23 - Decentralized Logistics, Localization Infrastructure, B2B Payments
👋 Welcome to issue 23!
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Startup Spotlight
🚚 Gently
Founded: 2022 in Los Angeles, US
By: Elian Pres-Gurwits - ex-President & Managing Director @ GLOSSYBOX (raised $72MM in funding, acquired by THG); Anas Aljumaily - ex-CEO @ Fuel Consulting, LLC
Product: Gently is developing a new AI-powered logistics system for efficient and rapid distribution of goods to local fulfillment centers near consumers. By utilizing artificial intelligence, the system predicts high-demand areas based on data from retail partners, consumer purchasing behavior, and contextual information from third parties. Goods are then strategically distributed to fulfillment centers in these areas, ensuring proximity to consumer demand and minimizing delivery times and costs.
Unlike other business intelligence providers that offer supply chain optimization insights, Gently goes a step further by actively rebalancing inventory on behalf of its retail partners, from the factory all the way to the end consumer. This level of service is currently only offered by retail giants like Walmart and Amazon, who often disintermediate their partners.
Quick Take: The growing demand for faster delivery times is impacting retailers' profitability. Decentralized supply chains with mini-delivery hubs in towns can address this challenge effectively. By bringing products closer to customers, delivery times can be significantly reduced, meeting customer expectations and providing a competitive edge. Furthermore, decentralized supply chains enhance resilience by mitigating risks associated with disruptions to centralized supply chains, such as pandemics, natural disasters, and political instability. However, coordinating and maintaining sustainability across disjointed entities remains a major challenge for decentralized supply chains.
Total Funding (public source): N/A
Key Investors: N/A
Further Reading: How These Harvard Alums Tackle ‘Major Threat’ in Modern Logistics
👨💻 Inlang
Founded: 2022 in Berlin, Germany
Product: Inlang is a developer-first localization (l10n)1 infrastructure for software that simplifies translation management by keeping translations in a Git repository without the need for hosting, additional accounts, or synchronization. It provides dev tools, an editor to manage translations, and automation via CI/CD to streamline localization.
Quick Take: With web and mobile apps permeating every aspect of our lives more than ever before, software localization has become a necessity for delivering a seamless user experience across cultures and languages. However, localization is a complex process involving multiple stakeholders, making it impossible to be solved by a single solution. It requires a diverse range of solutions for developers, translators, product managers, business owners, static sites, dynamic apps, and more. Inlang's comprehensive suite of tools and apps is designed to simplify the process.
Total Funding (public source): N/A
Investors: N/A
💸 Tola
Founded: 2022 in San Francisco, US
By: Alen Cvisic, CEO - ex-Marketing Director @ Pleo (first employee); Guillaume Simard, CTO - Founder @ Cabane, ex-CTO @ Capdesk
Product: Tola is the simple tool for SMBs to pay bills and get paid. On top of that, Tola helps companies better manage their cash flow by allowing them to buy now and pay later for expensive bills in exchange for a small fee.
Quick Take: Small businesses worldwide are grappling with economic and political influences beyond their control, including tariffs, FX volatility, and trade agreement uncertainties. In an era where planning is tough and margins razor-thin, the last thing SMEs need is payment issues. While SMBs are embracing digital transformation, most B2B payments still rely on paper checks in 2023. These businesses face challenges with high processing fees, which eat into their profits and hinder their survival. Effective cash flow management is also crucial for SMBs to cover expenses and invest in growth. Innovative digital payment solutions like Tola tailored for SMBs can address these challenges and unlock potential growth opportunities.
Total Funding (public source): N/A
Investors: Y Combinator
Do you know of a startup that we should write about in our newsletter? Please send us a reply!
Fresh Powder
Percent, a platform connecting investors, underwriters, and others in private credit, secured $30MM in Series B funding. The round was led by White Star Capital and included participation from Susquehanna International Group, B Capital, and others. This funding round more than doubled Percent's warchest, bringing it to $48.2MM.
Nory, an operating system for multi-site restaurants and bars, raised $7.7MM in Seed funding. The round was led by Samaipata and Triple Point, with existing partners Cavalry Ventures and Playfair increasing their commitment. CircleRock Capital and Anamcara Capital also participated.
Basedash, a platform enabling product teams to accelerate their workflow without building internal tools, secured $4.5MM in Seed funding. The funding came from Matrix, Y Combinator, Form Capital, Worklife, and several prominent angels, including the founders of Figma, Notion, and BloomTech.
Worthy Three
10 Questions to Discuss with a Potential Co-founder: The goal here is to detect situations where you might have strong differences so that you can discuss them early, rather than being caught unawares later on.
How we make decisions at Coinbase: Most decisions in a company can be made unilaterally, but a decision-making framework is necessary for higher-risk choices with long-term impact or costly consequences, and it should be employed when there is disagreement or lack of clarity. By Brian Armstrong, Co-founder, and CEO @ Coinbase.
Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, recently testified before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee on Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Alongside him were Christina Montgomery, the Chief Privacy Officer of IBM, and Gary Marcus, a professor at NYU. For those who don't have ample time to watch the entire session, here's a concise summary of Altman's appearance before the Senate.
Miscellaneous
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Thanks for reading. See you on May 23rd!
While internationalization (i18n) and localization (l10n) are often used interchangeably, they actually refer to two distinct processes. Internationalization involves the construction of software in a manner that enables adaptation to different languages and cultures. On the other hand, localization entails the specific adaptation of software to a particular language or culture.
Localization extends beyond mere language translation. It encompasses the customization of various elements such as time and date formats, currency, accounting standards, culturally appropriate images, symbols, and hand gestures. Additionally, it encompasses spelling and other locale-specific components, ensuring a comprehensive adaptation to the target culture.