ByteDance wants a slice of the food delivery pie

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Hello readers,

“Why walk 8 minutes when you can spend an extra $43 to have the food delivered to your doorstep?”

That’s from a tweet that went viral yesterday. It has gotten more than 63.3k likes so far and is probably every food delivery firm’s favorite tweet right now because of how it speaks directly to the sector’s target audience. And doesn’t that prove they have reached product-market fit (PMF)?

Attaining PMF is every startup’s dream but it takes a long time to get there. Before they can hit that elusive target, founders usually need to first raise funds. So, to help more founders raise funding and find their PMF, we’re calling on all the startups that are on the lookout for investors. Simply fill in this form to get your company featured on our list of fundraising startups.

Today we look at,

• ByteDance eyeing the food delivery business
• How this Alibaba-backed “new retail” company in Vietnam is doing, revenue wise
• Other newsy highlights such as Google being fined, and a Singapore bookkeeping startup that raised funding

PREMIUM SUMMARY

ByteDance wants to go up against Meituan and Ele.me in food delivery

Despite its name, ByteDance has more than just dance videos to offer. Besides owning TikTok and Douyin, the popular short-video apps, the Chinese company also has products that include Lark, a business collaboration tool, and Toutiao, a news and content platform. Now, ByteDance is testing the waters in food delivery with its Xindong Waimai in-app service.

• Live, laugh, love: Xindong Waimai is the firm’s latest attempt at expanding its local life services businesses. Although the division has been around for over two years, it was only a couple of years ago that ByteDance began actively experimenting with life services such as a group-buying and an in-app mini program for booking travel packages.
• In a pickle: It won’t be easy for Xindong Waimai to make a mark in the food delivery space against dominant players like Meituan and Ele.me. Meituan, for instance, has already outflanked Didi Chuxing in the past. Besides its 1 million daily active riders, Meituan also has other advantages, including its treasure trove of data on both customers and merchants.
• Piece of cake?: On the other hand, Xindong Waimai is backed by Douyin, which sees more than 600 million users spend around 60 minutes watching videos on the app every day. With Douyin’s precise algorithms, it would be easy to pin down users’ interests when it comes to food delivery as well.

Read more: How can ByteDance’s food delivery play succeed?

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Taking a look at the revenue of an Alibaba-backed “new retail” company

Staying on the straight and narrow with cryptocurrency