| Weekly News Roundup |
| 1. Swedish investment company Marathon Software to acquire SaaS underdogs – who ‘own their niche’ – Breakit The trio behind Marathon Software laid the foundation for their software group with six SaaS companies back in 2019. Breakit has met with the founders who decided to start acquiring companies that aren’t considered ”cool”. ”The idea behind Marathon Software is to build a serially acquiring group of software companies that will then go public in 3-5 years. The companies should have a revenue size between 5 and 50 million SEK, and they are encouraged to have a strong market position in a narrow niche where they can grow by developing the service, facilitated by the support the companies can receive within the group.” Read more 2. Advocacy group claims Meta’s subscription service is just payment for privacy – TVP World ”Meta Platforms’ paid no-ads subscription service launched in Europe this month faced one of its biggest tests as advocacy group NOYB on Tuesday filed a complaint with an Austrian regulator, saying that it amounted to paying a fee to ensure privacy.” “Not only is the cost unacceptable, but industry numbers suggest that only 3 percent of people want to be tracked – while more than 99% don’t exercise their choice when faced with a ‘privacy fee,’” the group said. “If Meta gets away with this, competitors will soon follow in its footsteps,” they added.” Read more 3. Roblox launches creator subscriptions to drive recurring revenue – PYMNTS Roblox is launching new in-game subscriptions in an effort to drive higher-margin purchases as, across the gaming industry, major players look for new ways to bring in recurring revenue. The company has announced that creators can now offer subscriptions for purchase within the experiences (i.e., digital spaces) they have made. “Additionally, companies that have not traditionally operated in the space are now making moves to capture consumers’ gaming subscription spending. Netflix shared last month that it is leveraging subscriber affinity for its films and series to create an audience for its emerging gaming business — an effort to avoid the typical challenges associated with gaming subscriber acquisition.” Read more 4. OpenAI paused ChatGPT Plus subscriptions for new users due to surging demand – CMS Wire OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus temporarily halts new subscriptions amid surge in demand after DevDay reveals GPT-4 Turbo and custom GPTs, signaling a new era in AI advancements. “This news follows the company’s first-ever DevDay conference held earlier this month in San Francisco. At the event, the company announced the arrival of GPT-4 Turbo — a more powerful, updated iteration of GPT-4 — and the ability for users to build custom versions of ChatGPT.” Read more 5. Pharmaceutical association: UK antibiotic subscription model key to supporting antibiotic investment – ABPI The latest report by the Office of Health Economics (OHE) provides valuable insights into investor views on the potential impact of a subscription model as a stimulus for the development of new antibiotics, writes ABPI. “Overall, all investors agreed that the UK [subscription] approach has the potential to send a hugely significant signal to other countries about the importance of pursuing similar incentives, while also showing how such initiatives can be put into action.” Read more 6. Multiple bids for Swedish SaaS star – valued at billion-SEK amounts – Affärsvärlden Modular Finance, having found a lucrative niche within financial data, is currently being courted intensively by various investors. According to Afv’s sources, the owner of Holdings has received several non-binding bids in November, and the company is valued at 2-3 billion Swedish kronor. “SaaS company Modular Finance, which sells the ownership database Holdings, is seeking a new majority owner. The company was founded by Måns Flodberg and Petter Hedborg in 2014, and both are still major shareholders in the company with 34% each.” Read more Weekly Analysis Roundup 1. Inside the online food subscription service feeding 200k cats – Sifted The British startup KatKin recently partnered with online grocery store Ocado — but challenges scaling a direct to consumer brand remain. Can the company learn from the US? “Through its online model, KatKin has delivered 33m fresh meals — cooked from “100% human-quality meats” and then frozen in sachets — to 200k cats. Like other DTC disruptors, it argues that it can maintain quality through control of its supply chain, while customising its product to the specific needs of each pet.” Read more 2. ModifyHealth CEO says food alone isn’t enough to retain meal kit subscribers – PYMNTS As meal kit providers look for ways to keep their customers coming back, medically focused subscription service ModifyHealth has found that supporting its food offerings with coaching and monitoring contributes to higher lifetime value. “When you’re providing meals, along with what we do, which is dietitian support and remote patient monitoring to help people get the outcomes they’re looking for, it really drives retention significantly,” Pratt said.” Read more 3. How Bloomberg Media got to 500,000 subscribers – and how it plans to reach a million – Press Gazette Bloomberg Media‘s chief digital officer Julia Beizer has told Press Gazette how the title managed to reach 500,000 subscriptions, five years after launching its paywall. The milestone makes it one of only 16 English-language news publishers in the world to have reached more than 500,000 digital subscribers. “Subscription businesses are just so honest, you know, you kind of put one foot in front of the other every day to serve your users. And they say thank you, and here’s money. So the benefit of being in subscription businesses is unbelievably clarifying and has really helped us say, hey, what do our subscribers need? Great, we’re going to develop that.” Read more |
