Hi there, 

Here is this week in charts.

Payments pain. Global funding to payments startups dropped each quarter in 2022, falling to $3.4B in Q4’22 — its lowest level since Q4’20. This brought annual payments funding to $20.8B in 2022, representing a 49% drop from 2021’s record high. However, payments startups still outraised their peers in other fintech sectors, including banking, insurtech, wealth tech, capital markets tech, and digital lending. For the full story behind each sector’s performance, dive into our State of Fintech 2022 Report.

Under siege. Payout to ransomware attackers dropped significantly last year — while victims forked over $766M in ransom in 2021, that amount fell 40% year-over-year in 2022. Evidence suggests that this is not due to a drop in ransomware attacks but rather a function of factors like victims’ increased unwillingness to pay their attackers as well as the institution of stringent qualifying requirements for ransomware insurance coverage. Meeting these requirements has resulted in companies becoming more secure and better prepared to handle an attack from the get-go. Learn more about the cyber risk solutions offered by insurers like Munich Re in this strategy map.

And then there were 3. $100M+ mega-round funding and deals into digital health dropped for the fourth consecutive quarter in Q4’22, hitting their lowest levels in recent memory. All of Q4’22’s mega-rounds went to US-based companies: DispatchHealth ($259M), Komodo Health ($200M), and Neumora ($112M). This marks the first time in 5 years that quarterly digital health mega-round funding was exclusively raised in the US. Take a ride down the mega-round funding slide in our State of Digital Health 2022 Report.

You still listening? A record number of podcasts (1M) were launched in 2020. However, that number has dropped significantly in the years since the pandemic began. New launches dropped by about 28% in 2021, and by the end of 2022, the year-end total was down by more than three-quarters from its peak. Looking at launches on a monthly basis indicates that they may have further to fall — around 12K new podcasts were released in December 2022, down from nearly 24K at the beginning of the year. While we have you here, what’s your favorite not-famous podcast?

Was this made by a flat earther? From the size of the blobs to their placement on the map to the random bus orbiting above earth, this is one giant hot turd of a viz. 

I love you. 

Anand

@asanwal

P.S. Did you get a chance to attend our 2023 tech trends roundtable? If not, you can find the recording right here.

Zippin’ around

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