Hi there, 

12K companies have briefed our analysts in the last 11.5 months.  

We’re going to feature a few that have completed an Analyst Briefing in newsletters going forward.

If you want to have your company mentioned in this newsletter (which has almost 900,000 subscribers) and to be in front of customers, investors, and acquirers on the CBI platform, you can request an Analyst Briefing here. 

And now, let’s get to it.

Yo Gary — read the room 

Wartime Zuckerberg is reporting for duty.  

And he wants to dial up the intensity at Meta.  

Based on the exchange below, RIP Gary from Chicago.

Ignore big company executives

At least when it comes to what they say about their strategy.

It's often so sanitized by their comms/IR teams or so high-level that it's useless.

Instead, mine the data on where they invest their time and resources and their strategy becomes self-evident.

Case in point: this CB Insights Strategy Map for Apple, which mines our data on Apple's partnerships, vendors, acquisitions, and investments.

See our other strategy maps here.

Crypto jitters

Venture funding to blockchain & crypto startups declined for the first time in 2 years in Q2’22 amid the crypto downturn. 

But at $6.5B, the quarter’s dollar total still marks the fourth largest ever for blockchain companies. 

In our State of Blockchain Q2’22 Report, we cover how the sector is evolving. Here are a few key highlights: 

• Funding shifts: Funding shifted away from centralized crypto exchanges & wallets toward NFTs, gaming, DeFi, and DApp infrastructure & development. 

• Europe rises: Europe saw record funding, with 6 of the continent’s top 10 rounds going to Web3 startups. It was the only global region to see funding growth in the quarter. 

• Exits galore: Blockchain saw 40+ M&A exits for the fifth quarter in a row. Giants like FTX looked to snap up companies at a discount. 

• Unicorn births fall: Eight blockchain startups valued at $1B+ emerged in the quarter, half of last quarter’s record total. 

• All in: Animoca Brands was #1 most active blockchain investor for the third quarter in a row. 

Get the full report here.

Cream of the crop 

Our inaugural Advanced Manufacturing 50 is here.

These are our picks — selected from a pool of over 6K companies — of the most promising private advanced manufacturing companies in the world. 

This year’s winners represent 13 different countries and are developing everything from factory analytics solutions to collaborative robots. 

Get the full list here.

On our radar

Here are 4 insurtech companies that recently submitted Analyst Briefings that have been popular with our customers.

Customers can hit the Connect button on these companies’ CBI profiles or the links below if they want to speak directly to these companies about their products.

• Cowbell Cyber, a cyber insurance underwriting platform, was named to our Insurtech 50 list. The company was founded in 2019. Connect here.

• Small business-focused Next Insurance counts Amazon among its partners. The company was last valued at $4B. Connect here.

• SafetyWing offers “insurance for digital nomads.” The mid-stage startup integrates with employment platform Oyster, among others. Connect here.

• No-code insurance platform CoverGo’s customers include Bank of China Group Insurance and Fubon Life. Connect here.

Want to get your startup in front of customers, investors/acquirers, and almost 900,000 newsletter subscribers? Request a free Analyst Briefing here.

Avoid single points of failure

Our friends at Blockdata sat down with Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo, to discuss the crypto downturn and its aftermath as well as BitGo's vision for digital asset custody, DeFi, and institutional adoption of crypto.

For Belshe, the stacking of "single points of failure" has been the glaringly obvious narrative underlying the current crypto downturn. 

Click here to learn more about how BitGo is supporting the adoption of digital assets.

TechCrunch. Mary Ann Azevedo (@bayareawriter) discusses fintech’s future with 8 investors and references CB Insights research.

Protocol Fintech. Ryan Deffenbaugh (@RyanDDeff) looks at the state of neobanks and cites CB Insights data.

Silicon Valley Business Journal. Cromwell Schubarth (@SVBizCrom) digs into Q2’s most active corporate venture investors using the CB Insights State of CVC Q2’22 Report.

P.S. What blockchain trends should you be watching in 2022 and beyond? Our expert will break it all down on August 23. Save your spot here.