Hi there, 

We just announced the fully virtual CB Insights Technology Conference (June 16-18). More below, but first...
 

Corporates are teaming up with healthcare AI startups to combat Covid-19. 

Deals with corporate and CVC participants have quintupled in the past 5 years — and Q1’20 was no different, with the announcement of 7 notable partnerships. 

We took a look at what healthcare AI execs are chatting about on earnings calls, e.g. self-diagnosis via chatbots, real-time data collection, AI-powered genomic analysis, and more.

Other major research developments in Q1’20 include how AI is predicting drug efficacy, discovering new antibiotics, and accelerating the diagnosis and treatment of Covid-19.

Gradually, then suddenly. Very suddenly.

Covid-19 has changed everything. Where’s tech going and how fast can you adapt? 

I’m excited to announce the CB Insights Technology Conference (June 16-18, 2020). It’s a fully virtual event where we’ll be exploring how technology is reshaping society, markets, and industries.  

We reached out to the smartest people we know to see what they think. Our all-star speaker lineup already includes:

• Chris Sacca, Co-founder, Lowercarbon Capital (angel investor, philanthropist, and former Shark Tank host)

• Cal Henderson, Co-founder, Slack (NYSE: WORK)

• Steve Case, CEO, Revolution (author of NYT bestseller "The Third Wave"; Co-founder, AOL)

• Pat Grady, Partner, Sequoia Capital (investor in Zoom)

• Kai-Fu Lee, Chairman and CEO, Sinovation Ventures (author of NYT bestseller "AI Superpowers"; former Google China President)

• David Sacks, Co-founder, Craft Ventures (founding COO, PayPal; Co-founder, Yammer) 

What you’ll get:

• 3 days of hearing from the smartest people in tech

• 1:1 virtual networking with startups, VCs, and corporations 

• Some good ol’ CBI research on where tech is going

You’ll want to be part of this one. Register here.

Animal Crossing or face masks?

From gaming to beauty to wellness, which consumer area is seeing the most investor traction? 

We surfaced the top 25 VCs investing in consumer companies and took a look at their portfolios. See which areas top investors are betting on here.

Good pickings 

We announced our first-ever Digital Health 150 — our list of the most promising digital health startups across the globe — last year. 

Here's where they are now. 

It’s called range

With auto manufacturing sidelined by Covid-19, GM has focused resources on a different area: ventilator production.

Clients can read our analysis of what this move means for future supply chain operations here. 

Business Insider. Blake Dodge (@dodgeblake) breaks down the 10 top-funded healthcare startups in Q1’20 and cites the CB Insights State of Healthcare Q1’20 report.

TechCrunch. Alex Wilhelm (@alex) breaks down the funding trends covered in the CB Insights State of Fintech Q1’20 report.

The Economist. The Economist examines the state of China’s private sector and cites CB Insights research on Covid-19.

P.S. Last chance to register for our healthcare webinar tomorrow. Even if you can't make it, sign up anyways and we'll send you a copy of the slides after.

Virtual feng shui. Interior designers have moved into the Animal Crossing universe to embellish players’ homes.

Pocket Gamer

Robo-rights. The US Patent & Trademark Office says AI can't be listed as “inventor” on a patent. 

Vice

Turn out the lights. To protect the visibility of the starscape, SpaceX is designing its satellites to blend in with the night.

New York Times

Crowdsourced computing. Millions of volunteers’ contributed to a distributed computing effort that outperformed the world's fastest supercomputers.
The Guardian