When you think about commerce platforms, chances are the first names that come to mind are big names like Adobe Commerce or Salesforce Commerce Cloud.
That’s why a French startup called Catalog wants to build a software-as-a-service product that seamlessly manages B2B sales across several sales channels.
But these tools don’t necessarily work well for B2B companies.
This way, the company hopes it can handle the majority of B2B orders for companies that have decided to use Catalog.
By focusing on small and medium businesses, Catalog could start offering a wide range of services that are specifically tailored for these small manufacturing and commerce companies.
Lordstown Motors charged with misleading investors about the sales potential of its EV pickupThe Securities and Exchange Commission has charged bankrupt Lordstown Motors with misleading investors about the sales prospects of its Endurance electric pickup truck.
Lordstown has agreed to pay $25.5 million as a result — money that the SEC says will go towards settling a number of pending class action lawsuits against the company.
“We allege that, in a highly competitive race to deliver the first mass-produced electric pickup truck to the U.S. market, Lordstown oversold true demand for the Endurance,” Mark Cave, Associate Director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement said in a statement.
“Exaggerations that misrepresent a public company’s competitive advantages distort the capital markets and foil investors’ ability to make informed decisions about where to put their money.”The SEC says its investigation into Lordstown Motors is ongoing.
This story is developing…
Fisker is laying off 15% of staff and says it needs more cash ahead of a “difficult year”Electric vehicle startup Fisker is planning to lay off 15% of its workforce and says it likely does not have enough cash on hand to survive the next 12 months.
“[W]e have put a plan in place to streamline the company as we prepare for another difficult year,” founder and CEO Henrik Fisker said in a statement.
Fisker said Thursday that it finished 2023 with $396 million in cash, though $70 million of that is restricted.
The company says it is talking with one of its lenders about making “an additional investment” in the company.
Fisker has also been dealing with a number of problems with its Ocean SUV, its only model so far, as TechCrunch reported earlier this month.
Those shared interests combined with Ryan’s understanding of the market — and the margins necessary to be successful — led to the founding of EQ Tickets.
Initially, EQ Tickets focused on developing a secondary ticket marketplace, similar to something like StubHub, Vivid Seats, or SeatGeek.
The final tie-in is EQ Tickets’ primary ticketing marketplace, which helps turn the site into a one-stop shop for big events.
The primary ticketing platform hadn’t yet been announced as EQ Tickets was working directly with select clients to test the service.
EQ Tickets is currently available via the web and mobile web but plans to launch a native mobile app later this year.
Smaller companies are just as eager to use AI tech to supercharge their sales processes as their bigger competitors.
Darwin AI, a Brazil-based AI startup, is developing a conversational AI assistant for small businesses across Latin America who want to get into AI, but don’t have an IT staff.
The assistant is designed to interact with customers in a more human-like manner to help generate more revenue.
Using AI, Darwin takes into account the needs of companies and then filters leads and customers.
As more companies implement automation into their processes, the conversational AI market is expected to grow over 20% annually through 2030.
The future of bankrupt electric motorbike startup Cake is still uncertain, but the majority of its U.S. inventory is going to a guy in Florida.
Joyce says he didn’t buy any of the remaining Cake Kalk electric motorcycles, as those have been recalled for battery fire risk and steering column problems.
Buying the inventory gives him “six to 12” months of runway, which will give him time to finish negotiating with other companies to sell electric motorbikes.
Joyce is confident he can sell the Cake inventory after spending most of the last year honing in on a good sales and marketing strategy.
Joyce hopes to find enough success to build Emoto into a brand that becomes a one-stop-showroom for electric motorbikes, similar to some of the country’s biggest powersports dealers.
Ford is cutting prices of its all-electric 2023 Mustang Mach-E by has much as $8,100 as the automaker attempts to rid itself of inventory and compete with Tesla and its increasingly cheaper EVs.
Total market share of new EV sales has grown, reaching nearly 8% in U.S. in 2023.
Ford confirmed with TechCrunch the price cuts, which are only for model year 2023 Mustang Mach-E vehicles and range between $3,100 and $8,100.
“The Mustang Mach-E is America’s No.2 EV SUV in 2023 and Ford is America’s No.2 EV brand,” Ford spokesperson Marty Günsberg wrote in an emailed statement.
Tesla shipped a record number of electric vehicles in the fourth quarter, which helped it reach 1.81 million deliveries in 2023.
Despite record growth in the solar industry last year, software startup Aurora Solar has laid off 20% of its staff of about 500 people, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
The company, which provides software to help solar installers manage their sales, project design and installation process, has missed its growth targets for the past year, a source said.
It’s possible that Aurora Solar hit stiffer headwinds than expected in California, where changes in net metering led to homeowners getting paid about 75% less for power sold back to utilities.
With net metering rates slashed, the state has decided to offer richer incentives for solar installations that include batteries.
While Aurora Solar says its software is used by 90% of the top 100 solar installers, it also has more than 7,000 customers, many of which likely fall in the long tail of the distribution, those that say they’re under the most pressure.
Despite record growth in the solar industry last year, software startup Aurora Solar has laid off 20% of its staff of about 1,000 people, TechCrunch has exclusively learned.
The company, which provides software to help solar installers manage their sales, project design and installation process, has missed its growth targets for the past year, a source said.
It’s possible that Aurora Solar hit stiffer headwinds than expected in California, where changes in net metering led to homeowners getting paid about 75% less for power sold back to utilities.
With net metering rates slashed, the state has decided to offer richer incentives for solar installations that include batteries.
While Aurora Solar says its software is used by 90% of the top 100 solar installers, it also has more than 7,000 customers, many of which likely fall in the long tail of the distribution, those that say they’re under the most pressure.
I founded Mindtickle, a sales readiness platform, in 2011 to address this issue and help companies prepare their sales teams to tackle any challenge.
Digital sales rooms offer a new way to achieve just that.
Winning sales organizations have now started using digital sales rooms (DSRs) to introduce buyer enablement to the sales enablement ecosystem to create a more interactive and engaging experience for buyers.
Combining DSRs with sales enablement toolsBuyers are scrutinizing purchases more and sellers are under pressure to provide value in every buyer interaction.
Digital sales rooms are online microsites where sellers can customize and share contracts, mutual action plans, sales content, and more with buyers.
