DTC’s Daily Digest brings you the latest news on the world’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer brands. In today’s edition: Travel DTC Snap is funding on Seedrs; Google to purchase Fitbit; and Revolut partners with QuickBooks. 

Travel DTC Snap is funding on Seedrs

Snap, a digital platform that aggregates travel demand and matches it with spare capacity from independent operators, is fundraising on Seedrs. 

Snap aims to be a solution for the carfree, environmentally conscious generation of digital natives, who engage with the brand online. By using existing assets and operating a capital-light marketplace model (analogous to Airbnb for holiday lets), Snap expects to be able to offer prices ~66% cheaper than a typical (off peak) rail fare.

Snap’s space is the domestic market for ground-based long distance leisure travel (which sounds like a niche but, because transport is the largest single category of consumer expenditure, it is part of a niche worth £116bn). 

Snap is a tech platform, and the majority of proceeds (54%) will be spent on people, with marketing the second largest category (20%). Following the pivot to a commission based model, the main focus for Snap in this funding period will be to prove the success of this model on a small number of routes before raising a larger scale round for growth and expansion.

Google to purchase Fitbit

Google plans to purchase Fitbit for an estimated USD$2.1bn, the companies have announced, marking the latest move in the tech giant's aggressive bid to enter the healthcare market.

Fitbit provides an opportunity for Google to sell wearables in both the consumer and healthcare business markets. Founded as a consumer wearables brand in 2007, Fitbit has been turning its attention toward the healthcare industry as it loses ground in the smartwatch space.

Fitbit health and wellness data won't be used for Google ads, said Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice president of devices and services, in a blog post about the acquisition.

"Google aspires to create tools that help people enhance their knowledge, success, health and happiness. This goal is closely aligned with Fitbit's long-time focus on wellness and helping people live healthier, more active lives," he wrote. "But to get this right, privacy and security are paramount." Google and Fitbit expect the acquisition to close in 2020.

Revolut partners with QuickBooks

Revolut has announced that Revolut for Business customers with businesses registered in the UK can now make direct and secure connection into the Intuit QuickBooks Online accounting platform via Open Banking APIs. This will be the first time that Revolut has collaborated with a third-party provider to use the advanced functionality of the new Open Banking government-mandated APIs and demonstrates a huge step forward for UK businesses.

By connecting accounts with QuickBooks financial management software through Open Banking, business owners are able to get close to real-time updates on their payments, expenses and cash balances. 

Combining this financial data with business commitments such as payroll, outstanding invoices, debtors and taxes due, gives a small business owner total visibility and control of their cash flow at a glance. 

Revolut for Business is continuing to add further products and services to its offering, including company-wide expense management and a much anticipated end-to-end acquiring solution.

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