VC meets the land of opportunity

The wave of venture capital interest in geographies other than Silicon Valley has been building momentum over the past 5+ years. If you measure capital flow by Twitter chatter alone, you may assume the tidal wave is about to break and checks are being doled out via T-shirt launchers repurposed from hockey games.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/02/vc-meets-the-land-of-opportunity/ ... See more

The broadened geographic focus of VCs for marketing purposes and FOMO is not adequately capturing the real narrative.

App spending to reach $270B by 2025, new forecast predicts

https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/22/app-spending-to-reach-270b-by-2025-new-forecast-predicts/

A new market forecast predicts app spending will reach $270 billion by the year 2025, including paid downloads, in-app purchases and subscriptions. According to data from Sensor Tower, in-app spending will return to pre-pandemic levels of stable growth over the next few years, downloads will contin.... ... See more

Lawmakers Take Aim at Insidious Digital ‘Dark Patterns’

A new California law prohibits efforts to trick consumers into handing over data or money. A bill in Washington state copies the language.

A new California law prohibits efforts to trick consumers into handing over data or money. A bill in Washington state copies the language.

Bitcoin Investors May Lose Everything, Central Banker Warns

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-29/bitcoin-investors-may-lose-everything-central-banker-warns

Bitcoin investors need to be prepared to “lose all their money,” European Central Bank governing council member Gabriel Makhlouf said, the latest warning from a central banker on the cryptocurrency. ... See more

The World’s First Robot Chef Is Finally Here, and It Even Cleans Up After Itself

https://robbreport.com/gear/electronics/moley-robotics-robot-kitchen-uk-for-sale-1234590791/

The Moley Robotic Kitchen will come pre-programmed with over 5,000 recipes.

Holographic startup Envisics partners with Panasonic to fast-track in-car AR tech

https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/08/holographic-startup-envisics-partners-with-panasonic-to-fast-track-in-car-ar-tech/

Envisics founder and CEO Dr. Jamieson Christmas launched the startup three years ago to “revolutionize” the in-car experience with its holographic technology. Now, it has a partner that could help it achieve that mission. The U.K.-based holographic technology startup said Friday it reac… ... See more

The 100 greatest innovations of 2020

https://www.popsci.com/story/technology/best-of-whats-new-2020/

2020’s year’s top innovations include next-gen gaming consoles, a rapid COVID test, comfy jeans tailored by a computer, and a contact tracing initiative that united two tech giants.

What to expect from European Private Equity in 2021

https://www.privateequityinternational.com/what-to-expect-from-european-private-equity-in-2021/

New EU rules on ESG, corporate carve-outs and higher taxes driving dealflow could dominate the European private equity scene this year.

Quibi Is Dead, but Roku May Resurrect Its Content

The failed streaming company led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman is in talks with Roku about a deal.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/04/business/media/04economy-briefing-quibi-sale-content-roku.html ... See more

The failed streaming company led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman is in talks with Roku about a deal.

U.S. Jobs Recovery Falters as Virus Surge Snaps Hiring Streak

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-08/u-s-jobs-recovery-faltered-in-december-amid-virus-surge

The U.S. labor market lost jobs in December for the first time in eight months, reflecting a plunge in restaurant employment that highlights how surging coronavirus infections are taking a greater toll on parts of the economy. ... See more

A Tiny Hedge Fund Just Made History by Turning Into an ETF

https://www.bloomberg.co.jp/news/articles/2021-01-08/QMKKUNT0G1KZ01?srnd=cojp-v2

資産運用業界は投資信託が上場投資信託（ＥＴＦ）に転換されるのを待っているが、それに先駆けて米国の小規模ヘッジファンドが史上初のＥＴＦ転換を果たした。 ... See more

California Deaths Hit Record as U.S. Cases Soar, Japan Has New Variant; U.K. Vaccine Plan on Target

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-01-10/california-deaths-hit-record-as-u-s-cases-soar-virus-update ... See more

Japan has found a variant of the coronavirus similar to strains discovered in Britain and South Africa. The U.K. is on course to meet its target for vaccines, but faces pressure on the health service due to surging cases, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said. ... See more

No End in Sight for Blank-Check Firms After Year of the SPAC

There’s no stopping the SPAC, which emerged from obscurity to seemingly take over finance in 2020.

Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, went from a back-of-the-shelf financial vehicle to one of the biggest segments of initial public offerings, with a record $78 billion raised in the U.S. this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That exceeded the combined total of SPACs in all previous years and made up about 45% of this year’s record $177 billion IPO volume, the data show.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-23/no-end-in-sight-for-blank-check-companies-after-year-of-the-spac ... See more

There’s no stopping the SPAC, which emerged from obscurity to seemingly take over finance in 2020.

As the United States entered its first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns, there were wide expectations in startup land that a reckoning had arrived. But the expected comeuppance of high-burn, high-growth startups fueled by cheap capital provided by venture capitalists raising ever-larger funds, failed to arrive.

Instead, the very opposite came to pass.

Layoffs happened swiftly and aggressively during the early months of the pandemic era. But by the middle of Q2, venture activity had warmed and third quarter dealmaking felt swift and competitive, with some investors describing it as the hottest summer in recent years.

https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/24/us-seed-stage-investing-flourished-during-pandemic/ ... See more

If you didn’t think much about seed in 2020, you’re not alone. Late, huge rounds consumed most of the media’s oxygen, leaving smaller startups to compete for scraps of attention.

Group Nine Media — which owns Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, Seeker and PopSugar — is the latest company to form a SPAC, according to a filing with the SEC.

These blank-check corporations, as they’re also known, have become a popular way to raise money from the public markets. The filing says that Group Nine is creating a SPAC “for the purpose of effecting a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, reorganization or similar business combination.”

https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/22/group-nine-spac/ ... See more

Group Nine Media — which owns Thrillist, NowThis, The Dodo, Seeker and PopSugar — is the latest company to form a SPAC, according to a filing with the SEC. These blank-check corporations, as they’re also known, have become a popular way to raise money from the public markets. The filing says .... ... See more

The definitive ranking of streaming services as we head into 2021

https://www.fastcompany.com/90589589/the-definitive-ranking-of-streaming-services-as-we-head-into-2021

Now that Netflix has a full slate of competitors, where does it stand compared with Disney Plus, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV Plus, and Peacock?

The 100 greatest innovations of 2020

2020’s year’s top innovations include next-gen gaming consoles, a rapid COVID test, comfy jeans tailored by a computer, and a contact tracing initiative that united two tech giants.

The Work-From-Home Boom Is Here to Stay. Get Ready for Pay Cuts

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2020-12-17/work-from-home-tech-companies-cut-pay-of-workers-moving-out-of-big-cities

White-collar workers are taking advantage of a newfound flexibility to leave expensive coastal cities, even as companies move to “localize” their pay.

Bitcoin Crushes Doubters as 224% Rally Proves It’s Here to Stay

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-24/one-asset-that-changed-investors-minds-in-2020-is-bitcoin

The original cryptocurrency again had commentators eating their words in 2020.

Uber Sells Flying Taxi Division to Joby in Broader Retrenchment

Uber Technologies Inc. is selling off its flying taxi division to Joby Aviation and investing in the startup, marking the second time this week Uber abandoned a side project as it aims to turn a quarterly profit next year.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-12-08/uber-sells-flying-taxi-division-to-joby-in-broader-retrenchment ... See more

Uber Technologies Inc. is selling off its flying taxi division to Joby Aviation and investing in the startup, marking the second time this week Uber abandoned a side project as it aims to turn a quarterly profit next year. ... See more