Hi there,
 

We released our VC data bible — aka the State Of Venture Q3’21 report — today. 

Get the 263-page deck here. 

And now, here is this week in charts.

Venture pops off (again). Global venture funding reached $158.2B this quarter — a 105% increase YoY compared to Q3’20’s $77B. The last 2 quarters are the #1 and #2 quarters in terms of total venture funding ever.

There’s no place like home. While US home prices fell in the early months of the pandemic, a pent-up rush of eager home buyers has sent prices soaring. For example, the average value of a home in Tampa has increased from $265,000 to $331,000 year-over-year, according to August data from Zillow. Amid the rush, mortgage tech companies that automate and streamline the traditional home-buying and selling processes have drawn strong funding.

Fertile ground. Q3’21 saw the birth of 127 new unicorns, bringing the global unicorn herd to 848. This is 311 more than last year, or a 58% increase. Fintech claims the most unicorns among sectors (200), and 1 in 3 new unicorns in Q3’21 were in fintech. 

Cliff hanger. Merck’s cancer drug Keytruda brought in nearly one-third of the pharma co’s total revenue of $48B in 2020. But the drug is set to lose its patent protection in 2028 — at which point estimates suggest it will account for more than half of Merck’s sales — putting the pressure on Merck to find new treatments before a generic version becomes available. Intellectual property moats like Merck’s have helped shape companies such as Pfizer, Disney, and Qualcomm.

McRib indicator. When McDonald’s releases its McRib each year for a limited time, the S&P 500 has “an average daily return about 7 basis points higher” than on days when the McRib is off the menu. This is according to data from 2010 to 2017 (the McRib was available on ~19% of all trading days). Correlation or causation? I’d like to believe causation, but unfortunately, the difference is not statistically significant.

Like a pie chart — but worse. Never thought we’d say this, but this would have been better as a pie chart.  

I love you.

Anand

@asanwal

P.S. If you are passionate about following fintech, from the front-office to the back-office and embedded fintech and beyond, then we have a job for you. Apply for our principal fintech analyst position here.