Billion Dollar Unicorns: Snapchat Experiments With Revenues

I have never understood the idea behind venture capitalists driving multi-billion dollar valuations for companies that keep struggling with finding a successful revenue model. One such story is that of Billion Dollar Unicorn player Snapchat, which has seen their valuations skyrocket while still experimenting with a viable monetization opportunity. >>>

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Billion Dollar Unicorns: Beepi Disintermediates Used Car Dealerships

A recent IBISWorld report estimates the online US car dealers market to have grown a modest 2.9% annually over the period 2010 through 2015 to be worth $24 billion this year. Compare this figure with the 9% growth rate delivered by the US Car and Automobile manufacturing industry’s growth during the same period. Another IBISWorld report pegs the total car and automotive manufacturing industry in the country to be worth $127 billion. Driving online sales for cars is obviously not easy, but Billion Dollar Unicorn player Beepi is working hard to turn that trend around.

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Baidu Bets Big on O2O

According to iResearch, the Online-to-Offline or O2O service industry is expected to grow between 20% and 50%. The CAGR in the reverse Offline to Online industry is expected to surpass 600%. Baidu is now keenly focused on tapping this opportunity.

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Shutterfly Delivers Strong Results, But the Stock Continues to Tank

A recent IBISWorld report on the online photo printing market in the US estimated the industry to have grown 10% annually over the period 2009 to 2014 to $2 billion. Leading online photo printing player Shutterfly (Nasdaq: SFLY) reported second quarter results that were better than the market’s forecast.

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From E-Commerce to Web 3.0: MercadoLibre Still Dominates Latin America

According to a Forrester research report, Brazil’s business-to-consumer e-commerce sales are projected to grow from $17.8 billion in 2014 to $40.8 billion in 2019. Argentina, the second largest market in the region, is expected to see e-commerce sales grow from $3.4 billion in 2014 to $8.3 million in 2019 and over the same period, Mexico will see revenues grow from $2.8 billion to $6.7 billion. Latin America’s e-commerce leader MercadoLibre is continuing to thrive in this rapid growth market. >>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: ContextLogic Marries Wish Lists to Vendors

According to a recent US Census Bureau report, the country’s retail e-commerce sales, adjusted for seasonal variation, grew 4.2% over the year to $83.9 billion during the second quarter this year. Total retail sales during the same period grew 1.6% to $1,171.5 billion. Billion Dollar Unicorn player ContextLogic appears to be reaping the full benefits of this growing market.

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Billion Dollar Unicorns: Sprinklr Rolls up Social Media Management Software Before IPO

The Social Media Management Software (SMMS) market has been consolidating rapidly with companies like Oracle, Google, Salesforce, and Adobe making significant SMMS acquisitions in 2012. To compete, Billion Dollar Unicorn Sprinklr has been on an acquisition spree, rolling up seven SMMS startups in 18 months. >>>

Will Oracle’s Cloud Business Take Off?

The worldwide SaaS enterprise applications market was worth $22.6 billion in 2013 and is expected by IDC to increase to $50.8 billion by 2018, representing a CAGR of 17.6% for the period. Overall applications market in 2013 was $135.9B. From 16.6% in 2013, SaaS is expected to account for 27.8% of the worldwide enterprise applications market. The cloud has been a key focus for Oracle for some time now. However, it is a tough market to crack with tough competition and low margins. Will Oracle be able to crack it?

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Billion Dollar Unicorns: VNG Grows While Remaining Focused on Vietnam

There aren’t many Southeast Asian countries who have managed to reach the Billion Dollar Unicorn Club. In fact, according to market reports, there are only two players in the region — Garena from Singapore and VNG from Vietnam.

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Billion Dollar Unicorns: Klarna Takes the Risk out of E-Commerce

According to a recent report by eMarketer, e-commerce revenues are projected to grow 12.4% annually to be worth $3.5 trillion by 2019. E-commerce is estimated to account for $1.672 trillion in sales this year, contributing to 7.3% of overall global retail sales. By 2019, e-commerce will account for 12.4% of total retail sales. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Klarna is helping drive this growth by simplifying the process of purchasing for both buyers and sellers.

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