​Hi there,
 

The fintech M&A and funding spree isn't slowing down. Attendees of the fully virtual Future of Fintech (November 16-18) will get to hear from all the major players in one place. The lineup includes:

• CEO and co-founder, Plaid (acquired by Visa for $5.3B)

• President, Honey (acquired by PayPal for $4B)

• Partner, Goldman Sachs (acquired Folio for $500M)

• Co-founder & CEO, Hippo (closed a $150M Series E in July; acquired Spinnaker Insurance Company, which holds insurance licenses in 46 states)

• CEO & co-founder, Lemonade (NYSE: LMND)

• Co-founder & president, Airwallex (closed a $160M Series D in April)

• COO, Robinhood (closed a $200M Series G funding round earlier this week, boosting its valuation to $11.2B)

Plus, our premium ticket holders get access to an exclusive AMA with Kabbage co-founder Kathryn Petralia. (On Monday, American Express announced it would acquire Kabbage.) Register here — the AMA is next Tuesday, August 25. 

And now, for this week in data, we've got a $1.9B raise, a $2T milestone, and an asteroid hurtling past Earth at 27,600 mph. Check it out below.

$46B: SpaceX raised $1.9B at a valuation of $46B. Elon Musk’s rocket company is currently the third most highly valued unicorn in the world. See how the world’s top private companies by value are distributed across countries and industries in this infographic. 

+97%: Walmart reported that its e-commerce sales were up 97% year-over-year in Q2. We dig into how the pandemic is affecting funding to e-commerce startups and emerging trends within the space in our State Of Retail H1’20 report. Our senior lead retail analyst will also discuss these trends during a webinar on August 25. Save your spot here.
 

$2T+: Apple became the first US company to be valued at more than $2T. Its share price has more than doubled since the bottom of the pandemic-induced market crash in March. Read about some of the guiding principles that helped Apple become a corporate giant in our report on 8 Laws Driving Success In Tech. 

$50M: Robotic fulfillment startup Attabotics raised $50M. Robotic fulfillment tech has quickly gained traction, partially driven by the challenges of the pandemic, as retailers and logistics companies look to cut down on costs and boost efficiency. We break down the landscape of robotic fulfillment providers and solutions in this client-exclusive report. 
 

3,500 employees: Amazon said that it would hire 3,500 people for corporate jobs across 6 US cities — including 2,000 in New York. The e-commerce giant bought Lord & Taylor’s former building in Manhattan from WeWork earlier this year, which houses about 660,000 square feet of office space. We look at the tech that could influence how offices will operate when they reopen in this analysis.  

95,000+ ventilators: The US federal stockpile of ventilators has swelled to more than 95,000. The vast majority of these ventilators have been built since the pandemic began by companies like General Electric and Philips as part of a national effort to address widespread shortages. We look at how companies across 6 industries pivoted to help tackle Covid-19 in this report.
 

100 AVs: Self-driving car startup AutoX launched a robotaxi service in Shanghai that will initially operate with 100 vehicles. Autonomous vehicles may be a big market, but they are also challenging and costly to develop. Clients can see how major players in the space like Waymo, Ford, and Toyota are pooling autonomous vehicle resources with other companies  in this partnership analysis. 

1,830 miles: An asteroid came within 1,830 miles of the Earth — the closest that one has been observed passing our planet without hitting into it. The object is estimated to be up to 20 feet across and was moving at a speed of 27,600 mph. Astronomers say that the asteroid would likely have burned up without causing damage had it entered our atmosphere. 

I love you.

Single Tesla owners looking for love may find some hope in a new dating app. Just kidding. Unless...?  

Launched as a parody, Tesla Dating Co says its aim is to unite “an exclusive community of like-minded Elon stans,” because owning a Tesla is now a personality trait. 

The joke may come to fruition if the app gains enough traction, according to the developer. As of this morning, it’s collected 1,000 signups.