Hi there,

We’re changing up the Thursday newsletter. 

The new format's called 5+1.  

Why? 

Cuz we'll have:

• 5 useful or interesting data viz
• 1 ugly data viz since we know you love those

If you see a stellar data viz, please let us know. 

And if you see a terribly ugly or useless one, please share that as well.

Let us know what you think of the new format. 

And with that, here is this week’s 5+1.

Telehealth hits its stride. Vladimir Lenin said, “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” Telehealth certainly saw this during the pandemic, with everything from telepharmacy to teletherapy to remote diagnostics taking off. Add in that telemedicine M&A is heating up, and telemedecine is just getting started.

The rise of BNPL. Online shoppers want seamless delayed payment alternatives, which means the buy now, pay later (BNPL) industry is booming. Square’s $29B acquisition of Afterpay this week was a ginormous deal in the space that should usher in more funding and consolidation. Which of the old guard financial services firms is going to do something transformational here? There is a potpourri (underrated word, btw) of BNPL companies coming up around the world and targeting different industries. 

Going green. Renewables edged out coal for the first time in 2020, generating 21% of all US electricity compared to coal's 19%. Investment to startups in the renewable energy ecosystem also reached new heights in 2020, with investors eyeing companies in the power generation space in particular.

Corporate venture is going bananas. In just 6 months, global CVC funding in 2021 has surpassed the total for all of 2020. So far, CVCs have been involved in $79B-worth of deals.  

That’s fast. With the Olympics winding down, we loved this graphic. Running 26.2 miles in just north of 2 hours is insane.  People are remarkable.

Everyone is a winner. So we now know almost every player in consulting is a leader. Thank you for clarifying. As for those other 3, ouch.

That’s all for today’s 5+1. LMK what you think.

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal

P.S. We’re hiring for a senior manager who can own and grow our customer marketing team. Apply here.