Hola,

It has been a singular quarter for venture. Investment to startups worldwide exploded to a record $156B in Q2’21 — the highest financing tally in recent memory.

The quarter saw the birth of 136 unicorns. That’s a unicorn-and-a-half every day in the quarter (and nearly 6x the unicorn births we saw in Q2’20). 

It doesn’t end there. In our State Of Venture Q2’21 Report, we highlight the top 10 things you need to know in venture, as well as:

• The most active investors, including which name-brand investor is doing 1.3 deals a day

• Global M&A and IPO trends in a hot quarter for exits

• Sector spotlights, from the fintech boom to e-commerce to digital health

• Funding trends among competing tech hubs like Silicon Valley, NY, Boston, Austin, and Miami

Download the free 190-page report here to get all the slides and underlying data.

$HOOD

Robinhood has grown from just 500K users in 2015 to 18M users today, becoming one of the most popular and influential fintech apps in the world. 

Ahead of its IPO, we dig into Robinhood’s S-1 filing, revenue and cost centers, competitive landscape, and more in this report. 

VC data bible

Startups in the US raised a record $70.4B in Q2’21, while funding to China-based startups dropped 18% from Q4’20’s peak of $27.7B. In Brazil, funding nearly tripled the prior quarter’s total to reach $4.6B.

To see funding trends across regions like Canada and Europe and much more, download the State Of Venture report here.

390 mega-rounds: In Q2’21, the number of mega-rounds (deals worth $100M+) surged to a record-high 390 — up 195% year-over-year. Among regions, the US led the quarter with 204 mega-rounds (another record), followed by Asia with 92. Dig into all the underlying data in our State Of Venture Q2’21 report, including which startup raised an eye-popping $3B mega-round.

27 years: Jeff Bezos stepped down as Amazon’s CEO after 27 years in the position, with Andy Jassy, former head of AWS, replacing him. Bezos will stay on at Amazon as executive chair and will work on “new products and early initiatives,” while also focusing on external endeavors like Blue Origin and the Bezos Earth Fund. Read our analysis of every one of Bezos’ letters to shareholders here.

15.5M users: Challenger bank Revolut is in talks with investors to raise up to $1B in funding at a valuation of $30B or more — nearly 450% above its last valuation in July 2020. The company, which is currently seeking bank charters in both the US and UK, saw its user base grow to 15.5M retail users in Q1’21, up from 14.5M at the end of 2020. We dig into Revolut’s viral growth strategy in our Challenger Bank Playbook report.

300%: UAE-based Kitopi, which operates delivery-only cloud kitchens for brands like Papa Johns and IHOP, raised a $415M Series C round led by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 at a $1B valuation. Kitopi saw its business grow 300% in 2020 as the pandemic forced many restaurants to prioritize delivery. We look at how social distancing pushed cloud kitchens into the mainstream in our report on industries that will shape the post-Covid world.

1,243 miles: Facebook is partnering with connectivity provider Liquid Intelligent Technologies to build a fiber network across roughly 1,243 miles of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The goal is to improve the availability and affordability of internet connectivity for over 30M people — in turn fueling Facebook’s growth strategy for its apps in the region. Check out where Facebook and other tech giants are placing strategic bets here.

<1 minute: Philips and the Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research debuted a technique for conducting cardiac MRI scans that reduces scanning time from about an hour to under 1 minute. While still in the research stage, the method could eventually improve patient access to and comfort during precision imaging.

An interstate exit in Florida was forced to close for 3 hours after a crate containing 100 homing pigeons fell off a truck. 

The birds, which roost at night, refused to move, creating a driving hazard for motorists until they could be recaptured by state workers. 

“It’s the worst case scenario — homing pigeons that can’t find their home,” said county officials in a news release. 

Marcelo