Hi there,
 

Here is this week in charts.

Crypto craze. ICYMI, blockchain startups are having a wild year. They’ve raised $15B in venture funding in the first 9 months of this year, which is nearly 5x 2020’s total investment. Early-stage rounds (seed/Series A) dominate the dealmaking, capturing almost 80% of deals in 2021 YTD. Investors like Coinbase Ventures are also bursting onto the scene — the VC arm was by far the most active blockchain/crypto investor with 24 deals in the quarter.

Eye of the tiger. Tiger Global has shaken up the VC world with the pace and aggressiveness of its dealmaking. The investment firm, which only has around 30 investment professionals, was the #1 VC investor in Q2’21 and #2 in Q3’21 by company count. Tiger’s VC funds have reportedly seen a 27% average annual return over 18 years. 

Uh oh, I got the splits. Conglomerates General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, and Toshiba all recently announced their breakups: GE will splinter into 3 standalone companies, J&J into 2, and Toshiba into 3. What’s the cause? While the conglomerate structure has its benefits — GE once sat atop the US stock market in the 1990s — it can also lead to bloat. And in today’s stock market and flush funding environment, a more focused unit may be able to find stronger growth.  

Lend me your ears. Digital lending startups raised $3.1B in Q3’21, the third-highest quarter since 2015. LatAm led funding, with nearly $1.1B invested in the region across just 10 deals.

Out and about. “Stay-at-home” stocks like Zoom (video conferencing software), Peloton (fancy indoor exercise bikes), and Chegg (online education) have seen their share prices drop. Investors have instead turned their attention to companies like Live Nation (live events) and Planet Fitness (gyms), which have seen large gains — indicating an economic rebound across some markets impacted by the pandemic.

This one is deep. Here is an acceptable use of a Venn diagram. Enjoy.
 

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal

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