Hi there, 

There are 7 mental health unicorns (private cos valued at $1B+) today.

In 2020, investors poured $1.5B+ into mental health startups, highlighting just how hot this market is.

And 2021 is shaping up to be an even bigger year.

Last week, mental health unicorn Lyra Health announced another $200M raise, doubling its valuation to $4.6B. This look at the company's competitors on CB Insights shows the eye-popping amounts of money these companies have all raised:

And notably, many of the biggest raises in mental health have been in 2021.

So, poll question for you: 

Which area of digital health has the most opportunity and upside? (Click the link to vote.)

Telemedicine

Mental health

Connected devices/wearables

Digital therapeutics

Chronic disease management

We’ll share the results next week. 

Defending home turf

Companies like Amazon, Coinbase, and Disney have thrived by strengthening their business moats — the key competitive advantages that set them apart.  

We dig into how these giants — plus 22 more — have built durable moats today on advantages related to network effects, data, and more in this report.

Feed me, see more

Earlier this week, we launched Feeds on CB Insights, which makes it insanely simple to track and stay current on technology markets, competitors, deals, and investors in real time.

Here is a snapshot of the feeds I’m now tracking (note — each is a link so if you want to add these in your account, just click and save):

• All Silicon Valley seed and Series A deals

• Autonomous vehicle transactions 

• Sequoia, Y Combinator, and Andreessen Horowitz’s investments

• Apple, Amazon, and Alibaba’s M&A and financing activity

• CBI’s healthcare and financial services research

If you’re a client, log in and set up your feeds.

If you’re not a client, sign up here for free and tell us your interests and we’ll create feeds automagically for you.

On a health kick

The Future of Health conference is BACK.

It’s going to be online on December 8-9 with an in-person networking option (more details on that coming soon!).

As always, the event will include signature fireside chats from leading startups and healthcare institutions and feature research on the most important trends across health and pharma.

New this year is a demo stage connecting buyers and sellers in healthcare. We’ll have 40+ tech company demos introducing healthcare institutions to technologies that can help them transform and digitize their businesses.

Our promise to you is that you’ll leave the Future of Health more networked and knowledgeable.  

Let us help you lead the way.

Down for the deals

With a $2.2B deal, saving and investing app Acorns has joined the wealth tech SPAC craze.

Here are the top-line bullets clients need to know about the company’s record Q1’21 and what’s next for the money management space.

Wall Street Journal. Frances Yoon (@frances_jisun) discusses South Korea-based Viva Republic’s funding raise and cites CB Insights unicorn data. 

Ad Age. Adrianne Pasquarelli (@SheLikesToShop) covers Klarna’s “buy now, pay later” ad push and references CB Insights research. 

CNBC. Ryan Browne (@Ryan_Browne_) reports on Mollie’s $800M mega-round and mentions CB Insights data.
 

I love you.
 

P.S. Fill out this < 3-min application to be considered for this year's prestigious Fintech 250 award. Apply before July 1.

Welcome to the club. 2020 minted 5.2M millionaires, bringing the global millionaire total to 56.1M, according to a Credit Suisse report. 

The Guardian

Fully loaded. NASA has teamed up with P&G to find a way to clean astronauts’ clothing in space, instead of throwing it away. 

AP 

Feeding the algorithm. Instagram is testing mixing “suggested posts” throughout users’ primary feeds.

The Verge

Brick by brick. Lego is aiming to sell bricks made from recycled bottles within 2 years.

BBC

Stacking Gs. As space tourism heats up, here’s what it would take for an average person to prep for space travel. 

Protocol