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Be there
Hi there,
The opening reception of the Future of Fintech is always at an iconic NYC location. Last year, we rented Rockefeller Center and the year prior, we took over The Central Park Zoo.
Guess where we’re going this year? See below.
Guess when prices are going up? In less than 48 hours.
But first, some data.
Living an active lifestyle
Corporate venture capital firms broke records last year. 264 new CVCs invested for the first time, and Q4'18 saw the highest number of active corporate venture capital firms ever, with 429 CVCs investing.
So who placed the most bets? We take a look at 2018's most active CVCs here.
Virtual parents have no clue
A new video game in China lets players raise a virtual baby from birth to college. The game, called Chinese Parents, is a big hit. Players say it feels “true to life.”
Rumors are that the US version will saddle your virtual kid with obscene amounts of student debt to keep it real.
Moyuwan Games via New York Times
Watch your back
Over 320K people around the world pay roughly $24K per year to use the Bloomberg Terminal. But most users only use a small fraction of the thousands of functions it offers.
Meanwhile, specialized, cheaper options are cropping up. We dig into how the terminal is being disrupted function by function and what might lie ahead for Bloomberg.
Just my $.02
Millennial Venmo users are sending payments for less than $1 — or “penny pokes” — to celebrities to get their attention.
Venmo says there were 3.8M public penny pokes sent over the last year.
'Eunicorns,' if you will
Fourteen European startups were welcomed into the unicorn club in 2018. The companies cover a wide range of industries, from healthcare to cybersecurity to transportation.
We've ranked the new unicorns in order of valuation. See them all here.
 Time to get creative
Department stores are struggling to stave off the retail apocalypse. One of their major challenges is that they're middlemen, and most of their products can be found online.
Now startups are emerging to help traditional department stores differentiate themselves. Expert Intelligence clients can read about how they're doing that here.
A classic pairing
Our research also goes well with a good, sharp cheddar.
Unicorn baby boom
In 2018, 53 new companies reached a $1B+ valuation, making it the best year on record for new unicorn births.
The number of companies reaching unicorn status was up 83% from 2017, and 26% higher than the previous record in 2015.
We take a closer look at the US unicorn population here.
Party of the year
The opening reception for Future of Fintech will be at yet another New York City iconic landmark: Tavern on the Green.
We’ve rented out the entire venue, so you can network over drinks, awesome food, and great music.
Like any CB Insights party, there will also be a few surprises.
A quick recap on what else to expect at FoF:
- Killer speakers: We'll hear from founders of unicorns including Plaid, Credit Karma, Circle, and Affirm, and CEOs of LendingTree (NASDAQ: TREE), Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT), and more.
- 3 stages: We’ve added 2 new stages for talks from the most active fintech VCs, future unicorns, and financial inclusion startups.
- So much networking: We'll have a whole floor for 1:1 meetings and an app to make them happen. A whole freakin' floor.
Our next price increase is March 1, so be sure to grab your ticket by month’s end (now). The code partyonthegreen saves you $500.
Splish splash
By 2025, two-thirds of the global population could experience water shortages. As a result, making sure that water is clean, efficiently used, safely stored, and transported is becoming a top priority.
We've mapped out 50+ new startups that are emerging to improve the ways that water is sourced, used, and distributed. Expert Intelligence clients can see them all here.
The Industry Standard
CB Insights data is the most trusted by those in the industry and the media. A few recent hits.
Business Insider. Lea Nonninger (@leanonninger) reports that SoFi has completed a regulatory filing for free exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and references CB Insights research.
Quartz. Mary Hui (@maryhui) and Tripti Lahiri (@triptilahiri) report that Baidu invested the most in AI companies in 2018 and refers to CB Insights’ Global CVC Report.
Xconomy. Frank Vinluan (@frankvinluan) writes about the launch of Ginkgo Bioworks’ new plant-based food and beverage startup Motif and references CB Insights’ Meatless Future report.
I love you.
Anand
@asanwal
P.S. Tomorrow we'll be talking about the bank of the future. Sign up for the briefing here.
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