Avoid the Austerity Panda - CBInsights

Hi there,

Really?

The hoverboard beat the Peloton bike in Round 2 of our Most Innovative Product bracket.

I'm starting to believe there has been widespread voter fraud.

More results below. 

But first, our very first video game.

The unicorn video game is here

Every quarter, we hold a 24 hour "Hack Day" at CB Insights.

This quarter, there were 26 amazing projects from across the org (not all projects are by engineers so this is a company-wide phenomena).

It's one of my favorite things about where I work.

• This year, projects ran the gamut as usual:Automatic visual market map creation
• Powerpoint decks with narrative that don't require an analyst (AI what?)
• A chatbot that tells you if the place you're ordering from on Seamless is likely to be late

Yes, they range from super useful things we're thinking about on the product front to things that make the day easier to just some silly fun.

One of my favorites this year was a game by my colleague Jeremy who built a game called Unicorn Run.

The goal is simple. Your unicorn should grab gold coins (VC funding) but avoid the dreaded austerity panda.

If you'd like to play the game, go here. Warning: it's quite hard.

If hack day is the type of thing you'd like to get involved with, we are hiring for every role imaginable. Note: If you just want to "work in tech," we're not the right place.

International unicorn club

We mapped the locations of current private companies valued at $1B+ based outside of the US. China has the most unicorns outside of the US, at 46 total. 

Identifying similar startups

One of the engineering/product organizations we admire most is Spotify.

And although you might think a consumer-focused music streaming service and an enterprise market intelligence platform have little in common, you're wrong.

We solved one of our hardest problems on identifying similar private companies by learning from Spotify and how they make their playlist recommendations.

Yes — sometimes inspiration comes from unexpected places.

Check out how Spotify helped us build a better similar company algorithm.

Let's get ready to rumble

• Round 2 had some good, perhaps surprising, results:Phantom 1 Drone beat the Apple Watch
• Raspberry Pi beat Playstation VR
• Microsoft Surface beat Tata Nano

Vote in round 3 where there are some battles for the ages:

1. iPad vs Tesla Model S
2. Oculus Rift vs Phantom 1 Drone
3. Amazon Echo vs Amazon Kindle 

On #3, we're hearing of a massive civil war going on at Amazon right now with both groups heavily lobbying internally for colleagues to vote for their product.

Get your vote in for round 3 by April 16th.

Out of this world

We examined funding trends to startups working in outer space. Q1’17 saw a big uptick in deals from Q4’17, from 4 to 11, but funding totaled just $212M in the quarter.

China dominates beer

Did not know this.

BTW, I'm dating myself with this comment but when I see Snow, all I can think of is the song "Informer." For all you youngsters reading this, watch the video to understand the type of music that should never be made.

Cha-ching

We look at in-store tech startup financing trends since 2012. In Q1’17, in-store tech startups attracted $170M across 42 deals, a 62% jump in deal count and an 83% increase in funding dollars compared to Q4’16.

Tech hits the home

We identify 25 startups transforming the mortgage industry. Companies in our mortgage tech market map span workflow tools that help process loans faster, marketplace lenders, direct-to-consumer digital lenders, analytics tools on loan performance and credit scoring, mortgage brokers, and auction sites.

The Industry Standard

CB Insights data is the most trusted by those in the industry and the media. A few recent hits.

BBC News. Suzanne Bearne reports on the response to fertility apps and quotes CB Insights analyst Zoe Leavitt (@zoe_leavitt) on the subject.

Center for an Urban Future. A report on the growth potential of NYC's digital health sector with a mention of CB Insights investment data.

Times of Israel. Shoshanna Solomon writes about Canadian-Israeli startup SkyX and cites CB Insights investment data.

Hope you had a terrific Tuesday.

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal

P.S. If you're the founder/CEO of an early-stage fintech startup, we're offering a handful of discounted tix (25) to The Future of Fintech Conference. To be in the running, you have to apply (takes 24 seconds).

Apply here.91 private companies outside the US valued at $1B+

China is home to the top 5 most highly valued unicorns outside the US. See the map.

Space tech funding drops back to Earth while deals push up

Entrepreneur-celebrities Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos have made space tech startups much more prominent investor targets. See the data.

 Deals to in-store tech startups tick back up

From shopper tracking to point-of-sale financing platforms, investors are excited about new in-store technologies. Read about it.

 25 startups transforming the mortgage industry

Smart Money VCs including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, and others have placed bets in the mortgage tech space. See the market map.

The Blurb

A curated mix of articles on private companies, venture capital, emerging industries, and innovation.

To be a genius, think like a 94-year-old. Pagan Kennedy (@pagankennedy) writes about Dr. John Goodenough and his team's recent patent application for a new kind of battery.New York Times

Killing a startup. Howard Love (@howardlove) on how a large customer can kill a startup. Howard Love

Parkageddon. How not to create traffic jams, pollution, and urban sprawl. The Economist

Truth starts at 100%. Eizabeth Yin (@dunkhippo33) on messing up trust with investors. Elizabeth Yin

Open source. A podcast on the changing culture of open source and its impact on more than just tech companies. a16z

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