Hola,

We're busy celebrating National Cheesecake Day today, so let's get right to the research.

Another one bites the dust

From the rise of Amazon to mounting debt to lack of adaptability, retail has faced a host of troubles, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic.  

From Muji to JCPenney, we dig into 110+ retail bankruptcies starting in 2015. See them all here. 

Just what I needed

Q2'20 was a record-breaking quarter for healthcare, as the pandemic boosted interest in health-focused investments.

From regenerative medicine to Asia-based funding, we break down the major healthcare funding trends of the quarter here. 

A herd of future unicorns? 

We’re adding speakers to the virtual Future of Health (September 23-25) agenda at an amazing clip. Here are the latest 10, all leaders of fast-moving digital health startups:  

• CEO & Founder, Kindbody. Focus: Women’s health

• CEO & Co-founder, Proteus. Focus: Cybersecurity

• CEO & Founder, Firefly Health. Focus: Primary care

• CEO & Founder, League. Focus: Insurance

• CEO, ProteinQure. Focus: Drug R&D

• CEO & Co-founder, Current Health. Focus: Remote monitoring

• CEO & Founder, Heartbeat Health. Focus: Cardiovascular health

• CEO & Co-founder, Alpha Health. Focus: Revenue cycle management

• CEO & Co-founder, Wellth. Focus: Chronic disease management

• CEO, Aetion. Focus: Data & analytics

Register now and use the code MoreFounders to get $250 off your ticket before prices go up Friday at midnight.

Brb, printing my own house  

Funding to construction tech has doubled between 2014 and 2019, as the industry becomes increasingly digitized. 

From deploying autonomous bulldozers to 3D-printing walls, Expert Intelligence clients can see 65+ startups reshaping the construction industry here. 

Covid-19 has accelerated a shift toward contactless and no-touch payments, which could help enable safer and more convenient transactions.

Businesses of all stripes — from merchants and retailers to payments processors and consumer device manufacturers — are taking note. Mentions of “contactless payments” on corporate earnings calls have  soared to new heights in recent months:

On a  Q2’20 results call yesterday, PayPal president Dan Schulman noted, “This is an existential issue for merchants who realized that reopening their retail stores depends on touchless forms of payments to keep both their employees and customers safe and healthy.”

Visa CEO Al Kelly  echoed this sentiment earlier in the week: “Our issuers have added 80M credentials that are tap to pay-enabled in the first six months of the year. Something like 80% of the merchant volume [...] in the face-to-face world is occurring at terminals that are enabled for tap to pay.”

Read more on how contactless payment demand has accelerated digital financial services adoption, as well as  how technologies are enabling contactless customer interactions in the first place.

Have a great weekend.