Marcin Małaszuk

🚨 Russia has approved an updated list of goods for parallel imports! 🚨 The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation has announced changes to the list of goods authorized for parallel imports. Important points: 🔹 Transition period: The changes will come into force in six months, which will give businesses time to realize the goods already purchased. 🔹 Exclusions: Some light industrial brands are excluded from the list. Specific names have not yet been disclosed, but a reduction of about 200 items is expected. 🔹 Additions: KIA and Hyundai brands have been added to the list, which will ensure import of not only cars, but also spare parts for them. 🔹 Effectiveness of the mechanism: Parallel import has been in operation for more than two years and has shown its effectiveness, ensuring the entry of goods that are not produced in Russia or «friendly» countries. 🔹 Production growth: Russian industry has increased the production of new goods, which allows to gradually reduce the list for parallel imports. Last year, the manufacturing industry showed a growth of 7,5%. 💬 The Ministry noted that there are more than 3,000 brands in Russia that are actively developing and have production facilities or place orders at Russian enterprises. 📢 Follow the news and be ready for changes in the market! ✉️If you are interested in our company’s services, please contact us by mail: [email protected] Subscribe to our Telegram channel: https://lnkd.in/eiGCKB6q 📊 #Cargotransportation #Logistics #Economy #Commerce #autotransportation #business #transportation

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📈 Poland's AI Ecosystem was on a growth curve in 2024, according to The Recursive recently launched State of AI in CEE 2024 Report, following up on the first edition last year. 📍January saw ElevenLabs (Mati Staniszewski) raise €73.6M Series B, achieving unicorn status just two years after launch. 📍Polish AI companies attracted €171M this year, nearly doubling 2023's €91M. Highlights: CampusAI Polska (Aureliusz Gorski 🧑🏻‍💻🤖 Gorski ), Nomagic (Kacper Nowicki), Synerise (Jaroslaw Krolewski), SKY ENGINE AI (Bartek Włodarczyk), and edrone (Michal Blak). 📍Polish VCs raised €430.43M across 9 funds in 2024, fueling higher rounds and co-investments. Learn more about Poland’s AI positions in CEE in the article below. ⬇️ #AllAIsOnCEE

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Romania's startup ecosystem is on the rise. Here's why it's worth paying attention to. Part 2. We've been discussing what makes it thrive with local investors. Today, I want to highlight what Marius Istrate from TechAngels Romania shared with us recently at EUVC 🎙 1/ Strong technical talent. Beyond just a strong engineering tradition. Romania has a high density of tech talent. 5% of the local workforce (+/- 230.000 people) work in IT & telecom. Overcoming other countries in the region. 2/ A maturing ecosystem. If technical expertise was once a must-have. Today, we see a rise of diverse teams. Good pitches from non-technical founders, but with good business acumen. 3/ Stability & support to build a company. An often overlooked factor. Romania fosters a climate where founders feel comfortable building a company. Even if they might scale to other markets later. What are your thoughts? Do you have Romania as your target for upcoming investments? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments section. #venturecapital #angelinvesting #startupfunding #europe

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📱💳 Tranzzo Platform Boosts Average Order Value in Varus App by 150%! From day one, Tranzzo has specialized in enterprise-level projects and custom payment solutions. The Tranzzo team has experience developing payment services for full-fledged e-commerce ecosystems, building billing systems from scratch, creating custom bank integrations, and developing payment pages and everything related to payment processing. Tranzzo solutions drive payment conversion and revenue growth. In partnership with the VARUS supermarket chain, the company helped increase the average online order value by 19% and the number of website payments by 150%. How were these results achieved? ⚡️ Automatic charges and payment links: Convenient payment methods that automated the payment process and simplified checkout for customers. ⚡️ Branded payment page: Increased customer trust in the payment process with a VARUS-branded page, reducing the risk of abandoned carts. ⚡️ Visa discount: An additional incentive for paying with a Visa card, automatically applied to customers, encouraging more purchases through savings. ⚡️ Instant payments through smart routing: Ensured fast payment processing by optimally selecting the transaction processing route, increasing conversion and payment efficiency. Details: https://lnkd.in/ddqPyCtw

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Concept: A Centralized Platform for Synchronized Startup Funding and Dotations in Poland **Understanding the Need:** The Polish startup ecosystem is rapidly growing, but there is a need for a more centralized and efficient platform to connect startups with potential funders, including both domestic and international investors. Such a platform would streamline the funding process, increase transparency, and facilitate collaboration between startups and funders. **Platform Features:** 1. **Comprehensive Database of Startups:** * Detailed profiles of startups, including their business plans, team members, funding needs, and progress. * Categorization of startups based on industry, stage of development, and geographical location. 2. **Centralized Repository of Funding Opportunities:** * Listings of all available funding sources, including grants, loans, equity investments, and crowdfunding campaigns. * Information on eligibility criteria, application processes, and funding amounts. * Integration with EU funding programs to provide easy access to European grants and subsidies. 3. **Investor Profiles:** * Profiles of individual and institutional investors, including their investment criteria, areas of interest, and contact information. * Matching algorithm to connect startups with suitable investors based on their profiles and needs. 4. **Synchronization and Collaboration Tools:** * A secure messaging system for communication between startups and investors. * Tools for scheduling meetings and virtual events. * Document sharing and collaboration features. 5. **Due Diligence Support:** * Access to resources and tools for conducting due diligence on potential investments. * Expert advice on legal, financial, and technical aspects of startup funding. 6. **Performance Tracking:** * Tools to track the performance of funded startups and measure the effectiveness of investment strategies. **Benefits of the Platform:** * **Increased Efficiency:** Streamlining the funding process for both startups and investors. * **Improved Transparency:** Providing a centralized platform for information sharing. * **Enhanced Collaboration:** Facilitating connections between startups and investors. * **Access to International Funding:** Connecting Polish startups with global investors. * **Support for Regional Development:** Promoting economic growth and job creation in various regions of Poland.

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Our recent study on the Polish e-commerce market identifies manual processes and return costs as major factors driving up last-mile delivery expenses. Respondents also highlighted technological challenges, such as the lack of comprehensive visibility into delivery operations, complicating their analysis. Additionally, increasing demands for timely and accurate deliveries add complexity to logistics, including order picking. Arkadiusz Kawa, Managing Director of Łukasiewicz – Poznań Institute of Technology, notes the dual challenge retailers face with escalating costs and customer expectations. "Efficient last-mile delivery is crucial to minimizing returns and boosting customer satisfaction," notes Piotr Skobało, CEO of Magna Valor. "A significant 74% of respondents recognize its benefits, highlighting the need for optimization." Learn more about our report from this article by #isbtech: https://lnkd.in/eYmJQAVk #Postis #Ecommerce #Retail #Delivery #Polish #Poland

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Here are some interesting figures: ▪️Ukraine ranks second among CEE countries in the number of IT professionals, with 307,000 specialists. AI specialists make up less than 1% of all IT professionals, but there's significant potential for growth. We expect a 330% increase in the number of AI specialists in the coming years. ▪️Over the past 10 years, the number of AI/ML specialists has grown fivefold to 5,200, with nearly 36% of them being young talents aged 21-25. ▪️Compared to other European countries, Ukraine has a higher concentration of AI startups in marketing, gaming, and business software. ▪️Ukraine ranks first among CEE countries in the number of IT graduates, with 25% of them having studied in specialized AI/ML programs. ▪️Each year, 40-80% of Ukrainian startups that raise venture capital receive funding from foreign investors. Today, we at Roosh and AI HOUSE, with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, presented the first large-scale research of the Ukrainian AI market, titled "AI Ecosystem of Ukraine: Talents, Companies, Education." The goal is to highlight key industry trends, identify the needs of specialists, and understand Ukraine's place on the global AI map. It also aims to provide a basis for strategic decision-making at the state level. More details are available on the AI HOUSE website: https://lnkd.in/d2NXvhMu

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Why we do not accelerate startups in Poland: a critical look at our ecosystem In recent years, Poland has seen a surge in startup activity, with numerous accelerators and incubators popping up all over the country. But in reality, despite the efforts and the publicity, we're not truly accelerating our startups at all. Why? 👉 Limited international exposure The majority of our startups remain (and often perish) within Poland due to a lack of international networks provided by accelerators. 👉 Incubation masquerading as acceleration Polish “accelerators” focus heavily on early-stage support - helping with ideation, basic business model development, and initial prototyping. While valuable, this approach falls short of true acceleration, which should be about rapidly scaling an already viable business model. 👉 The equity-free money trap There’s just too much public aid! Easy access to equity-free money has created a dependency culture - startups become accustomed to receiving funds without giving up equity, which leads to complacency and a lack of urgency to achieve real market traction. 👉 Accelerators: corporate innovation programs in disguise Many accelerators are essentially outsourced Corporate Open Innovation Programs, focusing on delivering value to specific corporate partners. This misalignment of interests often results in startups being treated as experimental projects for corporations instead of receiving the support they need to scale independently. To truly accelerate our startups, we need to: ✅ Encourage more skin in the game from accelerators through equity participation. ✅ Focus on programs that prioritize startup growth over corporate innovation objectives. ✅ Develop robust international networks to help startups expand beyond Poland. ✅ Clearly differentiate between incubation and acceleration services. ✅ Emphasize market-driven growth and customer acquisition over grant-writing skills. By addressing these issues, we can transform our startup ecosystem from merely incubating ideas to accelerating growth and creating global competitors. The potential is here; **now is the time** to unlock it with smarter, more focused acceleration strategies. I’m open to discussing what that might be!

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Welcome to the Manage and More Startup Series, where we talk to founders at different stages of the founding process. Today’s interview partner: Vladimir Keil, CEO at askLio (YC S23). 𝗛𝗶 𝗩𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗶, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽 𝗱𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲? AskLio is building AI agents for procurement teams at large enterprises. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗽? Working at a startup and being a founder for me means having the opportunity to really make a difference in the world. So you don't have to accept the status quo. You have the opportunity to not just discover problems but to solve them. And you can do this by having a wonderful team and having fun building products. And then imagine you're walking into a room and you see all the people using your product and telling you “hey thank you that you have built this product”. It always amazes me when for example I visit enterprises that have Asklio and I walk into the department and see how many people have AskLio stickers on their laptops. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗻? .... [🎥 to know more watch the video below] This wraps up our series on founding at Manage and More. Missed an interview? Revisit the previous conversations. And don’t forget—join us at Start and Spread or our other info events. We look forward to seeing you there! #StartupSeries #Entrepreneurship #ManageAndMore #Innovation #Unternehmertum #founder #Journey

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I do not trust the Parcel Locker Software provider with no operational experience. From that point of view, OX Point has all the prerequisites. My passion is Software. I believe that software will rule the infrastructure soon. I had an exciting interview with Vladislav Král, the COO of OX Point, and I couldn’t be more impressed! OX Point is doing something unique in the parcel locker space. Down in the video, you can see what software operated OX Point Hardware. Not only do they operate a huge open and shared network, but they’ve also built a flexible, cloud-based platform that adapts to different client needs and use cases—from parcel delivery to luggage storage. What really caught my attention is how they’ve mastered complex logistics while ensuring seamless integration with other systems. This level of customization and innovation is something that every logistics professional should know about. If you’re curious about where the future of parcel locker networks is heading, check out the full interview here: https://lnkd.in/dkx6WA5Y 📍 Did you find this post helpful? Thank you for taking the time to read it. ♻️ Share this post to show your support for 🅻🅾🅲🅺🅴🆁🆂.

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A real case from business. A client contacted us IPSM Procurement a couple of years ago, the CEO of a Ukrainian company, a leader, by the way, in one segment. ✒ Problem: he has few suppliers, new suppliers are not very keen to participate in tenders. They immediately go to the CEO for all questions, bypassing the buyers. And in general, he is not happy with his purchasing department. Naturally, first we assessed the situation, conducted an analysis of purchases, all elements of the purchasing function, identified areas for improvement and an action plan. I will not go into the detail about the set of measures that we took and that the Client has taken over the next 2 years. There were quite a lot of them. The result was quite good, which we were happy with. And the Client was also happy and appreciative. What happened to the suppliers over the years? The suppliers forgot the way to the CEO. Suppliers are happy to participate in negotiations and tenders, disclose the structure of their costs, are ready for long-term cooperation, and have increased the payment deferral. What important things has the Client done in relation to suppliers that they have achieved such results? ➡️a deep and detailed analysis of key markets was conducted ➡️supplier costs were analyzed, their cost structure was studied, and these costs were optimized accordingly ➡️a real willingness to cooperate and openness on the part of the Client was demonstrated ➡️the TOR (Specifications) were revised and redone taking into account the information received from the market and from suppliers ➡️an audit of suppliers was conducted and a development plan for key and strategic suppliers was drawn up ➡️negotiations were held with producers on increasing the payment deferral with simultaneous improvement of payment discipline (the client pays exactly on the agreed dates) ➡️projects are being carried out to optimize the nomenclature together with suppliers, as well as innovative developments. All these activities gave the Client very significant savings, which could not be achieved before. Why am I telling you all this?)) Because only by improving your work with suppliers, building RELATIONSHIPS with them, you can achieve SIGNIFICANT results and save money! If you like this case and interested to change situation for better in your company, please contact us [email protected] #ipsm #procurementexcellence #categorymanagement #srm

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PPF Group becomes the biggest shareholder in InPost!   In May 2023, PPF acquired a 15% stake in InPost from Advent at EUR 10.00/share, with an option for an additional 15%. Prior to this, PPF already held an approx. 1.7% in InPost. In December 2023, PPF bought an additional 5% at EUR 10.50/share, reaching an approx 21.7% stake. Advent International also granted PPF an option for another 10%. Last Friday, PPF exercised this option, which would normally have brought its stake at approximately 31.8%. In parallel to exercising its option, PPF sold on a 3% stake in InPost to to Claure Group. The interesting element about this deal is that Claure Group is that it is owned by Marcelo Claure, a technology entrepreneur and investor. Marcelo also happens to be Vice Chairman of SHEIN Group, and in his career, he has also been CEO of Sprint and CEO of Softbank Group International. So what’s behind this decision? For some time Advent has apparently been seeking to gradually reduce its stake in InPost and safely cash in on its investment after having been a shareholder for 7 years. For PPF, the investment in InPost seems to be part of its new strategy with a clearer focus on investing in Europe and North America. What is even more interesting, is that PPF was also mentioned as one of the contestants to buy Packeta, which ended up in the arms of CVC Capital Partners and Emerging Markets Capital, a.s.. The latter happens to be an investment company controlled by Jiri Smejc, who is also the CEO of PPF. Besides, there are close ties between PPF and Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Holding (owners of large minority stakes in Royal Mail and PostNL). Friday’s deal also establishes an indirect link to Shein Group. All in all, this should be ample to pique your interest in what could be next…so watch my posts to get the latest! Thanks to my buddy Henk Slotboom's valuable input into this post. Any comments from my Last Mile Experts budddies and learned friends Mirek GralGreg UrbanJacek PowalkaWojtek ForoncewiczArkadiusz KawaGary WinterDetlef SymanskiFelipe Tabilo ChirinoTony Jasinski.  

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Moving to a gym? Stuck in traffic? Let’s talk CEE Venture Capital! 🤖🎙️ In the latest episode of Venture brAIn, we break down the venture capital trends in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) for Q2 2024 based on Vestbee latest post. Total funding reached an impressive €940 million, but there’s a twist: the number of funding rounds has actually declined. What does this mean for startups and investors in the region? Key insights from the episode: 💶 The rise of big investment rounds driving market activity 📊 Which countries and industries are leading the CEE scene 💡 Notable rounds from Creatio, Rohlik, ICEYE, and FintechOS 🎧 Tune in to explore how the investment landscape is evolving and what it means for the future of funding in the CEE region. Link in the comments 👇 #venturecapital #CEE #startups #funding #VenturebrAIn #investmenttrends #innovation 🤖🎙️ How It All Comes Together: My process is fully automated and AI-driven. I use Make.com to collect daily data from various sources, filter interesting topics based on specific criteria, and then generate prompts with ChatGPT. The podcast itself is created using NotebookML, while images are crafted with Leonardo.ai and Canva. All materials are brought together via Make.com workflows, ensuring a seamless production flow, including scheduling posts directly to LinkedIn. 🚀

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Polish broker looks for investors interested in participating in real estate development projects and also agents willing to search for such investors. Short summary An SME from Poland, an investment broker for VIP clients, specialises in planning, coordinating and executing real estate development projects. The firm is looking for investors - and agents who can bring new investors - ready to participate in its projects. It offers projects in favourable locations, with scenic views and good transportation access. They are suitable for residential, commercial and heavy industry development. Full description A company from north-west Poland operates as an investment broker helping partners (companies and individuals) to invest in the following industries: aviation, yachting, luxury apartment and real estate development. It specialises in planning, coordinating and executing multinational real estate development projects. It has experience working with foreign partners from i.a. Belgium, China, Germany, Spain and the USA. The firm offers new investment opportunities and searches for partners ready to participate in its real estate development projects. One such investment is the development of a sailing and leisure resort by the Szczecin Lagoon, near the Baltic Sea and large cities such as Berlin and Szczecin. It will consist of: a marina for 500 boats; boat-building, -maintenance and -storage facilities and service providers; a hotel; autonomous villas with smart solutions improving the building's energy efficiency and making it environment-friendly. The area (ca. 14 hectares) has a healthy climate (attractive for medical tourism) and rich flora and fauna, with rare bird species. The company has six other similar locations. Some of them have picturesque landscapes, which makes them suitable for building houses, hotels, and resorts, i.e. infrastructures to be used by individual customers. Others have, among their advantages, good road connections, which makes them a right fit for factories, logistics/distribution centres and other similar buildings for businesses. The firm is also ready to cooperate with agents. They've got to represent the company abroad and find investors willing to participate in its projects. The agents are going to be paid a success fee. Advantages and innovations - a wide range of investment projects for a partner to choose from - the company currently offers 7 locations ready for development, from 2ha to 120ha large; - high ROI (return on investment) - investments in real estate development pay dividends ranging from 10% to 35%; - offered projects are all located in attractive places in terms of their landscapes (nearby forests, lakes and rivers, healthy air/microclimates) and logistics (good access to roads and other modes of transportation, location near large cities of Berlin and Szczecin, and the Baltic Sea). - 20 years of experience cooperating with strategic partners and managing their investments.

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🔥 HOT❓ 🔥 Allegro's three shareholders are planning (maybe they have already done so) to sell a block of 50 million shares . The sale is to be made by three investors (the two largest): Cidinan Sarl , which will sell 45 % of the offered shares, Permira VI Investment Platform Limited - 45 % and Mepinan Sarl - 10 %. In June 2023, all three companies sold a block of 53 million shares. Based on recent press reports, another (4th) head of this entity (actually Allegro retail) has been dismissed and a crisis manager brought on board, whatever that means. The group also includes Mall.cz e-store and courier company WeDo. WEDO is a logistics operator with around 3,500 #OOH delivery points ( #PUDO and #APM).  I would be happy to hear the opinions of inexperts and subject matter experts to contrast the press news with Allegro reality.  Marek Rozycki Daniel Mareš Jacek Powalka Greg Urban Tony Jasinski Arkadiusz Kawa Adam Koliński Mateusz Chołodecki and all of my dear readers, what do you think? Last Mile Experts #lastmile #parcellocker #ecommerce #investment

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Life writes the best scenarios. I just came across an appeal from one of the employees of Polish State Radio Kraków, informing that the show they work on is being shut down, will stop broadcasting, and new hosts will appear on air - three individuals with specific names and surnames. Journalists are being fired in the mean time. One of them, Mateusz Demski, writes: "From October 22nd, we will hear the voices of three new hosts on air. 20-year-old Emilia "Emi" Nowa, a journalism student and pop culture expert; 22-year-old Jakub "Kuba" Zieliński, a technology and music specialist; and 23-year-old, socially engaged Alex - who covers topics related to queer identity and culture. None of these people exist. They were all generated by AI." Someone might say that perhaps this is a sign of the times and we should get used to it, especially in creative industries where creators will be replaced by robots. And perhaps we would have accepted this if it weren't for two issues. The first being that this initiative is being implemented by a person whose formal position on LinkedIn is called "company liquidator" - someone who is supposed to, well, to put it crudely, plow something under. Clearly, AI can help with it. Productivitiy gains strike again. And the second thing is that this is our public radio, funded by our taxes. It is interesting to understand how mission of such media can be delivered via AI. Interesting times, indeed.

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Friends, many of you know that I develop products for digital marketers and SEO specialists at the Ukrainian company Netpeak Software. Today, I’m thrilled to share some exciting news with you and the entire internet marketing industry — we’re officially launching a new product we’ve been working on for the past 10 months. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of russia, we haven’t launched any new products. Although our team has been working on several ambitious ideas, the war forced us to rethink our business, test hundreds of hypotheses, and even restructure the company entirely. We adapted our flagship product, Netpeak Spider, for macOS and decided that all new products should be cross-platform to ensure maximum accessibility for all users. In 2024, we made a big step forward — we created a new platform for future desktop products and even started developing web products. And today, we proudly present Limonity On-page — our first product built on this new architecture. Limonity On-page is a cross-platform tool for monitoring changes on web pages, providing unlimited control over SEO and content parameters with no restrictions on the number of projects or pages. Our market analysis showed us that there are already many excellent monitoring products out there. Most are online services with pricing starting from $29 per month for regular checks of 1,000 pages. This pricing is justified, as these services must cover high server costs for data processing and storage. However, due to these costs and limitations, many specialists are forced to skip monitoring, even though it could save them significant time and effort. We realized we could offer a unique advantage that web-based services lack: unlimited monitoring. Limonity On-page lets you monitor changes on websites with no limits on the number of projects or pages — a freedom every SEO specialist will appreciate. Kudos to our amazing team (Wise, Merlin, Lance, Lima, Gambit, Shu, Daikiri), who continue to create, grow, and believe in our mission despite the challenges of war. We’re deeply grateful to our defense forces, including our colleagues on the military service Tiras and Bagatar. And special thanks to our alpha and beta testers, who help us identify and fix issues. I invite everyone to try Limonity On-page today! Link to the product description is in the comments 👇

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