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For this week in data, we've got 40,000 new jobs, an AI 100 co raise, and the brightest supernova ever observed. Check it out below.

$100M: Biometric authentication company Onfido raised $100M. The round was led by TPG Growth with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Microsoft venture arm M12, among other investors. UK-based Onfido was featured on our 2020 AI 100 list of the most promising AI startups in the world. See all the AI 100 winners here.  

75,000 workers: Jeff Bezos released his annual letter to Amazon shareholders. The letter outlined initiatives that the company is pursuing to reduce the spread of Covid-19, including building an in-house testing center. The company also announced plans to hire 75,000 workers — in addition to the 100,000 new staff it has already taken on over the last month — as online shopping demand surges. From being quick to make easily reversible decisions to having a healthy fear of customers’ whims, we highlight 22 key lessons from Jeff Bezos’ annual shareholder letters in this report.    
 

-8.7%: Retail spending in the US dropped by 8.7% in March, the largest monthly fall on record. Some categories fared worse than others, with purchases of clothes & accessories down by over 50% as many Americans stay home. From supply chain tech to on-demand delivery to online grocery, we look at the tech trends that could reshape retail in this 53-page report.

$500M: Verizon is set to buy video conferencing platform BlueJeans Network for around $500M. Verizon’s CEO said that the Zoom rival had been in its sights long before social distancing measures caused video conferencing use to skyrocket, and cited the emergence of 5G as a key driver for its bet on the video platform. We discuss how tech like 5G could enable a new approach to remote working in our 2020 Tech Trends To Watch report. 
 

30 years: Energy giant Shell pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050. The oil company has moved in recent years to pivot its strategy more toward clean energy. Expert Intelligence clients can see the investments and decisions driving its low carbon approach forward  in this analysis.
 

$36B: Payment processing platform Stripe raised $600M in new funding at a valuation of $36B. The San Francisco-based startup has now raised almost $2B in total disclosed funding. We dig into Stripe’s strategy and what’s next for the company in this teardown. 

40,000 jobs: TikTok owner ByteDance is reportedly looking to hire 40,000 people by the end of the year. The open roles span the company’s various product offerings and include interns, software engineers, and operations positions. Though usage of apps like TikTok has jumped in response to social distancing measures, ByteDance also offers service in areas like music streaming, gaming, and e-commerce. The company is the most valuable startup in the world, according to CB Insights’ unicorn tracker.   
 

$8B: Stock brokerage platform Robinhood is reportedly near a deal to raise $250M at an $8B valuation. The app offers zero-fee trading and is popular with millennials. We look at Robinhood’s business model, competition, customer acquisition strategy, and more in  this client-exclusive analysis.
 

$25M: Memphis Meats, which develops lab-grown meat from animal cells, added a further $25M to its $161M funding round announced in January, according to an amended SEC filing. Lab-grown meat sits alongside other emerging categories like plant-based meat in the alternative protein space. We dig into the trends that could transform the $1.8T global meat industry in this report.

10x: Astronomers reported the discovery of the brightest supernova yet observed. A supernova is a highly energetic explosion created by a large star collapsing in upon itself. The newly observed supernova is about 10x brighter than a typical event of this type and may have come about from the rare merger of 2 giant stars around 4B years ago.

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Live action role-playing (or LARPing) is still alive and thriving in 2020 — especially in the form of eccentric Facebook groups. 

“A group where we all pretend to be ants in an ant colony” currently boasts more than 500,000 members, where all are welcome to be ants, worship the Queen, and “do ant stuff.”

Ants not your thing? Here are some groups where people pretend to be Boomers, cute and wholesome birds, roommates, and middle-aged soccer moms.