Hola, 

Venture cash is overwhelmingly flooding into fintech: $1 of every $5 in venture last quarter went to fintech. The category smashed past prior records in funding, deals, exits, and mega-rounds. 

In Q2, fintech startups picked up $30.8B, a 30% QoQ surge, and funding YTD has already exceeded 2020’s total by 24%. 

Where’s all that money going?

• Mega-rounds: 88 mega-rounds drove 70% of total fintech funding. The report lists the top deals and how they fueled themes like retail-investing apps, insurtech, protection against payments fraud, and more.

• Europe: 50% of the top deals went to Europe-based cos, with the report spotlighting the top countries and deals, including financings to TradeRepublic, Mollie, and Klarna.

• Exits: Public exits reached new highs. There were 19 public exits (including announced, but not yet completed, deals) for VC-backed fintech companies in Q2’21, including SPAC deals for Grab, Better.com, Dave, and Acorns.

• South America: It saw the most growth in funding and deal count, with these ballooning by 153% and 52% QoQ.

• Payments: Payments cos raised more than $8B, a 25% QoQ increase.

• Blockchain: Blockchain funding topped a record high at $4.4B, from blockchain infra co Circle to encrypted wallet co Ledger.

We also spotlight trends like open banking, Southeast Asia's super apps, the expansion of BNPL beyond retail, and more. 

For all the unmissable details, download the full report here.

It’s raining money

Q2’21 was the largest funding quarter on record for fintech.

Take a deeper look at what drove this quarter’s $30.8B funding boom and explore trends including embedded insurance, compliance in the age of cryptocurrencies, and emerging corporate card and expense management players in our new report.

Another record

Global AI cos picked up $20B+ in Q2'21, a new funding record. 

We dig into the rate of AI exits, unicorn births, and more in the AI In Numbers Q2’21 report.

Here to stay

An explosion in healthcare data and skyrocketing demand for healthcare AI and automation are driving systematic changes in the healthcare industry. Tech giants are equipped with the tech and level of customer obsession that could drive innovation in the space. 

From industry cloud to smart devices, here’s how tech giants are carving out a permanent place for themselves in healthcare.

Back and better than ever

Future of Health is back for a virtual event + networking on December 8-9. 

Here’s what you can expect:

• CB Insights' signature fireside chats with C-level leaders across healthcare and pharma

• CB Insights research presentations on the most important trends in healthcare

• Roundtable discussions addressing key challenges in healthcare

• Unlimited 1:1 video networking

Also, for the first time ever, we will be debuting:

• A tech marketplace connecting buyers and sellers in healthcare.

• 40+ demos introducing healthcare institutions to technologies that can transform their businesses.

Reserve your spot today at the best possible rate.

129%: Digital Health 150 winner Carbon Health, which offers clinic-based, at-home, and virtual healthcare models, raised a $350M Series D round at a unicorn-minting $3B valuation. The platform has seen a 129% increase in patient volume since November. Globally, there are more than 75 healthcare unicorns valued in aggregate at over $200B.

$14.7B: Zoom acquired Contact Center-as-a-Service provider Five9 for $14.7B. Zoom will likely roll Five9’s cloud software solution into its enterprise offering as it looks to build out its base of paying business clients. We analyzed the pandemic activity of both Five9 and Zoom in our report on industries that will shape the post-Covid world. 

10M waitlisted users: Clubhouse opened access to all users after being invite-only since launching in March 2020. The social audio app will start letting the 10M users on its waitlist into the platform. We look at the explosive growth of the social audio space — as well as 11 Clubhouse competitors that investors and acquirers should be looking at — here.

$223B: US retailers will pay an extra $223B for goods in the second half of 2021 compared to the same period last year, according to a Salesforce report. This is largely due to the rising cost of freight operations, manufacturing, and labor. As a result, consumers will likely see higher prices on items. Check out how tech is helping retailers grapple with near-term challenges and long-term innovation needs in our just-released State Of Retail Tech Q2’21 report.

319 terabits/second: Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) broke the internet speed record, reaching a data rate of 319 terabits (roughly 40 terabytes) per second across a distance of over 3,000 kilometers. The researchers achieved this using a novel redesign of the fiber optic cable, which they hope can contribute to improved communications in the future.

Amid pandemic lockdowns, some American children became even more hooked on the English cartoon Peppa Pig. 

They’re now emerging with British accents and vocabularies, in what’s known as the “Peppa Effect.”

Six-year-old Aurelia, for example, will ask, “Can we turn the telly on?” and has referenced “the water closet,” to the surprise of her mom.

Have a great rest of the week.
 

Marcelo