4 new unicorns

 

Overfed startups. A better CRISPR? Fast lil' ants. VIEW IN BROWSER

October 25, 2019

Searching for AI

Hola, We still think of Alphabet (aka Google) as a search & advertising company.  It’s something different now — an $880B ongoing experiment in AI-powered business models. In our latest client-only research report, we look at how this has deep implications for the industries Google is active in, including:  Auto: How the auto value chain will be impacted by AI & Waymo Healthcare: Impacts on drug R&D, diagnostics, and more Government: A new vision for infrastructure partnerships Chips: The revolution in edge computing & AI Consumer electronics: The race for a new AI-based platform

Although the deep-dive is client only — we're on track to publish 200+ client-exclusive research briefs and reports this year — here's a preview.

THE RESEARCH

Go on, have another dollar The number of $100M+ mega-rounds to US startups tripled between 2016 and 2018. But does more money lead to more success? We analyzed the best-performing exits in recent years to find an answer. See it here.

A breakthrough? Neoantigen vaccines, which target proteins only found on cancer cells, are being touted by some as the next big immunotherapy breakthrough. We explore how these vaccines work and the companies looking to bring them to market — read about it here.

CLIENT-EXCLUSIVE RESEARCH

Welcome to the Googleplex Alphabet is using AI to go after healthcare, auto, consumer electronics, and more.  In our client-exclusive deep dive, we dig into how the search giant became an AI powerhouse, and what this means for incumbents. Check it out.

CORE INTELLIGENCE

Have a great rest of the week. Marcelo @ballve P.S. In our September 19, 2019 newsletter, “VC-funded helium balloons,” we asked readers to count the # of mixed metaphors and said we’d send free swag to anyone who guessed correctly. Unfortunately, out of all the wide-ranging & thoughtful replies, no one nailed it. Our editors counted 9.  If we missed your correct guess, pls FWD and we’ll send you the swag.  P.P.S. A new contest: send us your favorite business quote. Our editors will decide the winner based on originality and usefulness. Mine currently is, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” — of debated coinage, attributed to Peter Drucker, and popularized by Ford CEO Mark Fields. P.P.P.S. We're looking for an engineering manager. Check out the role here.

THIS WEEK IN DATA

411: Another 4 companies raised funding at $1B+ valuations. Enterprise app platform Instabase, user engagement service Pendo, China-based online-to-offline sales platform KK Group, and home-decoration platform Kujiale all entered the now 411-strong unicorn club. See them all using our unicorn tracker.    -$39B: WeWork agreed on a deal with SoftBank to secure additional financing to keep the office-rental company afloat. The injection of funding — which gives SoftBank a majority stake — values WeWork at $8B, a decrease of $39B compared to the $47B valuation it received in January. Want to know how WeWork makes — and loses — money? Take a look at our deep dive.

$400M: Data analytics platform Databricks raised $400M at a $6.2B valuation — a more than 2x increase compared to its prior valuation just 8 months ago. The San Francisco-based startup has now raised almost $900M in disclosed equity funding.    $55M: Quantum computer startup IonQ raised $55M in a round backed by Samsung. The startup, which is also backed by Amazon and Google Ventures, uses “trapped ion” tech to develop its computers. Find out why the space is potentially highly disruptive in our explainer, What Is Quantum Computing?

$200M: Self-driving car startup Zoox raised $200M. Zoox is one of the top-funded auto tech startups, but is going up against some big corporations targeting the space. Check out 40+ cos working on autonomous vehicles here.   90%: Researchers from Harvard have developed an improved version of gene-editing tool CRISPR, dubbed “prime editing.” The new technique is said to be more precise than other approaches and avoids the need to physically cut out strands of DNA. The researchers stated that prime editing could potentially treat nearly 90% of the 75,000 known inherited gene diseases. Learn more about CRISPR — and its wide-ranging potential — in our explainer.

1.9 mph: Researchers have observed a species of ant, found in the Sahara, that is thought to be the fastest in the world. The ants were measured to travel at speeds of up to 1.9 mph, covering about 108x their body length in 1 second — 5x more than cheetahs, which can only travel around 20x their body length per second at top speed.

One More Thing

Source: TechniSoil Industrial via Fast Company

A street in Los Angeles is being repaved with material made partially from recycled plastic bottles.  The process replaces bitumen, a byproduct of oil refining that holds asphalt together, with recycled PET plastic. Ultimately, it will allow existing asphalt to be ground up, mixed with liquid plastic, and used for repaving. TechniSoil, the company that created the process, claims that its road “can last eight to 13 times longer than a standard road.”

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