Fall of 2018 marked the beginning of huge advancements in Venture Capital funding for the emerging “FemTech” sector. In my November article, I covered the funding expected to enter this sector within the next 6 years. This week, FemTech came $42 M closer to its $50 B goal. Elvie, a London-based women’s healthcare start-up secured $42 M in its third private financing round.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE MARKETS: EASY TO INVEST IN?
Traditional automotive manufacturers are being forced to innovate and compete against new entrants. Many startups secured seed and early round funding from Venture Capital firms between 2007-2011 before the influx of Private Equity investors. However, several of the company’s successful in raising capital, such as Lucid Motors and Coda Automotive, eventually found themselves facing financial struggles, and, in some cases, bankruptcy. Although the electric automotive market is experiencing rapid growth with sales expected to exceed 4.5 million units per year by 2020, the potential varies drastically across regions.
THE CLEAR CHOICE TO AUTO INSURANCE COVERAGE: CLEARCOVER
The FinTech industry is booming because of the attractive market for millennials. Younger generations are more flexible and less likely to choose firms based on tradition. Millennials tend to switch between preferred companies based on convenience and simplicity. FinTech has been largely steered towards millennials because mobile platforms such as Robinhood, Petal, and Acorn are able to have seamless apps with virtually no learning curve and limited costs. Beyond financial services, startups have been increasingly targeting opportunities for growth in the insurance industry.
MUSIC SERVICES STARTUP EXPECTED TO RECEIVE A LARGE CHECK
Kobalt is a music technology and services company that grants artists royalties and serves a platform for music production. This startup is viewed extremely positively in the eyes of investors due to its software management system for digital content, which enables artists who purchase Kobalt’s services to effectively view user data and song performance across music streaming apps. The company champions the right of the artist--a right that is often forgotten in pursuit of additional income by other businesses in the music industry.
ROKU’S GROWTH: CREATING HUGE BUYOUT OPPORTUNITIES FOR TMT
The rapid rise of TV streaming platform company Roku has been difficult to ignore in the last year. Since going public, Roku has demonstrated market expansion and execution excellence, while lowering competitive risk and capital intensity through its strategic positioning as an “over-the-top” (OTT) takeover target and disruptive business model. With its continued growth, it is likely that larger companies such as Amazon or Google may be circling for a potential buyout.
EXPERTISE IS KEY WHEN IT COMES TO ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE
Software investments are currently surging in private markets. Technology pervades many PE deals because PE firms are in pursuit of deals that will drive sustainable value. Developments increasingly appealing to PE investors include artificial intelligence, data management, healthcare IT, industrial automation, and Software-as-a-Service.
THE UPSURGE OF VC MEGA FUNDS
PETAL: NO TRAINING WHEELS REQUIRED
Petal, a ‘beginners’ credit card company’ secured another round of funding of $34 million in October from Jefferies and Silicon Valley Bank. This comes several months after raising $13 million from Valar Ventures. Located in New York, one of the main hubs of financial technology (also known as, “Fintech”), Petal is a more developed startup poised to disrupt the credit card industry.
ByteDance: The Road to Becoming the World’s Most Valuable Internet Startup
The Chinese unicorn ByteDance has become the world’s largest internet startup after recently closing a $3 billion round of funding on October 25th. Backed by the Softbank Group, KKR, General Atlantic and China-based investment firm Primavera, the company is now valued at $75 billion — surpassing Uber’s current valuation at $72 billion, according to CB Insights. Launched in 2012, ByteDance is a Chinese internet technology company that owns a number of machine learning based-social media apps such as Toutiao, a news aggregator app, and Duoyin, a platform that allows users to record and share short videos.
Apple Considers Stake in Bankrupt iHeartMedia
iHeartMedia is a mass media company that owns iHeartRadio, which is a free broadcast and internet radio platform. iHeartMedia aggregates 850 local iHeart radio stations across the United States and it is the biggest US radio station owner. In 2008, iHeartMedia was taken private by Bain Capital and Thomas H. Lee Partners through an $18bn leveraged buyout.