Welcome, this industry newsletter shares key market changes, in a twice-monthly publication, curated by Jeremiah Owyang, Founder of Catalyst Companies™, you can subscribe to the email newsletter on the footer of the homepage.

Collaborative Economy Market Contraction Signals Maturity
Salon’s recent article detailing several failed Collaborative Economy startups created quite a buzz, with many turning to Catalyst Companies’ founder Jeremiah Owyang for his insights. Data shows that people are increasingly adopting sharing behaviors, and many startups are indeed profitable. The Collaborative Economy isn’t going away––but it is moving into a contraction phase as it matures. The market is changing as startups saturate identical markets and use cases, “VC welfare” strings start to tighten, and startups combine or disappear completely. This is normal, alike every tech cycle, and means that market leaders will accelerate even faster (amidst being further scrutinized to prove their profitability to investors). Soon, the Collaborative Economy will enter the next phase, normalization. Read more of Jeremiah’s take on his blog.

Uber Unveils Trip Branding and Personalization Features
Uber’s latest feature release, Trip Branding and Personalization, allows companies to specify branded, customized elements that show up on-trip to consumers using the Uber app. Developers who use deep-links or Ride Reminders can now easily re-engage users they send to the Uber app and link back to their URL of choice. This helps create a more personalized experience for customers, as Hilton showcases in its partnership that allows users to view hotel stay details and check in while en route via Uber. Companies using this feature can also give destinations context with information like menus and attractions, as well as prompt downloads of native apps to help with other tasks like airline check-in. Learn more directly from Uber.

BMW Launches New Car-Sharing Service in Seattle, “ReachNow”
The Verge reports that BMW has launched a new car-sharing service in Seattle called ReachNow that uses a fleet of 370 BMW 3 Series sedans, i3s, and Mini Coopers. The service is priced by the minute and cars can be taken one way as long as they’re left within a defined “home area.” All cars in the ReachNow fleet have a promotional rate of 41 cents per minute while driving and 30 cents per minute while parked, with pricing capped for longer trips. The service will eventually be coming to 10 U.S. cities. BMW has run several car-sharing programs in European markets, and briefly launched a pilot program in San Francisco (shut down in 2015). Ford and GM have also launched similar services, and Zipcar recently announced per-minute and one-way service in Boston and Los Angeles.

We want to hear from you! What are the market impacts are of this week’s news stories? Email Catalyst Companies™ Founder Jeremiah Owyang directly to share your thoughts.

Image used with creative commons license from Morgan Schmorgan