Hi there,

In exciting news, Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca have all recently announced Covid-19 vaccines, highlighting 90%+ efficacy rates. 

Vaccines typically take up to 10 years to reach people. The mumps vaccine holds the record for fastest distribution time, as it was delivered in 4 years. Discovery and research alone usually take around 2 to 5 years. 

In contrast, the Covid-19 vaccines took mere months. 

Take a look at how AI is an accelerant for drug discovery — alongside 6 other healthcare AI trends that will have a lasting impact — in this report.

Fearless

Throughout the 2000s, Amazon’s e-commerce dominance paved a path of destruction through books, music, toys, sports, and a range of other retail verticals. 

Today, Amazon’s disruptive ambitions extend far beyond retail. Take a look at the industries it could disrupt next in this report.

Her name was Billie Gene

Genomics is enabling more individualized treatment by providing insight into which genes contribute to various medical conditions. As the cost of sequencing declines, AI is being leveraged to help analyze the explosion of genomic data.

From drug discovery to precision medicine, clients can read more about 3 major use cases of AI in genomics here.

Scootin’ my way downtown

Shared e-scooters are on pace to top half a billion rides globally by next year.

For a look at the micromobility landscape and what’s next for the industry, check out our micromobility report here.

From adaptive to resilient

Tech like cloud infrastructure, catastrophe modeling, and IoT sensors is helping reinsurers adjust to Covid-19. But questions remain in the world of reinsurance. What level of expense will ongoing business conditions support? How can liability management control P&C exposures more effectively?

We R Who We R
 

Digital ID companies are helping fintech providers tackle user verification, combat fraud, and comply with KYC/AML laws.

From identity verification to biometrics, we dig into where Fintech Smart Money investors are backing deals in the maturing space.

Axios. Dan Primack (@danprimack) reports on unicorn IPOs and cites CB Insights unicorn data.

Business Insider. Megan Hernbroth (@Megan_Hernbroth) uses CB Insights research and quotes CB Insights managing healthcare analyst Ja Lee (@ja_lee2) in covering healthcare startup funding.

Recode. Rani Molla (@ranimolla) looks at the decline of department stores and references the CB Insights retail bankruptcies list.
 

P.S. We’re looking for a lead data platform engineer. Sound like you? We’d love to chat.

Dialing it in. Millennials overwhelmed by Zoom and Slack at work have found a happy medium: the office phone call. 

WSJ

Starry night. By mapping quasars — super bright beacons generated by black holes in far-off galaxies — scientists have created a more stable reference frame for the cosmos.

Science

Ho, ho, no. Some organizations are offering virtual Santa Claus meet and greets this year.

Gizmodo

Dislodged. Thousands of US renters are being evicted virtually, with hearings conducted by phone or video call.

MIT Technology Review

What goes up. A new study aims to understand why some gamers invert the Y axis on their controls — meaning they push the thumb stick down to move upwards. 

The Guardian