trim costs. However, to give up 27% of profits is a steep ask. One wonders if the eatery wouldn’t be better off spending the same — or even less — on a marketing campaign. Even though owners feel the pinch of steep fees, it’s hard to ignore the extra revenue they otherwise wouldn’t have. Tough choice for some restaurant owners, no doubt. But reason enough for the owner of a local Vietnamese bánh mì sandwich spot to deny the platform’s courtship attempts. How Drivers Get Burned The logistics of the Uber Eats operation are far from perfect. Aside from getting only a portion of any delivery fee, drivers must contend with long wait times due to inefficiencies. Sometimes it’s a fun little glitch where the app assigns the same order to two different drivers. Upon arrival, the last driver hears their order is already out the door. So I drove all the out here for nothing then? Thanks! For the uninformed, most food deliverers are paid by the order, not by the hour. Aside from wasting gas and mileage, losing time that could be better spent making actual deliveries can be especially costly. And while the platforms can be detrimental to a driver’s earnings, the restaurants themselves are often to blame. Home of the Big Mick I can honestly tell you that, after completing over 1K deliveries, WacArnold’s is the worst offender of them all. The situation was so ugly that I’d immediately cancel any orders from that “restaurant” appearing on my app. You see, with the rare exception of an all-star manager, Mickey D’s employees HATE orders from Uber Eats. Why? Because Uber orders arrive on a separate terminal tucked away near a register off to the side somewhere. Detachment from the main flow of burgers and fries spills a heaping helping of WacFlurry all over the whole operation. Here’s an actual conversation I had with a visibly flustered employee whose name tag read Bill: Bill: What can I get for you? Me: “Hi. How are you doing this evening?” Bill: “Oh, I’m a little stressed.” Me: “Sorry to hear that. I’m here to pick up an order for Uber Eats.” Bill: “That’s why I’m stressed.” Orders are often forgotten and not entered until “the Uber” shows up. Yep, they really called me that on multiple occasions at multiple locations. Someone announces to the rest of the crew, “the Uber’s here!” after Standing around waiting for a greasy brown bag — or unplaced orders from any other joint — cuts deeply into a driver’s earnings. What’s more, let’s not ignore the trickle-down effect of a small or non-existent tip because the order took so long getting to the customer. Yes, on-demand delivery services are convenient. Who doesn’t want excellent food or handy gadgets on the quick? But at the same time, they’re needlessly overpriced. The on-demand delivery industry’s not going anywhere. We all get hungry — for food or practically everything imaginable — every single day. However, we can do it better, and we can do it cheaper by putting the operation onto a blockchain. Now that you’re fully aware of why the system is so costly, let’s examine how the Serve project aims to improve the entire experience… The Serve platform’s economy runs on SRV tokens Tokens Can Crush Costs The Serve platform runs on its native SRV token. The same tokens power smart contracts, which fuel network transactions. Swerve chose to bake an escrow system into transactions. All parties must uphold their end of the agreement before a transaction settles. Customers pay for goods and services with SRV tokens, but businesses and deliverers must also stake tokens. Think of the concept as the ante in a round of poker. You need a stake in the pot, or else you don’t get to play. Once the smart contract agrees that everything’s in order, the rightful share of the transaction’s SRV tokens returns home to originating wallets. By removing the element of human trust — one reason why blockchain tech exists in the first place — we’re alleviating the need to involve us bumbling mistake-machines every step of the way. The platform can effectively eliminate bloated fee structures by placing trust in an automated system. We’re putting our faith in programming rather than forgetful Frank in the shipping dept. Perhaps I needn’t go so far as to use the term “faith” in the first place. Transparency is the name of the game, and by having a public display of everything that’s happening within digital transactions, the element of trust becomes indisputable. Bad actors don’t stay bad for long because the blockchain calls them out on any shenanigans they try to pull. Furthermore, economies based on tokens are inherently cost-effective. We’re merely outsourcing jobs to computers — the ultimate accounting bots. Now, before you get all “they took our jobs!” on me, you’ve got to admit that some tasks are best left to algorithms. Crunching data and storing immutable information are two prime examples. And on the Swerve platform, fees top out at 2.5%. If we assume a 25% average fee for the world’s various delivery platforms, that’s a 10X decrease! Everyone Must Win Serve aims to improve the multitude of last-mile delivery services, no doubt. But they’re not taking an aggressive, ‘eliminate the competition’ approach. Instead, they invite anyone to integrate with their open-source protocol. The goal is to create industry-wide standards that everyone adopts. The project is basically saying, “look, our current systems and processes need help. We’re experts in logistics, but there are others out there, too. Let’s work together to create a uniform system for everyone’s betterment.” Now, compared to today’s offerings, the Serve platform’s participants — enterprises, drivers, and customers — gain a massive reduction in fees. But let’s check into some of the other benefits a global logistics platform can deliver… How Drivers Gain Endless Possibilities When the drivers win, there’s a domino effect that makes its way to the businesses and customers too. I’m living proof of the high turnover rate among on-demand delivery drivers. Translation: Plenty of people out there aren’t exactly doing their best work. Your heart’s not in it when you’re on the verge of quitting. Serve created a video about my former self. How did they even know? Had this situation been reality last year, I would’ve stayed in the game longer. My name’s not Alex, but his virtual situation was mine in the real world… Me, a year ago Driving while listening to directions, hunting for addresses, and actively monitoring two separate apps is distracting at best and dangerous at worst. Especially the secondary app scenario since it requires physical interaction with your phone while the vehicle’s in motion. Imagine five of the significant incumbents tying into the Serve protocol. A driver could drive for all of them yet operate from a single interface. Essentially, a simplistic, centralized, token-earning solution. Downtime shrinks to practically nothing because everywhere you go in a major city, at any time of day, somebody wants food, a product, or a ride. Not to mention obviating the hassle of creating additional accounts and linking bank accounts and submitting insurance information. Well-paid drivers are bound to stay on the road longer. Should the Serve platform see some big names jump aboard, making deliveries in your own vehicle becomes much more lucrative. How Businesses Earn Higher Profits Similar to drivers being able to grab work for many services at once, business owners can enjoy the same luxury. The Serve project offers enterprise solutions — including APIs & SDKs — which enable companies to put some of their business operations on the blockchain. By enrolling with Serve, they’re putting an army of drivers to work for them. No relying on a specific service’s delivery force to grab your goods because the Serve driver is ready to roll. nearest On the food side, more drivers mean food flying out the door nearly as fast as you can make it. And, since the fees are so low, the decision to enroll should prove simplistic. How Customers Get Faster Service Tying back into the large volume of drivers ready to whisk a bottle of whiskey straight to your location, wait times for anything and everything can realize a significant reduction. Place an order for something and, no matter which delivery service umbrella a driver falls under, your items get to you in a hurry. Speedy service coupled with low prices keeps customers returning to the Serve platform again and again. Which is also good for the drivers and business owners. Do you see the circle of self-feeding efficiency at work here? Happy customers make happy business owners and busy drivers. Win/win/win! Final thoughts… Cryptocurrencies give us — as responsible, sovereign individuals with the wherewithal to handle our own monetary transactions — the power to have a voice beyond the realm of fiat. Admittedly, the current state of affairs is the equivalent of the lone cry from the microscopic planet of Whoville. However, given time, our collective shouts will garner the attention of big-name players will ignore tokens at their peril. As crypto enthusiasts, we’re in the minority. Most people merely can’t see the benefits. But eventually, we’ll be so loud that the outsiders will have to enter our realm. I can foresee the same scenario playing out within the last-mile delivery space. A transparent and efficient set of industry standards attracts any business looking to run a tighter ship. Namely, all of them. And, there’ such a wealth of multi-billion-dollar industries the project is courting. Small percentages of market share in any given industry are perfectly acceptable because of their collective potential. The Serve project is one to keep both eyes on. The team’s ambitions seem boundless, and they’re out to solve some genuine problems — on a global scale — that most of us deal with on the regular. I, for one, anticipate the day when the middleman stops overcharging for the epitome of convenience — anything and everything, brought to wherever you are. DYOR Now, just because I’m bullish on project Serve doesn’t mean you need to jump right in. It’s always important to form your own opinion. And, conveniently, here are a few places you can do just that: Serve Website Serve Whitepaper — Scoobeez The Serve team’s existing delivery service 👇 👇 Get Social with Serve Bitcointalk | Facebook | GitHub | Instagram | LinkedIn | Medium | Reddit | Telegram | Twitter | YouTube By the way… If you like what you see here and need help getting your crypto message to the masses, I’d love to hear about your startup. Even if you just want to chat about crypto or your favorite blockchain projects, you can find me here: blockchainauthor at Gmail Bounty0x username = blockchainauthor

How Tokenization Can Curb the Costs of Our Insatiable Appetite for On-Demand Everything Now

The pandemic has transformed the shopping experience, forcing retailers to redefine their strategies. How can shopping apps help entrepreneurs increase their revenues and cut costs in the post-COVID era? According to , nearly 63% of consumers do all of their shopping online. By launching an app, you could increase retention rates, take care of your customers’ private data, and provide them with a better shopping experience. Here are several ways that shopping apps benefit e-commerce businesses. BigCommerce Increase every day repeat purchases Almost 32% of customers say they purchase from a particular brand’s online store. Creating your own app allows for targeted messages and real-time alerts on hot deals, discounts, and new products. Most app builders, such as , , , , and many others offer push notifications as one of their features. Increasing repeat purchases could keep your business afloat in the post-pandemic world. Vajro EasyMobile KUKApp Tapcart Provide better service to your B2B clients Apps are also helpful if your customers include other businesses or bigger retailers. First of all, a B2B shopping app for distributors and wholesalers could speed up order processing. Second of all, it’s a useful tool if you are planning to introduce automated fulfillment. And, finally, apps reduce the costs of engaging with your B2B clients. Competition in the consumer segment tends to be even tougher. Last year, digital ad spending for B2B in the US and is expected to exceed previous estimates by another 20% in 2021. grew 32.5% Improve customer retention With retail giants and small businesses both aiming to increase their presence online, the digital market is getting crowded. In 2021, the pandemic continued to drive the cost of customer acquisition. For example, F have exceeded pre-pandemic highs. With online competition increasing, it’s becoming difficult for small retail businesses to attract new customers. For this reason, most brands are now focusing on retaining the shoppers they have, rather than constantly acquiring new clientele. acebook advertising costs Apps are a great way to keep your loyal customers and provide them with a seamless experience. Facilitate contactless pickup If you have a brick-and-mortar location, you could follow the lead of big-box stores, many of which turned to curbside pickup during the pandemic. With the Target and Nordstrom apps, . They can let the store know they are on the way, check-in upon arrival, and receive a contactless delivery directly to their car. With their own apps, small businesses could provide customers with a similar service. customers receive an alert when their order is ready Know your customers Given the ever-growing competition for consumer attention online, people value privacy more than ever. They are reluctant to share their personal data and put pressure on businesses to keep their information safe. Google has even started phasing out the use of third-party cookies, making it harder to target consumers with ads.  At the same time, apps are inherently safer than websites. In addition to an online store, a shopping app could be a great tool for learning more about your customers’ preferences. Shopping apps are more affordable for businesses than ever. With so many app builders available on the market, e-commerce entrepreneurs can choose from a vast selection and launch their own customized apps for less than $100 a month. And it’s fast, too. With a ready-made solution, it only takes a few hours to build a customized app for your business.

Using Shopping Apps to Boost Profits Small e-Commerce Entrepreneurs

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has struck the world like a wave. Each industry sector around the world has seen a tremendous loss. Even the most like Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Beijing, etc., weren’t immune to this. But, whatever happened, happened! powerful entrepreneurial hubs As we are past that phase and industries are getting back on track, it is time to analyze if the new normal will suit them or not. If we talk about Los Angeles, the startup ecosystem isn’t going to stop thriving. The Los Angeles entrepreneurs’ charging bull spirit has sustained them during the pandemic, and it will keep them going forward in the future. Here are some great insights about the Los Angeles business hub that places it in the lead in the post-pandemic era! #1 - A Center for Potential Startups Los Angeles is a hub of startups, no matter what business niche it is. As the COVID-19 period affected many of these startups, countless others kept their flag high and survived. As per Chris Hill, the LA-based principal of Comcast Ventures, many industries have stayed perfectly strong during the pandemic. He pointed towards Fintech, SaaS, Gaming, Health Tech, and eCommerce. Here is why- Stanley Pierre-Louis, chief executive of the Entertainment Software Association, said it’s fair to say that video games are having a moment right now - a unique and extraordinary time by any measure. And indeed, he was right. The video game industry has skyrocketed in the COVID season. The perfect example of this is . The mobile game developer and publisher , making it one of the most valuable startups in Los Angeles. Scopely raised $340 million in 2020 Moreover, the video game streaming market also experienced a massive boost. was the (67.6 million hours). Counter-Strike: Global Offensive second most viewed game on Twitch These points prove that an that develops explicitly games will indeed thrive. Apart from the gaming sector, the health tech sector was also rising in the COVID season. As per the Pitchbook analysis, the virtual health segment firms raised around in the second quarter of 2020. app development company in Los Angeles $534 million LA-based startup in Series B funding led by Magnetic Ventures. ConsejoSano is a platform that provides appointment coordination with medical providers and patients. ConsejoSano raised 17 million Moreover, , a digital health startup, did not have any trouble raising venture fundings as per its founder Celine Tien. Flowly Other than these, countless others have a scope of potential growth in the post COVID era, especially any app development companies in Los Angeles. Here are some more examples for reference: : is a management software for bookkeeping. The key motive behind this software is to make the bookkeeping process faster and efficient. The startup raised $40 million in Series C funding. FloQast FloQast : The SaaS platform allows Shopify brands to create shopping apps for mobile. The firm raised $10 million in a Series A funding round led by SignalFire. Tapcart #2 - The New Normal Paradigm When the lockdown was relaxed in late 2020, we witnessed some strange things but became a part of it. For instance, people resisted buying something from physical stores. They were more inclined towards buying online. One clear proof of this is the sudden boost in the app downloads of . Walmart The eCommerce giant app bagged the number #1 spot across all shopping applications in the US. The app even . This scenario is enough to describe that eCommerce startups are sure to boom in the future. And people will continue to purchase things online. surpassed Amazon by 20% One great example of a successful eCommerce startup in Los Angeles is . It is an eCommerce streaming startup that in a funding round led by Floodgate and Abstract Ventures. Popshop raised around $3 million Hence, it is safe to say that startups like these are sure to thrive in the post-COVID period, and people will get used to the new standard (buying online)— the reason being the diverse and expansive Los Angeles market. As the city is a hub of fresh opportunities, it is the best place for any firm to test its startup concept. #3 - A Key Attractor of Venture Capital Countless startups in Los Angeles have attracted heavy investments from investors. And it is not just about the startups. Investors are investing in anything where they see potential. One key thing that supports this is the diverse and evergreen startup ecosystem of Los Angeles. Whether they are more prominent fund investors like Upfront Ventures or early-stage investors like Mucker Capital, the investors firmly believe that Los Angeles will thrive in the post COVID era. As per Hsu, the co-founder of Mucker Capital, there are far more great companies than venture dollars here in Los Angeles. Investors in other cities should continue to see LA as an underserved ecosystem with tremendous opportunities. Mark Suster, the managing partner of Upfront Ventures, stated that 40% of its investment dollars in Los Angeles, 40% distributed across the Bay area and NYC. He added that the rest 20% is invested both nationally and internationally. The share of LA is pretty high as compared to other locations. the firm invests around has invested in various LA startups like GOAT, Drone Base, Scopely, and many more! Upfront Moreover, is another venture capital fund in Venice that has invested in the LA-based bookkeeping startup, FloQast. Amplify From all of this, we can say that LA holds a high ground in investments. Thus, making it ready to launch in the post-pandemic period. #4 - Remote Talent Acquisition Almost every firm in the world started hiring employees remotely amidst COVID-19. Thus, offering a lot of convenience to them. Moreover, the trend of remote hiring is here to stay for long. Why? If we talk about LA, it may take hours to get to work if you live across town. This long commute was greatly reduced for people in the lockdown, and people are used to it now. The remote hiring regime has not just benefitted the employees of LA firms but also the LA firms. As the geographical barriers are eliminated, firms can hire skilled workforce across the border. With remote working in trend, firms can get their hands on professional and diverse talent overseas. Thus, reducing their hiring cost! , , , , , are some of the firms switching to remote work. Facebook Twitter Shopify American Express Microsoft Salesforce Final Words As the city is flooded with the best of the best and diverse startups globally, there is no doubt that it will not thrive. The clear proof behind this is the heavy investments made by various ventures. As people are used to the new normal, it will not take much time for businesses like eCommerce, online food delivery, and health tech to hit zenith.

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