Profitability should be achieved before the end of this year. Also: OpenAI does not want to leave Europe and ChatGPT app starts in the USA with strong download numbers.
Good morning! Even during the weekend, work in the digital scene continued in many places.
The top topics:
The Swedish fintech company Klarna has reached a major milestone: The startup, known for its “buy now, pay later” concept, halved its net loss in the first quarter. The company’s cost-cutting measures have thus paid off. Klarna posted a net loss of 1.3 billion Swedish kronor ($120.7 million/€112.5 million), down 50 percent year-on-year. At the same time, the company was able to increase sales and invest in artificial intelligence (AI), as CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said.
According to the company, the results show that Klarna is making “significant progress” towards profitability on a monthly basis. Klarna, which now has more than 150 million customers, received a credit rating of BBB/A-3 with a stable outlook from S&P Global in April. Klarna hopes to reach profitability in the second half of the year. [Mehr bei CNBC und Sifted]
On Founder scene: Clevershuttle is insolvent, the Berlkönig History: Shared on-demand bus rides are only successful in two cities. According to our columnist Don Dahlmann, the reason for this is simple: ridepooling might seem like a great idea on paper, but it’s not quite as easy to implement in reality. [Mehr bei Gründerszene]
And here are the other headlines of the night and the past few days:
OpenAI-Boss Sam Altman has meanwhile confirmed that he now wants to comply with the rules of the EU and does not want to leave Europe with ChatGPT. He had previously promised that if OpenAI could not comply with EU regulations. However, having now completed a European tour, which included discussions with EU regulators, his concerns appear to have been allayed. In addition to Paris, Altman was in London, Munich and Warsaw. [Mehr bei Bloomberg und The Information]
Die ChatGPTapp by OpenAI reached 500,000 downloads in just six days. The app was only available in the US and for iOS in the first few days (before the current expansion into eleven other global markets). This makes it one of the top performing new app releases both this year and last year. [Mehr bei Techcrunch]
Twitter withdraws from the EU pact against disinformation and thus turns its back on the voluntary code of conduct. This was tweeted by EU Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton on Friday evening. However, this brings the social media company only a few advantages: Because some regulations will be mandatory from August. [Mehr bei Handelsblatt]
Nikola is in danger of losing its listing on the Nasdaq technology exchange. According to the struggling electric truck developer, that’s because the stock price has traded under a dollar for the past 30 days. The company has until Nov. 20 to comply with Nasdaq’s floor price rule, which dictates that the stock price must be above one dollar for ten consecutive business days. [Mehr bei Techcrunch]
Cryptocurrencies: Paradigm, a crypto venture capital firm, is expanding its focus into artificial intelligence (AI) companies. Paradigm was created in 2018 by Coinbase-Co-founder Fred Ehrsam and former partner of Sequoia Capital, Matt Huang, founded. The firm has earned a reputation as a top crypto fund by, among other things, owning early stakes in the blockchain security firm Chainalysis has acquired. [Mehr bei The Block]
Our reading tip on Gründerszene: Laura Böntert today runs a marketplace for second-hand bridal wear. The beginnings of your startup Bride Cycle went bumpy: In addition to money and time, she lost almost all rights of use. [Mehr bei Gründerszene+]
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Have a good start into the week!
Your Gründerszene editors
Source: https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/business/schwedisches-startup-klarna-halbiert-verluste/
