el producto #261 🚀
2022 trends and predictions, Delivery Hero eats Glovo, Miro and Dave funding, Instagram's personalized feed, 4-day workweeks, Samsung NFT & more
Welcome to a new edition of el producto!
🎰 The week in figures
$3T: Apple reached a $3 trillion market cap on Monday, the first publicly-traded company to do so; the tech giant's shares reached a high of $182.86 before closing at $182.01, placing it just shy of the $3T mark; the share price stood at $172 ($2.82T market cap) at the time of publishing el producto; the largely symbolic milestone means Apple has tripled its valuation in less than four years
$93B: Seed-stage and early-stage startups saw an influx of $93B in 2021. The funding, which includes data to Dec. 15, is 1.78 times higher than the $52B invested in 2020, and x3 the $30B invested in 2016
$9B: Andreessen Horowitz raises $9B: a $1.5B Bio Fund, a $2.5B Venture Fund, and a $5B Growth Fund; a16z now has $28B+ in assets under management; Ben Horowitz said the firm would continue to write checks from $25k into the hundreds of millions
$4B: Neo-bank Dave debuts on the Nasdaq after merging with SPAC VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings III; the firm serves 10M users, offering payday advances, financial insights, help to build credit through apartment rent payments, and more; the company generated $158M in revenue in 2021, up 30 percent year-over-year; the deal valued Dave at ~$4B
$1.05B: AppLovin completes its $1.05B acquisition of mobile monetization platform MoPub from Twitter; the business generated $188M in revenue for Twitter last year; AppLovin announced in October that MoPub powered 45k apps reaching 1.5B addressable users
$885M: German food delivery giant Delivery Hero will acquire an additional 39.4% stake in the Spanish quick-commerce company Glovo. With a previous 44% stake in Glovo, Delivery Hero’s position in Glovo will grow to 83.4%. The deal is valued at $885M (€780M). The increased stake acquisition will value Glovo at $2.6B (€2.3B). The company operates in over 1,300 cities across 25 countries in Europe, Central Asia, and Africa. Its run rate is $3.41B (€3B) in gross transaction value with a growth rate of 80% in the past year
$750M: Blackbaud, which provides software for nonprofits, schools, and more, acquires edtech firm Everfi for $750M; both companies help clients reach environmental, social responsibility, and other goals; the deal will double Blackbaud's total addressable market to $20B+, and the firm expects Everfi to add $120M in revenue
$550M: The New York Times has agreed to acquire premium sports journalism firm The Athletic for ~$550M; whether the Times plans to bundle subscriptions is unknown; the Times claimed 8.3M subscribers at the end of September and The Athletic claimed 1.2M in November
$500M: Google to acquire cybersecurity firm Siemplify for an estimated $500M; the Israeli-based firm reportedly will serve as the foundation for Google's cybersecurity operations in the country; Siemplify's 200 workers across Israel, the US, and London will join Google
$400M: Online whiteboard and visual collaboration tools startup Miro raises $400M Series C for a $17.5B post-money valuation; the company claims 30M users, up from 5M in April 2020; its paid customer base grew 550% during that period; Miro employs ~1.2k around the world
$360M: AI firm Fractal raises $360M at a $1B+ valuation; the company provides analytics to inform strategic business decisions, radiology diagnoses, and more; customers include Google and Wells Fargo; the firm, founded in 2000, is now preparing to go public (timeline undisclosed)
$300M: NFT marketplace OpenSea raises $300M Series C at a $13.3B valuation; a16z and other investors valued the firm at $1.5B in July; the company claims $2.4B in transaction volume over the past 30 days
$289M: French fintech provider PayFit has become the country’s youngest unicorn following a $289M (€254M) Series E;. the round valued the company at $2.1B; PayFit targets SMEs and provides a platform to service their payroll and HR needs with a SaaS offering; its main advantage over competitors is that its online platform is set up such that companies need not contact an accountant to generate payroll; regulatory changes are automatically integrated into the platform; he startup’s annual recurring revenue grew by 70% in 2021; customers include Revolut
$240M: Indian quick commerce startup Dunzo raised $240M at an undisclosed valuation. Dunzo customers can order products in various categories, including groceries, pet supplies, and medicine, from their local store and receive delivery in 15-20 minutes. Dunzo users can also use the service to transport their personal belongings, including laptops and medicine; the company says it's growing 20% WoW but didn't share exact numbers; Dunzo's platform enables Indian SMBs to build an online presence, as e-commerce makes up less than 3% of the country's retail sales
$162M: DeFi platform WonderFi to acquire crypto trading platform Bitbuy for $162M; WonderFi will gain Bitbuy's 375k registered users and further its goal to operate an end-to-end consumer platform for trading and investing in crypto; the Canadian companies expect the deal to close during Q1
$140M: Petal, which provides credit cards for underserved consumers, raised $140M Series D at an $800M valuation; the startup targets those with little or no credit and helps them to build credit history; Petal claims 300k cardholders
$100M: Tencent has bought a stake in UK digital bank Monzo as part of a $100M top-up round. The latest funding valued the fintech company at $4.5B. It is a follow-on to its $500M injection reported in December
18k: The web3 developer count reached an all-time high and is rapidly growing. There are now 18,000 monthly active developers committing code to open-source and web3 projects; 65% of active web3 developers and 45% of full-time web3 developers joined in 2021; Less than 1,000 full-time DeFi developers are responsible for $100B in TVL locked in smart contracts; Polkadot, Solana, NEAR, BSC, Avalanche, and Terra have seen significantly quicker developer acquisitions than Ethereum did at similar timeframes
📰 What’s going on
Instagram has started rolling out two new feed options that sort content chronologically, a heavily requested feature for the platform; the finalized version is expected in the first half of 2022; users will still be able to sort their feeds algorithmically, as is the current standard; Instagram head Adam Mosseri demonstrated how users can choose among the three options using a new menu; options include the algorithmic “Home” setting, a “Favorites” feed featuring chronological content from a subset of chosen accounts, and a “Following” feed that sorts posts from all accounts chronologically.
Apple to unveil a new Mac Pro, a new Mac Mini, and a large-screened iMac Pro, all featuring Apple silicon, this year; the company could announce the completion of its transition away from Intel chips as soon as WWDC in June; Apple reportedly also plans a new external monitor at ~half the cost of the $5k Pro Display XDR
Google announced the release of Chrome 98 beta for Android and is available for download from Google Play; the beta release brings enhancements such as a new font format, better PWAs, and HDR improvements; PWAs can display content inside the top app bar to show search bars, titles, navigation buttons, etc; Web developers can check if their website is displayed on HDR-compatible devices through a CSS media query; other updates include a new privacy guide, a built-in screenshot tool for desktops, and the ability to add emoji to screenshots
Meta AI announced a conversational AI framework that could bring AI assistants "closer to human-level speech perception;“ it could, for example, help smartphone assistants better understand what users are saying to them while in crowds; the system, called Audio-Visual Hidden Unit BERT, learns speech not just by hearing people speak but seeing their lip movements
The top 5 most downloaded shopping apps in the US last year were Amazon, Shein, Shop, Walmart, and OfferUp, according to Apptopia. Nike, Fetch Rewards, eBay, Wish, and Klarna rounded out the top 10; the 3 most downloaded shopping apps globally were Shopee, Shein, and Meesho; Amazon – the most downloaded shopping app globally in 2020 – fell to fourth last year
Uber Eats will end operations in Brazil on March 7, as it looks to exit unprofitable markets; the company said it will focus on growing its retail delivery unit Uber Direct and its grocery delivery service Cornershop
E-commerce startup Bolt will adopt a four-day workweek; CEO Ryan Breslow said the company began a 3-month trial in September, and 94% of respondents said they'd like to continue it permanently; Breslow says Bolt is the first tech unicorn to permanently adopt a four-day workweek; 86% of employees said they were more efficient with their time; 84% reported a better work-life balance and increased productivity
TikTok content will appear on TVs and displays at hotels, restaurants, and other businesses via a new partnership with Atmosphere; the Austin-based startup streams 60+ channels at 19,000+ locations worldwide, including Taco Bells and Westin hotels, via its Atmosphere TV platform; through the partnership, Atmosphere content editors will select TikTok videos for new channels exclusively for viewing at businesses out-of-home; Atmosphere just announced a new $100M funding round
Amazon announced its US customers can now return orders for free at dropoff locations across the country; customers can generate a QR code from the Amazon Return Center, which they must show the associate at their designated dropoff location; they can return the product without a box and label as the associate will pack and ship it; dropoff locations include Amazon physical stores (such as Amazon Books), Kohl's, Whole Foods Market, and The UPS Store
Alexa AI and the videoconferencing platform Webex will be aboard the NASA uncrewed Artemis 1 test mission in 2022; the technology will be tested in space for the first time on the lunar Orion space capsule built by Lockheed Martin Space
NVIDIA has now made its Omniverse platform free to use for all creators without the need to sign up; the company is also introducing new features, including the Omniverse Nucleus Cloud that enables creators to see changes in real-time; the platform enables creators to make their own videogame cinematics and creates facial recognition features by using the Omniverse Audio2Face; once creators have developed their own games, they can export to Epic Game's MetaHuman Creator app
Sony officially announced details about its upcoming virtual reality headset during the CES 2022 conference in Las Vegas; the new hardware will be called PlayStation VR2 and it will work with the PlayStation 5 console; the PS VR2 comes with a OLED display that will support 4K resolution and a new controller called PS VR2 Sense that will connect with the PS5 using a single cord; other features include eye-tracking technology and a built-in motor that creates tactile vibrations, all of which will give players a new way to experience immersive reality
Samsung Electronics America is launching a virtual store called the Samsung 837x in Decentraland; the temporary virtual store will mirror Samsung's physical store at 837 Washington Street in New York City's Meatpacking District; the store will only be open for a limited time in Decentraland and marks the biggest brand takeover in Decentraland history; guests can enter the Decentraland store via a web browser, and after logging in, they will be greeted by a virtual guide and can browse and buy NFTs in the metaverse; the project is launched to demonstrate the endless possibilities of blockchain technology and its cultural significance
Samsung announces a new TV lineup with some models featuring support for the GeForce Now, Google Stadia, and Utomik cloud gaming services; customers can use their console-connected controllers for cloud gaming sessions; the company also unveiled an NFT explorer and marketplace aggregator, and a TV remote that uses solar energy and router radio waves to recharge. Trying too hard to be cool?
WeChat announced plans to support China's sovereign digital currency; Tencent-owned WeChat is China’s largest messaging app with 1.2B+ users; its WeChat Pay, with 800M MAU, is considered one of the largest payment services in the country; the e-CNY is a digital currency rather than a cryptocurrency and will be pegged at a 1:1 ratio with the yuan; Alipay, Ant Group's payment app, began testing digital yuan payments last year
Chinese automaker Geely's electric mobility brand Zeekr will make electric self-driving robotaxis for Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving unit. The first vehicle is expected to be a fully autonomous minivan, which would be rolled out for Waymo One ride-hailing services primarily in the US
📚 Good reads
Adobe's Chief Product Officer predicts the 10 biggest tech trends of 2022. ”The next generation of top talent will have “Polygamous Careers,” transforming the corporate world as we know it.”
The 30 best pieces of advice for entrepreneurs from 2021, by First Round Review. “In our annual retrospective, we look for the most tactical, super-specific ideas from The Review’s pages last year. Here are the standout pieces of advice we heard in 2021. We hope you can apply them to start the year off on the right foot — and carry that momentum through 2022“
Ten questions for 2022, by Ben Evans. Sometimes the centre of gravity in tech is very clear, but as we enter 2022 there are lots of areas where trillion dollar questions are wide open: from crypto to cars to fast fashion - there are others
Scott Galloway’s 2022 Predictions. Reviewing the predictions Galloway made for 2021 (several right!) and making some new ones for the new year, including: “The Zuckerverse is the biggest tech fail of 2022.” Thoughts?
The “Cake Layers” of taking a new Product from 0 to 1 for Product Managers, founders, startups, and anyone building or considering building a new product. A brief, yet refreshing read for any PM, by Lisa Zane
[Podcast] 5 product principles for every product manager. Figuring out what works for you is way more important than generic frameworks or tools. Esha Shukla (WhatsApp) shares her principles on The Product Experience.
🔮 Emerging trends
11 predictions across emerging tech for 2022 (32-page report). Among the mega-themes shaping technology trends in 2022, PitchBook analysts expect:
more focus on data preparation for AI/M
continued investment in carbon-reducing technologies
higher adoption of personalized medicine and more digital engagement with healthcare providers
increased consumption of fermented proteins and other animal-free products
improved farm management software
growing need for IoT-based security to drive record valuations
passwordless authentication and insurtech startups could be key targets of consolidation
Have a great weekend
Angel
el producto is free, but if you enjoy reading it, you can support my work and buy me a coffee 🙌