Trump China Tariffs, Meero Raises $45M for US and Asia Expansion, Amazon Prime Day: Newsletter July 13, 2018

Global trade news saw President Trump propose a list of $200 billion in Chinese imports on which to impose 10% tariffs, which is roughly equal to China’s exports to the US. The list includes products which are part of the Made in China 2025 strategic plan to make China a leading producer in key global industries. While the list aims to disrupt the Chinese economy, China has retaliated by imposing their own tariffs on $34 billion in US exports to China, threatening another $16 billion, and causing US retailers to grow concerned over product price increases and sourcing complications.

In the SaaS world, French SaaS startup Meero has raised $45 million in a new round of funding led by Alven Capital and Idinvest, just eight months after a $15 million round led by Global Founders Capital, Aglae Ventures, Alven Capital and White Star Capital. Meero uses sophisticated AI-powered algorithms to help websites curate high quality images quickly and at scale. The SaaS startup will use the funds to open new offices in the US and Asia as well as hire more computer vision experts in France. Meero currently serves 40,000 clients and processes a new transaction every 30 seconds.

In e-commerce news, Amazon has announced that Prime Day this year will begin July 16 and last six hours longer than usual. Last year, Amazon reported that thousands of sellers on the marketplace generated more than $50,000 each during the 30-hour event. To help Amazon sellers take advantage of this FE Founder, Thomas Smale, consulted several Amazon experts for their best advice, and compiled the top tips in his Entrepreneur column here.

It has been six weeks since the enactment of GDPR in Europe, and with all the noise still surrounding the data legislation online business owners still find it challenging to know how exactly to make their business GDPR compliant. FE this week published a complete guide to GDPR compliance for SaaS, e-commerce and content businesses on the blog, complete with downloadable checklists. Compliance is a must so make sure to read and share it with fellow entrepreneurs and investors you may know in the industry!

New in App business listings this week we have a $103K B2B image conversion software business, with a wide-market acceptance, hundreds of glowing reviews, a growing user base with c.2,900 monthly active customers and automated operations reducing owner involvement to a few hours per month. If you are interested in this business, please follow the link to request a prospectus.

In events news, Founder Thomas Smale will be attending Affiliate Summit East in New York from July 29-31, so make sure to reply to this email to set up a meeting if you will be in the area.

Continue reading below for more on President Trump’s proposed tariffs, Meero’s $45M raise and Amazon Prime Day.

Listings

New
App – Instagram Video Editing Tools – $3.8K gross/mo

  • Early presence in the lucrative and growing social media tool niche
  • Wide-market acceptance with glowing reviews from hundreds of users
  • Growing user base with c.2,900 monthly active users and c.14,300 cumulative installs
  • Automated operations reducing owner involvement to a few hours per month

Yearly net profit: $30,000
Asking price $103,000

Sold
SaaS – B2B Social Media Aggregation Software – $1.6M ARR

App – B2B Mobile Payment Integration – $31K gross/mo

Affiliate – Health & Wellness – $4.4K gross/mo

Affiliate – Travel & Leisure – $4K gross/mo

Affiliate – Home & Lifestyle – $2.7K gross/mo

Display Advertising – Children’s Education Resource – $730 gross/mo

In The News…

President Trump Proposes $200 Billion in Chinese Tariffs

The Trump administration released a proposed list of $200 billion in Chinese imports to the US on which to impose 10% tariffs.

A senior administration official said of the proposal, “The $200 billion figure we’re looking at is roughly equal to their exports to us.” The list includes some products from the Made in China 2025 sectors, which is an initiative to make China a lead producer in key global industries like technology. US Trade Representatives compiled the list with strategic disruptions to the Chinese economy in mind, as it comes after the president warned he would implement tariffs on at least $500 billion in Chinese imports to the US if Beijing chose to retaliate against the $34 billion in tariffs which went into effect last week against China. Since the Chinese administration did ultimately retaliate with $34 billion in their own tariffs against the US, Trump appears to be moving foward with his threat, prompting retailers across the globe to worry about pricing and inventory complications for products sourced from China.

If enacted, retailers should be aware that the tariffs would still be subject to a two month review process with hearings August 20-23. 

Meero Raises $45 million in New Funds

French software startup Meero has raised $45 million in a new round of funding led by Alvin Capital and Idinvest. 

Through the use of a sohpisticated AI platform, Meero offers an image-editing service for businesses hoping to improve the appearance of marketplace offerings. In a mission to assist businesses with improving the aesthetic appeal of their websites, Meero helps businesses hire out a photographer to take pictures, or have a company upload images themselves, to then be edit and optimize them for web. CEO and co-founder Thomas Rebaud said of the mission, “We focused on this idea because we wanted to make the web beautiful. We realized that we are all on Instagram and that photos are beautiful. But then, you go on a marketplace and photos aren’t great.” In order to accomplish this, Meero has prioritized creating AI-powered algorithms that allow clients to upload their photos and receive the edited versions in a matter of 24 hours. This funding round will allow Meero to open new offices in the US and Asia, as well as hire more computer vision experts in France.

Meero currently has 40,000 clients and processes a new transaction every 30 seconds.

Amazon Announces July 16 for Prime Day

Amazon 2018 Prime Day will last 36 hours this year, beginning at noon PT on Monday, July 16, and running through the end of the day July 17.

Amazon has reported that in past years, thousands of small businesses selling on Amazon each earned more than $50,000 during the 30-hour event, with more than 20,000 small businesses earning over $1 million on Amazon in 2017. In addition to the extra 6 hours, four new countries have been added to Amazon Prime Day this year: Australia, Singapore, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, for 17 countries total. Prime members will also be able to capitalize on Prime Day at Whole Foods this year, too. “Prime members will also save big, from earning $10 to spend on Amazon for Prime Day when they spend $10 at Whole Foods Market, to 10 percent back when shopping Whole Foods Market using their Amazon Prime Rewards Visa card,” according to Amazon Prime vice president Cem Sibay. The company reported that 2017 Prime Day was the biggest sales day todate, with over 60% growth over 2016 and garnering more new Prime subscribers than any other single 24-hour period in Amazon’s history.

Amazon recently disclosed in a shareholder meeting that they now have over 100 million Prime members.