Hi there, 
 

Why do startups fail? We dig into that below.

But first…

We received a record-setting number of speaker and demo applications this year for Future of Fintech (October 5-6, NYC + online) and are thrilled to share the names of 5 (out of 35) demo companies below.

29 billion samolians

Square announced it’s acquiring buy now, pay later (BNPL) provider Afterpay for $29B earlier this week. 

In the investor deck outlining the deal rationale, Square used CB Insights data/research, which you can see in the presentation page below (get the full deck in the Industry Standard section).

There are a lot of interesting insights into the future of payments and millennial and Gen Z preferences.

The BNPL market opportunity is now a global phenomenon, as we covered here in March 2021.

In fact, the alternative financing model is being expanded not just geographically but to new verticals and sub-verticals, including healthcare, travel, and home improvement. We mapped out 50+ of the technology players here. 

Demo day

Here are 5 of the demo companies for Future of Fintech:

• Currencycloud (Core Platforms and APIs for Banking & Payments)

• Orcolus (Automation in Lending & Underwriting)

• BehavioSense (Security, Fraud, KYC, & AML for Banking & Payments)

• BodesWell (Wealth Management Software)

• Avaamo (Virtual Assistants in Retail Banking & Payments)

Each founder will do a 6-minute demo of their product on our tech demo stage and then will be available to connect with technology buyers, partners, and investors.

Beyond the demo companies, we’ll also be unveiling 2021’s Fintech 250 live at the event and a number of the FT250 winners will be speaking.

Be the first to hear from these exciting companies, plus learn from our A-list speakers and participate in networking with a global group of fintech innovators.

We've extended our low July prices for Future of Fintech for the next 24 hours. Register now under our risk-free ticketing policy. Save $50 with code recordsetting.

Tell me why

There’s rarely one reason for a single startup’s failure. But across multiple failures, a pattern starts to emerge. 

We dug into the data and found the top 12 reasons for startup failure, from burnout to no market need. See them in founders’ own words in this analysis. 

It’s gonna be disruptive

Insurance companies and startups alike are experimenting with insurance applications for blockchain tech. For example, State Farm and USAA are using a blockchain-based solution to settle subrogation claims in auto insurance rather than using physical checks.

Check out how blockchain is disrupting the insurance industry across fraud detection, P&C insurance, and more. 

There’s still time

If you haven't applied yet for this year's Digital Health 150, worry not — we've extended the deadline. 

All you need to do is fill out this < 3-min survey before next Tuesday, August 10. We can't wait to learn more about how you're transforming healthcare.

Red pill, blue pill, or big tech pill

As the pharma industry goes digital, big tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, and Google are looking to get a piece of the pie. 

From research & discovery to the pharma supply chain, we dive deep into how big tech cos are leveraging their expertise in software, data, and AI in the space here.

Square. Square outlines the rationale behind its acquisition of Afterpay and cites CB Insights research.

The Atlantic. Michael Waters (@michaelwwaters) discusses how startups are aiming to rebrand life insurance with CB Insights senior analyst Niall Williams (@nialljwilliams).

Wall Street Journal. Rebecca Elliott (@rfelliott) and Marc Vartabedian (@marcvarta) cover Redwood Materials’ $700M funding round and cite CB Insights data.
 

P.S. If building relationships with decision-makers in the world’s largest companies and most prominent investors sounds like a great opportunity, we’ve got your dream job. We’re hiring a VP to lead our community & ecosystem team. Check out the role here.

P.P.S. We’ve seen folks doing amazing things “remixing” our State of Venture Report. Tomorrow we’ll be sharing an Excel file with the data to hopefully make it easier for you to mash up and remix the data in other interesting ways. Stay tuned.

What burnout? Goldman Sachs will pay first-year analysts a starting salary of $110K, topping rival banks’ pay packages. 

Financial Times  

Sun block. Most US solar panels are produced in China using coal-fired electricity, creating an emissions conundrum.

WSJ 

Uber good. An analysis of US traffic fatality data found that ride-sharing reduced alcohol-related traffic fatalities by 6.1%. 

Quartz

On mute. Zoom will pay $85M and implement security measures to settle a lawsuit over user privacy concerns and Zoombombing. 

Reuters

Rick & roll. Rick Astley’s hit song Never Gonna Give You Up — the punchline of many online pranks — has reached 1B views on YouTube.

BBC