Do you even keto?

Hola, 

If you’ve heard a friend going on about how they’re trying a new nutrition fad called a “keto diet,” you’re not alone.

Here’s a look at news chatter surrounding keto from our Trends tool, which shows it is now more popular than paleo in terms of media mentions. 



In the diet, people fast and/or eat only massive quantities of eggs, butter, steak, and bacon. By avoiding carbs and sugar, they can achieve a state of “ketosis” in which the body breaks down fat for energy.

People on the keto diet are so proud of their carb deprivation masochism.



Anyway, you get the idea.

Companies have begun to develop products around the keto fad. New Jersey-based Akers Biosciences markets a breath keto test. HVMN, a San Francisco startup that has raised $2.8M and is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, has just launched a ketone drink that sells for the super low price of $99 a dose. It is meant as a pre-workout drink.

Keto may be a wellness/sports nutrition fad in the early-adopter stage, but consider that this is a huge market. Our Market Sizings tool shows that diet supplements (including sports nutrition) are a $191B market globally.

Consider also Atkins/paleo eventually transformed the eating habits of millions and that a related online community like the subreddit for Ketosis already has 700K members.


Check yourself

Around 73% of millennial US bank customers say they're open to trying financial products from a tech company they already use. Fintechs are saying, "You don't have to tell us twice!"

From mobile-first bank accounts to Instagram-worthy debit cards, we take a look at how fintech companies like Square, Venmo, and PayPal are appealing to their millennial clientele and disrupting banking.




Dark magic?

Psychographics has the potential to transform how marketers understand and influence decision-making. Instead of classifying people based on demographics, it focuses on customers' emotions, values, and attitudes.

Critics say it could quickly take a dystopian turn. 

We dive deep into psychographics to explain what it is, how it works, and what it could mean for businesses.




Amping up security

Financial services saw more cybersecurity incidents than any other industry last year. Now financial firms are shifting their strategies from passive to active cyber defense.

From cyber war rooms to white-hat hackers, we take a look at how fin services companies are stepping up their cybersecurity game.




Marcelo
@ballve

P.S. CB Insights clients can run the above Trends search on our platform. Click here to see media mentions of different diets. You can also access our client-only research on next gen nutrition startups.

This week in data:

• $1T: Last week’s earnings reports led to dramatic drop-offs in Facebook and Twitter stock, as we mentioned in a recent client note. At the other end of this spectrum, a few hours ago Apple became the first US company to reach a $1T market cap. The record follows Apple's recent report of strong Q3 figures, including a jump in revenue to $53.3B and the sale of 41.3M iPhones. The stock has risen 23% this year, largely propelled by sustained success in iPhone sales.
  
  
   
• 2: Today, two companies were added to our unicorn exits tracker. Cybersecurity platform Duo Security was acquired by Cisco Systems for $2.35B. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based startup previously reached a unicorn valuation of $1.17B following a Series D in late 2017, meaning it’s doubled its valuation in less than a year. Smart speaker company Sonos is launching its IPO at a $1.5B valuation. To mark the occasion, it partnered with Nasdaq to redesign the sound of the opening bell.
   
• 12 acres: On Tuesday, Google subsidiary Sidewalk Labs got the green light to build a high-tech neighborhood on 12 acres of Toronto’s waterfront, commiting $50M to the project. While the company has been quiet about the exact plans for the development, CEO Dan Doctoroff has previously talked about how self-driving cars, embedded sensors to track energy usage, and high-speed internet could function in urban settings, while preliminary illustrations include bikeshares, apartments, and parks. Tech giants’ moves in residential real estate is one trend we cover in our Future of Housing report, which you can view here. Expert clients can also check out our smart city market map here.
  
  
   
• $14.95: MoviePass, the subscription service that lets users see a movie a day, had a rough week. Last Thursday, the app experienced a service outage because it ran out of money to pay vendors. Service was restored following a $5M loan. This week, MoviePass announced that it would be raising prices from $10 to $14.95 a month and putting restrictions on recent blockbusters like Mission: Impossible Fallout for the first few weeks after its release. Analysts are skeptical that this will be enough to save the company.
   
• $20 an hour: Parents are hiring Fortnite coaches to help their kids get better at the popular video game — with some shelling out up to $20 an hour for a coach, according to the Wall Street Journal. The game, which reportedly has some 125 million players as of June, has become hugely popular, especially after announcing its first competitive season, which has a $100,000,000 prize pool. The first Fortnite World Cup will take place in late 2019. You can check out all our gaming research here, and expert clients can read about Fornite’s success and other gaming trends to watch here.
  
  
   
• 245 arrests: A Colombian drug cartel has put out a bounty of 200 million pesos (about $70K USD) on drug-sniffing police dog Sombra. The 6-year-old German shepherd has helped police detect over 2,000 kilos of cocaine hidden in suitcases, boats, and shipments of food, and officers credit her with more than 245 drug-related arrests at Colombian airports. Sombra is now allegedly being transported in a van with tinted windows accompanied by two armed guards, and will be routinely rotated around different posts so she can continue to do her job.
   
• 24 hours: Today marks the start of CBI’s 7th company Hack Day, when we get 24 hours to work on any project we want. At our last Hack Day, CBI’ers presented on everything from a new help center to a robot to help us decide where to get coffee (we drink a lot of coffee). You can check our last Hack Day projects here. And if you want 24 hours to work with smart people on your passion project, we’re hiring.