Stat of the day

$1,638,000,000

This is the amount which went into transportation startups last week (Jan 18-24) globally. The trend is supported by startups coming from the “instant-delivery” field such as Gorillaz or Volt. The promise behind most of these new ventures is instant delivery within under 10 minutes. Whether the model is scalable and what it takes to make this profitable remains to be seen.

Funding stats of the day

Source: Shoto funding database

Quote of the day

"I don't use social media" is the new "I don't have a TV"

With Facebook opening their privacy policies, more and more consumers are switching away from the “traditional” social media channels such as Facebook and instagram and move towards decentralized and end-to-end encrypted messenger apps such as Signal and Telegram. Facebook's reaction demonstrates a feeling of guilt by postponing their introduction of the new privacy policies until May 2021. Here’s more about the topic:

Startups of the day

Vow Food, Alexandria (AUS)

What’s the deal:

The meat alternative startups have been funded heavily in the last 1-2 years. So it’s interesting to see a real meat startup to get Seed funding of 6 Mio. Australian Dollars.

Why it matters:

Vow bets on exoctic species to be the future of our meat consumption. Most animal proteins we eat come from 6 species: kettle, sheep, goats, poultry, pork etc. However, there are many more species that taste good and are healthy, but which cannot be domesticated. Kangaroo meat, for example, is lean, high in iron and zinc but only available in Australia. Vow wants to change that. Their technology allows them to grow any kind of meat, from any species, anywhere in the world for consumption.

Pro:

This will reduce the resources required to generate meat without killing a single animal. Meat is grown in petri dishes and harvested after 6 weeks for consumption We say: yummy!

Cons:

Even though the cell-based meat industry is still in its early-stages, it is already highly competitive with major players such as beyond meat.

Newness factor: 5/5

Source: vowfoods.com

NearSt, London (UK)

What’s the deal:

COVID-19 has fundamentally changed the way we all shop. With brick-and-mortar stores closed in various parts of the world due to the pandemic, millions of consumers shifted online, driving a massive spike in e-commerce sales. NearSt aims to bring back foot traffic to brick & mortar stores by making in-store inventory nearby visible, searchable and shoppable within Google search.

Why it matters:

In order to compete with e-commerce sellers in the long-term, inventory of brick & mortar stores needs to be as easily accessible as shopping online.

Pros:

Massive underserved market with the potential to save a significant number of local shops.

Cons:

Potentially high customer acquisition costs and adoption risks.

Newness factor: 4/5

Source: Twitter @NearST