Hi there,

Covid-19 is highlighting critical issues in the health insurance market.  

We take a deeper look at the key trends and technologies in our 2020 US Health Insurance Trends To Watch report. Download it for free here.

Working hard or hardly working?

Not everyone’s practicing TikTok dances to pass the time.

Take a look at 65+ startups that want to help people work from home.

Asia VC plummets

The full effect of Covid-19 on VC investments hasn’t really been felt in the US or Europe. But as a harbinger of things to come, Asia is worth studying.

And per the PwC and CB Insights Q1'20 VC Report, Asia’s VC deal activity dropped 30% very quickly — going from 1,499 deals in Q4’19 to 1,072 in Q1’20.

The true test of US and European venture activity will be seen in Q2’20, but the Asia experience may offer a window into the future.

Get the full report here.

Buff Bezos buffing up business 

Amazon paused sellers' loan repayments amid the Covid-19 outbreak. 

But small business lending isn’t the only way the tech giant is unbundling the bank. Take a look at what else Amazon is doing in financial services here.

Boomers rise up

The only thing not being “digitally transformed” amid Covid-19.

Harder, better, faster, stronger
 

The robotic process automation (RPA) industry is expected to be worth $12B by 2023.

From automating claims management to payroll, Expert Intelligence clients can see 6 RPA startups making businesses more efficient here. 

TechCrunch. Alex Wilhelm (@alex) covers 3 VC funding trends from the PwC and CB Insights Q1’20 MoneyTree report.

Financial Times. Miles Kruppa (@MilesKruppa) reports on VC firm Andreessen Horowitz’s plans for its second cryptocurrency fund and references the CB Insights Blockchain 2020 report.

NBC. Bridget Shirvell (@breeshirvell) does a deep dive on fair trade skin products and cites the CB Insights 2020 Beauty Trends report.

P.S. We’re looking for a senior product designer. See the job description here.

Finishing each other’s sentences. Google hopes AI can help predict and replace the sound bites lost in choppy video calls.

MIT Technology Review

Have we lost our marbles? With most televised sports canceled, fans are turning to competitive marble racing.

New York Magazine
 

Cutting the line. A programmer made a script to help you nab a coveted grocery-shopping slot. 

CNBC

Whale-watching. Machine learning can help us predict the movement and population growth of marine species.

New York Times

Invent the runway. Designers are creating high-fashion icons using Sims avatars.

Dazed