Disrupting the White House — CBInsights Newsletter

The Alma Mater

Hi there,

Awww yeah.

Big news today.

Can you smell the disruption?

What the heck are we talking about?

We're excited cuz the White House is launching an innovation office per Politico.

• Besides buying a CB Insights subscription, here are some tips for Jared in his new role: In every 3rd sentence, say "failing fast," "we must disrupt ourselves," or "embracing innovation"
• Adopt an open floor plan in the White House
• Do the pilgrimage to Silicon Valley to meet with VCs and startups (aka the Silicon Valley petting zoo)

If they do these things (as many corporations do), they will have perfected Corporate Innovation Theater which is the art of talking about innovation but actually doing nothing innovative (this is harder than it sounds).

AI in fintech

We identified companies that use AI in financial services and mapped them according to the areas where they’re operating, from credit offerings to insurance to asset management, and more.

Our roots

Five years ago, CBI was <10 people and we were housed at Future Labs (then known as the NYU-Poly Incubator). The space was in Soho (sweet), was pretty reasonably priced (good cuz we're cheap AF), and most importantly, it let us focus on building a biz.

We're a work hard kinda company and so as a result, we weren't always the most social of tenant companies, but the Future Labs crew always had our back. 

And for this, we owe a lot to them. Steve Kuyan who is now the big boss over there and Micah and Bruce before him always believed in us (even when our name was ChubbyBrain and our logo looked like this).

Seriously — who would believe in a company like that?

Those guys did. So thanks.

We also got to meet Mayor Bloomberg while housed at Future Labs which was sweet. For those curious, Darth Tater is still with us.

If you're an NYC startup, I'd encourage you to check them out. We've been out of the space for several years so I'm sure it's only gotten better.

On a separate note, CBI is ~120 folks and growing like a weed. Yup — we're hiring.

Note: Yesterday, a teammate described CBI as a "startup for grownups." So if you want to "work in tech" and need a ballpit and nap pod, we're prob not the right fit.

Cultivating ag tech

We looked at what’s spurred momentum for agricultural technology (ag tech) and the trends shaping who’s investing in the space and where that investment is going.

More than $800M has been invested in the ag tech space between 2012 and 2016.

AI Summit

• On April 5, I'll be talking about the state of the AI market at the Future Labs AI Summit. Other speakers include:Yann LeCun, Head of AI at Facebook & NYU Professor
• Matt Zeiler, CEO at Clarifai
• Gary Marcus, Founder, Geometric Intelligence (acquired to form Uber AI)
• Ruchir Puri, Chief Architect, IBM Watson

CB Insights subscribers can register with discount code CB50 for $50 off.

Fraud fighters

We identified 5 cybersecurity startups to watch that are working on fighting fraud with a mix of behavioral biometrics and machine learning.

You can find all of these startups in our cybersecurity Collection on the CB Insights platform.

Reinventing medicine

We identified 80+ private digital health companies changing the way specialist referrals are made, hospital rooms cleaned, and patient data collected, among many other approaches.

The Industry Standard

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

New York Times. The NYT published a piece that looks at the top 20 venture capitalists based on a CB Insights data-driven list.

CNBC. Ciro Scotti looks at China's investment in US startups and cites CB Insights investment data.

Deal Street Asia. A look at fintech trends in Southeast Asia with a mention of CB Insights investment data.

VentureBeat. Chris O'Brien (@obrien) looks at Salesforce's rising VC investments and acquisitions and references CB Insights research on corporate VCs.

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal

P.S. We'll be talking cyber defender startups this Thursday. Sign up for the briefing.

The Most Data

We tracked over 515 global financings this past week. Here are 5 of the most notable deals. Run this search to see them all. 

• Kuaishou, a video-centric communications application, raised $350M in Series D funding from Tencent Holdings.
• Picnic, a grocery delivery company, raised a $109M Series B. Investors in the round included De Hoge Dennen, Finci, Hoyberg, and NPM Capital.
• Delhivery, provider of logistics solutions, raised $100M from The Carlyle Group and Tiger Global Management.
• DataRobot, provider of an enterprise machine learning platform, raised a $54M Series C from New Enterprise Associates and Recruit Strategic Partners.
• HotelTonight, a hotel reservations platform, raised $37M in Series E funding from investors including Accel Partners, First Round Capital, and Battery Ventures.

The AI in fintech market map

Startups are using AI to improve and expand credit offerings, insurance options, personal finance services, and regulatory software. See the market map.

5 trends shaping the future of agriculture

Interest in ag tech has picked up dramatically in the last few years. Here are the trends to understand. 

Startups using machine learning and behavioral biometrics to fight fraud

Accel Partners backed two of the fraud-fighting companies featured below. See the list.

Over 80 companies reinventing medicine in one infographic

From messaging apps for hospital workers to surgeons training with VR, startups are working to transform patient care in the hospital. See the market map.

The Blurb

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

AI versus MD. Siddhartha Mukherjee (@drsidmukherjee) on automating diagnosis. The New Yorker

ADD. Mark Suster (@msuster) on why having ADD might benefit startup entrepreneurs and have a positive creative impact. Both Sides of the Table

Board feedback. Fred Wilson (@fredwilson) believes that board meeting feedback should be delivered face-to-face in real-time. AVC

Eyes in the sky. A conversation on enterprise use cases for commercial drones, where we are in the introduction of drones into the consumer and commercial space, and how the industry will scale. a16z

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