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Online shopping is becoming a more social experience — and tech companies are taking a bite.

For example, Amazon acquired social commerce startup GlowRoad last week. The India-based company helps users buy products at wholesale prices and resell them on Facebook and WhatsApp.

Meanwhile, in addition to building their own in-app shopping features, some social media companies are snapping up new commerce tools, such as those for sizing:

• Meta recently acquired Germany-based Presize, which uses smartphone video scans and AI to help online shoppers find the right clothing size. 

• Snap purchased a similar company — Fit Analytics (also based in Germany), which uses a questionnaire and AI to recommend sizes — in March 2021 for $124M as it makes an e-commerce push. 

Tools like size recommendation can make users’ interactions with items that appear on their apps more seamless, removing friction points to purchase.

As online shopping becomes more social, expect more brands and retailers to integrate social elements (from peer-to-peer selling to livestreaming) into their online platforms.  

Fintech spotlight

Fintech startups based in Africa saw a record 69 deals in Q1’22, up 44% quarter-over-quarter. 

The region has seen deal volume grow every quarter since Q2’21. 

Early-stage deals dominated the activity, capturing 93% of the total deal share.

Get all the details in our State of Fintech Q1’22 Report.

Stablecoin invasion

The total value of stablecoins tops $180B today, more than double the market’s value in April of last year.

These price-stabilized virtual currencies have many potential real-world uses, from making remittances faster and more affordable to being used as a day-to-day currency.

Dig into what stablecoins are, their potential, and the risks and limitations they face in this explainer.

Motor city

Ford’s market cap surpassed GM’s (its largest domestic competitor) last year.

What’s driving Ford’s momentum? In large part, the automaker’s aggressive plans to build out an ecosystem for connected EVs. 

We analyzed Ford’s recent acquisitions, investments, and partnerships to see how it’s preparing for the future of transportation in this strategy map.

Let’s ride

Consumers expect their purchases to be convenient, timely, and personalized — including auto insurance.

That’s where telematics tech comes in. 

Through IoT devices or mobile phones, auto telematics vendors can help P&C insurers implement convenient “pay-as-you-drive” or “pay-how-you-drive” auto insurance programs. 

See 8 other tech markets P&C insurance leaders should prioritize, vet, or monitor in this MVP report. 

Wall Street Journal. Yuliya Chernova (@ychernova) looks at crypto startup funding using CB Insights data.

TechCrunch. Alex Wilhelm (@alex) and Anna Heim (@abracarioca) dig into the CB Insights State of Digital Health Q1’22 Report.

Reuters. Praveen Paramasivam (@PraveenR_P) covers food & bev acquisition trends and cites CB Insights research.