Hola, 

My 6-year-old daughter spends hours each week on the iPad in Roblox, a game featuring blocky Lego-like characters in virtual worlds. Since real-life playdates are rare in Covid times, I excuse this by telling myself it’s a way for her to connect with her cousin, who lives hundreds of miles away.
 

Over the holidays I made a big mistake: I inadvertently unblocked in-app purchases. And so, like an identity thief with a no-limit AmEx platinum card, they went on a wild spending spree. She dropped over $300. Her shopping list included:

• 2 “legendary” supercars
• a mermaid mansion
• a heart-shaped hoverboard 
• a variety of flyable and rideable “ultra-rare” pets, including a sloth and a panda 

Aside from the face-palm aspect of this, it did hit home that for her generation, aspiring to own virtual goods is as normal as it was for me to daydream about the next Nintendo cartridge I’d buy.
 

Roblox announced this week it would follow in the footsteps of Palantir and Spotify and pursue a direct listing instead of a conventional IPO. Why? Well, for one, so many kids are buying virtual goods it really doesn’t need the public markets to raise capital. In fact, Roblox also announced this week it had raised $520M at a crazy valuation of $29.5B. 

Who would have thought it possible? An empire built on the backs of flyable pandas that cost 249 “Robux.” (Of course, Robux are bought with IRL money.) 

Our research in the consumer space has been closely tracking virtual goods, in  fashion, luxury, and even  influencer marketing. Dig into that research for more on why it's a trend that will impact many B2C categories beyond gaming.

Save the earth 
 

The vast majority of sustainability-related mega-rounds in 2020 focused on rising emissions and the global waste crisis — i.e. solutions involving alternative proteins, reuse and resale, and electric vehicles — but major challenges remain ahead. 

We explore what's next in our State Of Sustainability report.

Get your motor runnin’

Tesla isn’t the only one working on autonomous vehicles.

From Audi to Nvidia to SoftBank, take a look at 40+ corporations doubling down on self-driving tech here.

All eyes on Robinhood 
 

Robinhood has captured soaring executive and media attention during the pandemic, as it drew hordes of amateur traders and inspired large brokers to change how they rake in the bills. 

22%: Business expense management platform Divvy has joined the ranks of the global unicorn club, raising a $165M Series D from New Enterprise Associates, Insight Partners, and others to reach a $1.6B valuation. Our 50 Future Unicorns report predicted this, listing Divvy among 50 high-momentum startups projected to reach unicorn status. Since publication in June, our future unicorns list has seen 10 private companies cross that $1B threshold (plus one $1B+ exit by Luminar), making for a 22% hit rate. 

$400M: AI computing platform Horizon Robotics raised a $400M tranche of Series C funding from Yunfeng Capital, Baillie Gifford & Co., CPE, and Contemporary Amperex Technologies, bringing its total disclosed funding to nearly $1.3B. Clients can see our market map of the top-funded AI startups (including Horizon) here. 
 

$188.5B: Following a 4.8% bump in electric car company Tesla’s share price, founder Elon Musk became the richest person on the planet, with a net worth of $188.5B — $1.5B more than Jeff Bezos, who has held the top spot since fall 2017. We dig into the industries being disrupted by Elon Musk and his bevy of companies, from prosthetics to solar energy to space tourism, in this report. 

54%: Electric car sales in Norway hit a global record, accounting for 54% of new car sales in the country in 2020. Sales were boosted by major tax incentives, which have now put the country ahead of schedule to become the first nation to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2025. Among sellers, Volkswagen led in EV sales. Read more on the shift to electric in our report, The Race for the Electric Car. 
 

More than half of US adults turned to video games amid the pandemic, according to SuperData. 

Games like Animal Crossing and Among Us exploded in popularity, even drawing politicians like Joe Biden and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to raise awareness on these platforms.

Last year, digital games alone made $126B+. Though growth may slow down this year, SuperData predicts that “the long-term habits formed during lockdown are here to stay.”

Have a great rest of the week.

Marcelo

P.P.S. No e-mails with parenting advice please.