Edit №60 — 2021… what’s still to come? — Weekly newsletter on Corporate Innovation & Venture
by Stu Iverson and Clay Maxwell
The Recap
Jan 24, 2021
Not much has happened over our recess so we’ll move it right along…
Just kidding!
The tech world started off last week with social media titans — Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat first among them — permanently silencing (now former) President Trump’s accounts.
Jack Dorsey’s somber, un-celebratory tone displayed the inherent tension of the moment, as ultimately he fears it could be destructive to the “open internet” ideal, and we agree. Worse, it might further increase the already extreme polarization.
As Seeking Alpha put it: “[These measures] highlight more starkly than ever the companies’ influence over public speech and online conversation. …without those services, many users may be forced to find other providers that will see less interaction among a broad variety of views. That could force many users into like-minded echo chambers that could reinforce their own beliefs and further polarize the political landscape, but the alternative of no moderation can be just as scary.”
Encrypted messaging app Signal has been winning big, with user acquisition getting a major boost from an extremely unpopular Whatsapp-Facebook data-sharing ultimatum, but is being stretched beyond its current capabilities, it seems.
The markets are torn as the incoming administration pushes its plans: “Right now markets are celebrating the additional stimulus and see it as a stronger bridge to a fully reopened economy,” said Jeff Buchbinder of LPL Financial. “On the other side of it there’s the chance that markets will have to pay for this in the form of sharply higher interest rates or tax hikes that could cap equity valuations.”
Public money is still looking great, however. “The furious pace of IPOs and SPACs is showing no sign of letting up anytime soon as savvy companies and big shot investors take advantage of the easy money sloshing around in financial markets. Case in point: Affirm, a company that helps consumers finance online purchases, finished its trading debut up 98% [last] Wednesday… Petco went public for the third time [last] Thursday, soaring 63% and valuing the retailer at more than $6B.”
SPACs — with their lower fees, lighter regulator burden and faster time to market — have yet to lose their luster. On Wednesday alone, six new SPACs launched. Eight more went public on Friday. If you’re interested in the bear case, there’s a blurb in this podcast with Future Ventures about why SPACs might be lightly over-hyped.
Wondering what could possibly be left to happen in 2021, with just 49 weeks to go? We enjoyed (reading) these predictions:
- From the team at Redpoint Ventures
- From Scott Galloway at No Mercy / No Malice
- From David Blumberg at Blumberg Capital
- From Fred Wilson at AVC / USV
- From Nicole Quinn at Lightspeed Venture Partners
- Via our friends at The Hustle
- Aggregate data via NfX
Happy 2021!
Quick Links — Interesting reads from the rest of the market
🎈 Alphabet is shutting down Loon, its internet balloon company.
💰 Plaid launches FinRise, an incubator for underrepresented fintech founders.
🤓 Apple first VR Headset to be niche precursor to eventual AR glasses
🏦 What launching a fintech startup means for Walmart.
👩🏫 The 30 best pieces of advice for Entrepreneurs in 2020
🚁 Pizza Hut hopes drop zones can help bring drone delivery to fruition
🥬 Amazon to launch 5 new high-tech physical “Fresh” stores.
🚤 Volvo has made a boat that docks itself.
🛒 Kroger goes head-to-head with Amazon Dash Cart.
The Water Cooler — Conversation starters for around the (virtual) office
Jack Ma, Alibaba’s billionaire Co-Founder, resurfaces after months of lying low. A new meme generator lets you drop Bernie Sanders and his chair around the world. The Porsche this man wanted to buy was sold out, so he built one instead. Thailand offers ‘Golf Quarantine’ to lure back luxury tourists. The DeLorean is looking at making a comeback with a new EV.
The Corporate Card — Corporate Venture Deals
Microsoft & General Motors co-led the $2bn Corporate Round of self-driving car startup Cruise, with participation from Honda Motor.
Kaiser Permanente joined the $132m Series E of telemedicine startup K Health.
GV joined the $94m Series B of gene-editing startup Verve Therapeutics.
GV joined the $80m in the Series C of BioTech startup Vera Therapeutics.
GV joined the $44m Series B of apprenticeship matching startup Multiverse.
TELUS Ventures led the A$30m Series B of Australian AgTech startup AgriWebb.
Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, Inc. led the $20m Series A of Enterprise FinTech startup Trovata with participation from JP Morgan, Capital One Growth Ventures and other non CVC’s.
Salesforce Ventures led the $15 Series C of HrTech platform Darwinbox.
Cisco Investments co-led the $12.5m Series A of cyber security startup Valtix.
Coinbase Ventures joined the $4.3m Seed Round of stablecoin market maker startup Saddle Finance.
Google led $8.3m Series E of hyperlocal delivery startup Dunzo.
PwC invests £1.8m in the Seed Round of AI Training for Organizations startup OBRIZUM Group Ltd..
Discovery invests an undisclosed sum in Turkish streaming startup BluTV.
Hyundai Motor Company invests an undisclosed sum in automated vehicle inspection startup Parallel Domain.
The Bulletin Board — Job openings and opportunities
Corporate Development & Ventures Manager at Snowflake. The corporate development team partners closely with product, engineering, and business leaders to source, evaluate, execute and integrate acquisition opportunities. This role will support the Head of Corporate Development in facilitating acquisitions and corporate investments. Snowflake is growing fast, and we’re scaling our team to help enable and accelerate our growth. We are looking for people who share our values, challenge ordinary thinking, and push the pace of innovation while building a future for themselves and Snowflake.
Director, Global Health Innovation Fund at Merck. As an integral member of the our company Global Health Innovation Fund team, the Director is an entrepreneurial individual who will be expected to support all aspects of investing in digital healthcare startups for a corporate venture capital fund. This includes deal sourcing, vetting, diligence, financial modeling, investing, as well as investment monitoring and governance. The Director will report into the COO of our company GHI Fund and will be expected to support investment activities across the GHI Fund management team.
