Shopify Launches “Audiences” Targeting Tool; VNG Valuation Sinks to USD$364m

by Hannah Dillon on 3rd Jan 2023 in News

In today's ExchangeWire news digest: Shopify launches “Audiences” to skirt around Apple's crackdown on tracking and targeting; Vietnam's VNG sees valuation slide to USD$364m (£301.6m); and German delivery grocery start-up Flink hit sales of €400m (£353m) in 2022.

Shopify Audiences posed to sidestep Apple privacy crackdown

Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify has launched a new tool, “Audiences”, to target users of some of the world’s largest advertising platforms. If successful, the tool could help the online advertising industry recover from the multi-billion dollar blow Apple’s privacy crackdown delivered last year.

According to the company’s president, Harley Finkelstein, the tool was developed following talks with Meta and Google in 2022. Audiences allows retailers to collate their customer data and upload it to Meta and Google’s advertising platforms, data which marketers can then use as templates to target customers with similar interests and behaviours.

Vietnam Unicorn VNG falls to USD$364m

Vietnam’s first tech unicorn, VNG, is expected to list locally with a valuation of USD$364 (£301.6m) later this month. The company, which provides digital services across social media, music streaming, fintech, and more, will list 35.8 million shares at USD$10.15 (£8.41) apiece on the Hanoi Stock Exchange.

VNG’s reduced valuation comes as a surprise to the industry, with the company having been previously valued at USD$2.2bn (£1.82bn) and signing a memorandum of understanding with Nasdaq in 2017.

Germany’s Flink hits sales of €400m

Berlin-based start-up Flink has reported hitting sales of €400m (£353m) in 2022. The company, which now stands as one of Europe’s last independent food delivery start-ups, has bucked the trend of rapid-delivery firms crumbling under an industry-wide funding crunch.

With over USD$700m (£580) in funding from backers including Prosus and DoorDash, Flink is optimistic that its core German business will be profitable by the end of 2023, despite the rapid-delivery market's notoriety for burning cash.