What's Possible: 23rd July, 2021

⚡ News from our portfolio this week

⇨ An Interview with FATMAP's CEO and Founder Misha Gopaul (Link)

⇨ Australian rent-to-own startup OwnHome raises $3.6 million (Link)

⇨ Donut raises $2 million to bring DeFi mainstream (Link)

⇨ Sizle: Seven Absurdly Useful Features of the Future of Document Sharing (Link)

⇨ Keyless and Finema partner to help accelerate adoption of self-sovereign and decentralized identity technologies (Link)

⇨ Arlula Front End Developer Role (Link)

3D + Additive Manufacturing

⇨ Engineers Develop Soft Robotic Hand Capable of Playing Nintendo (Unite.AI)

The team’s big breakthrough came when they were able to 3D print fully assembled soft robots with integrated fluidic circuits, and all of this was able to be done in one single step.

AI

⇨ Deepmind has translated the human genetic code into the proteins that run our body (Deepmind)

The AlphaFold database shows the potential for AI to profoundly accelerate scientific progress, greatly expanding our accumulated knowledge of protein structures and the human proteome overnight. — Sundar Pichai

⇨ SoftBank’s Humanoid Robot Pepper Can’t Hold a Job, Gets Shelved (aitrends)

SoftBank has stopped production of its humanoid robot, named Pepper, and is downsizing its robotics staff from an acquisition in France.

⇨ eBay taps computer vision to transform online shopping (VentureBeat)

Seeing is believing: How eBay’s Computer Vision technology is transforming the shopping experience for consumers and benefiting sellers.

⇨ 9 takeaways from Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2021 (Baris Cekic)

Insights from the Stanford University, Human-Centered AI, Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2021

⇨ Tapping Into the Brain to Help a Paralyzed Man Speak (The New York Times)

In a once unimagined accomplishment, electrodes implanted in the man’s brain transmit signals to a computer that displays his words.

Blockchain / Crypto

⇨ NFT market OpenSea hits $1.5 billion valuation (TechCrunch)

Despite a fall from stratospheric heights in the early summer, the broader NFT market has still been chugging along, and OpenSea is continuing to see plenty of action. The startup saw $160 million in sales last month and is on track to blow past that figure this month, CEO Devin Finzer tells TechCrunch.

⇨ Blockchain For Art: 32 Terms To Better Understand The Technology (BLKART)

A list of need-to-know terms for people in the art community who are interested in the blockchain space.

Climate Solutions

⇨ One of the biggest myths about EVs is busted in new study (The Verge)

Even EVs that plug into dirty grids emit fewer greenhouse gases than gas-powered cars.

⇨ These Are The Startups Applying AI To Tackle Climate Change (Forbes)

A group of promising startups has emerged to deploy Artificial Intelligence to combat Climate Change.

Deep Tech

⇨ The next wave of innovation in photonics (McKinsey)

Although the laser market has steadily increased since the 1970s, innovation and revenue growth have slowed over the past decade. Many low-cost companies have entered the market as the core technology matured. That put pressure on the average sales price for lasers used in high-volume end products, including those related to telecom transmission, marking and engraving, and biosensing. But the sector may now be on the cusp of a new age of innovation in which lasers are increasingly combined with optics and sensors to enable even more sophisticated applications.

EdTech

⇨ Leap – the social learning platform for the over 55s (Creandum)

Leap is a social learning platform targeting the over 55s to power meaningful experiences. It is built around two central assumptions: meaningful connections happen when people meet in small groups – and are strengthened further when those small groups are united over shared interests.

⇨ LearnWorlds gets $32M in growth funding from Insight Partners to help educators create and sell online courses (LearnWorlds)

LearnWorlds represents the ideal cloud-based LMS to create premium, interactive, and branded learning experiences that quantifiably impact learning outcomes.
— Nikitas Koutoupes, Managing Director at Insight Partners

Food & Food Systems

⇨ Why chicken is taking over plant-based meat (Food Dive)

With Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods entering the space and new options filling freezer cases, the potential for the poultry analog suddenly seems limitless.

⇨ Farming is finally ready for robots (VentureBeat)

Why did 2020 turn the tide in ag-tech investment, and what does that mean for the future of farming? Which ag-tech startups are poised to become leaders in the multi-trillion-dollar global agriculture industry?

⇨ France is now growing foie gras in a lab (Sifted)

Gourmey's growing foie gras in a lab in Paris — but when will Europe give cell-based meat the green light?

GenZ

⇨ Why super apps are proliferating across emerging markets (Afridigest)

A new generation of Asian & African super apps are following the playbook WeChat originated.

⇨ Why the next big consumer platforms are social games (Bessemer Venture Partners)

Game mechanics and artifacts have permeated all aspects of our online lives.

⇨ Pipeline raises $2M to teach gamers how to stream for a living (VentureBeat)

The Austin, Texas-based Pipeline was started in 2019 by Stephen “Snoopeh” Ellis, a former Facebook product leader and ex-pro gamer who was a star at League of Legends. Joining him as a cofounder was fellow streamer David “StoneMountain64” Steinberg, whose videos have more than 700 million views. Pipeline serves more than 50,000 streamers today, including 3,000 paying subscribers.

Health

⇨ How stimulation is changing the future of mental health treatment (Neuro News)

Daniel Månsson (Flow Neuroscience, Malmö, Sweden) outlines the benefits held by transcranial direct-current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of depression—and how clinical evidence supporting its use for this and other mental health indications can be expanded even further in the future.

⇨ ‘Inflammation clock’ can reveal body’s biological age (Nature)

A new type of age ‘clock’ can assess chronic inflammation to predict whether someone is at risk of developing age-related disorders such as cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disease. The clock measures ‘biological age’, which takes health into consideration and can be higher or lower than a person’s chronological age.

⇨ The Five Revolutions in Cancer Treatment (a16z)

We are at the beginning of a new era for how we treat one of humankind’s oldest and worst foes—cancer. In this talk, given at the annual a16z Summit, Jonathan Lim, CEO and cofounder of Erasca, shows us where we are in cancer treatment today, what’s working and what’s not, and what’s on the horizon. Lim, a physician-turned-entrepreneur shares the five big revolutions and latest scientific advances creating an enormous breakthrough in how we treat this disease.

IoT

⇨ Top 5 IoT Development Platforms in 2021 (iotforall)

To help you pick which Internet of Things Development platform to use for your project, we’ve produced a list of the most popular IoT development tools for this year, complete with full explanations of each: Google Cloud IoT; Cisco IoT Cloud Connect; Salesforce IoT Cloud; IRI Voracity; Particle; IBM Watson IoT; ThingWorx; Amazon AWS IoT Core; Microsoft Azure IoT Hub; Oracle IoT.

⇨ Four Bars: Low-Power Cellular for IoT at Scale (iotforall)

The other major obstacle to the greater use of cellular for IoT was how fast it drained battery power. The high energy usage of cellular’s “always-on” radio architecture may have been ideal for phones. Still, it was a huge disadvantage for IoT devices expected to stay in the field for years without the need, or possible opportunity, for a battery change.

Productivity

⇨ Proximity: More Important for Meeting than Collaborating? (Matt Clancy)

Being close seems to be very important for initiating and consolidating new relationships, but that once they’re formed it’s no longer so important that you stay physically close - at least from the perspective of facilitating innovation.

Security

⇨ Decentralized identity authentication platform Magic raises $27M (VentureBeat)

Magic (formerly Fortmatic) today announced it has raised $27 million in a series A round of funding to further commercialize its blockchain-powered identity authentication platform.

Space & Satellites

⇨ AI Being Employed to Help Clean, Avoid Collisions with Space Junk (AI Trends)

AI is at the center of efforts to clean up space junk—objects in space that no longer serve a purpose and pose risk of collisions with satellites and spacecrafts—from funding from the European Space Agency, to projects involving big tech firms to startup efforts. Here is a review of what’s happening.

⇨ Incubator Moonshot lands $250,000 federal grant for the next generation of space tech startups (Startup Daily)

The grant delivers Moonshot a $500,000 boost thanks to matched backing from private investors. The funds will go towards expanding operations, launching new accelerator programs and amplifying support for local space startups.

SynBio

⇨ Engineered fibres are stronger than steel and spider silk (E&T)

Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed a microbially produced fibre which has gigapascal strength, outperforming steel, Kevlar, and some spider silks.

⇨ Speaking Algae: Tapping the Ancient Power of Microalgae Using Synthetic Biology (Technology Networks)

The microalgae biotechnology community has learned from the challenges of the past and is now ready to make microalgae bioproduction commonplace across many industries, including pharma, biopharma, animal health, agriculture, food and beverage, energy, and beyond. — Nusqe Stanton

⇨ Lululemon is experimenting with the first fabric made from recycled carbon emissions (Fast Company)

The material is exactly the same as you’d find in current Lululemon products, except the polyester comes from ethanol that was produced by pollution-eating bacteria.

⇨ Pivot Bio Nears $2 Billion Valuation As It Raises Whopping $430 Million To Replace Synthetic Fertilizers On Corn And Wheat (Forbes)

The new investment brings the agricultural technology startup’s funding to more than $600 million at a valuation of nearly $2 billion.
“I don’t think there’s ever been something like that in agriculture,” Temme, the company’s 41-year-old CEO, says of the massive cash influx. “We are starting to see where innovation can disrupt sectors of this industry.”

⇨ Bioworks Investor Day 2021 (Playlist)

Gingko Bioworks hosted an investor day, including: a Founders chat; tour of the Foundry and the Codebase; discussion of IP strategy; feedback session from customers & strategic ventures; explored approaches to biosecurity & ESG; reviewed financials; and held a live Q&A. This YouTube playlist covers it all.

⇨ Moderna’s Next Act Is Using mRNA vs. Flu, Zika, HIV, and Cancer (Bloomberg)

This year, Moderna could deliver 1 billion doses of its Covid shot and bring in $19 billion in revenue. It’s become the rare biotech to hit the big time without being gobbled up by, or splitting profits with, a larger, more established company. Its market value—which hit $100 billion for the first time on July 14th—exceeds that of stalwarts such as Bayer AG, the German inventor of aspirin, and biotech peers such as Biogen Inc., founded three decades prior.

⇨ Using nature’s miracle bugs to help feed the world (Stanford Engineering)

Researchers were able to create what amounts to a genetic on-off switch for converting atmospheric nitrogen into ammonia, an important source of nitrogen for plants. When the modified bacteria were cultivated alongside plants, they generated both measurable increases in plant health and growth.

Venture

⇨ Index Ventures raises two new funds, totalling $2.9bn (Sifted)

Index is now investing out of three funds — a $200m seed fund (its first) which it announced in April, the new $900m venture fund and the new $2bn growth fund.
Across all three, it has five core focus areas: enterprise software, SaaS, fintech, marketplaces and consumer. About 80% of its investments fall into those categories, says Mignot. Within those areas, partners have more specific things they’re looking at — like future of work software, B2B-focused marketplaces and data and AI.

⇨ The European VC market is so hot it may skip its summer holiday (TechCrunch)

The data coming out of the continent is staggering: According to a Dealroom report, some €49 billion was raised by European startups in the first six months of 2021. That’s 2.9x as much as was raised by the region’s technology upstarts in the first half of 2020 and easily crests previous full-year records set in 2020 and 2019.

⇨ The World’s Unicorns Are Now Valued At $3T — Up By A Trillion In The Past Year. Who Invested? (CrunchBase)

As we’ve previously reported, Tiger Global Management has amassed the largest investments in current private unicorns. At our most recent count, Tiger has 132 unicorn portfolio companies, adding 58 companies to its unicorn portfolio so far in 2021.
The Softbank Vision Fund, meanwhile, has 76 unicorn portfolio companies. Sequoia Capital has 65 and Coatue 64 private unicorn companies. Andreessen Horowitz and Accel are not too far behind with 63 and 57 unicorns in their respective portfolios.

⇨ Tiger Global vs. SoftBank: Inside the investing playbooks that upended Silicon Valley (Protocol)

Tiger Global may be setting the pace and the deal terms lately, but founders may be the real winners from its growing competitiveness with SoftBank. Instead of one ominous capital cannon, there are now two — both willing to move quickly to snag deals. And if VCs can't rethink their dealmaking traditions, they may find themselves caught in the crossfire.

‍