CB Insights - fintech flops

Hi there, 

What will become of the fintech unicorns? 

They account for roughly 1 out every 5 unicorns on our list, making fintech the top category. 

But as publicly traded fintechs like Robinhood, Coinbase, and Toast have dropped dramatically, some of those shiny $1B+ private fintech cos are looking overvalued. 

Two of the highest valued fintechs globally recently announced valuation cuts:

• Payments processor Stripe (last valued at $95B) has cut its internal valuation by 28%. Note our Stripe business model teardown is worth reading if you want to understand the company.

• BNPL firm Klarna’s valuation is down 85% from $45.6B in its latest funding round.

Meanwhile, fintech unicorn births fell below 30 in Q2’22 for the first time since late 2020, coinciding with a decline in fintech funding. 

Still, fintechs are sitting on a mountain of cash from 2021. And fundraising in 2022 so far has already surpassed 2020, indicating continued strong investor interest in the sector (albeit off the exuberant 2021 watermarks).

We break down the data behind these trends and more in our latest State of Fintech Q2’22 Report.

The big Apple

With a $2.48T market cap, Apple is the most valuable company in the world. 

What’s next?

While famously secretive, Apple’s hundreds of acquisitions, investments, and partnerships taken together provide a window into its corporate strategy. 

We mined the data to uncover how Apple’s moves in AR/VR, AI, and more are laying the groundwork for new products and features. Get our strategy map here.

B-b-b-blockchain

Blockchain tech has seen waves of hype centered around cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

But its true killer applications are likely to be in antiquated industries — like insurance, which requires a lot of cooperation between different parties with different incentives.

Insurance companies and startups alike are experimenting with insurance applications for the technology. For example, Allianz launched a blockchain platform to streamline international auto insurance claims in 2021, processing 10,000 claims in its first 6 weeks.

Read our deep dive on how blockchain is disrupting the insurance industry across health insurance, reinsurance, and more.

Banking on it

Fraud and cyber threats are on the rise. 

To protect consumers and reduce costs, banking leaders are prioritizing tech solutions that make fraud prevention, identity verification, and risk management more effective. 

Clients can download our fraud, identity, & risk management market map — featuring 158 companies — right here.

Does your company compete in these markets? Request an Analyst Briefing to make sure you’re on our radar.

Clinical trials from home

The Covid-19 pandemic forced major pharma companies to find alternative ways to make clinical trials happen.

Enter: decentralized clinical trials (DCT).

Via DCT software, pharma companies are bringing clinical research closer to patients. 

Telemedicine and features like remote patient monitoring allow trial sponsors to maintain links to trial participants without in-person visits.

Dig into leading companies in the DCT space, our recommendations for players, and more in this market trend report.

Forbes. Katie Jennings (@katiedjennings) looks at General Catalyst’s new healthcare fund and cites CB Insights research.

TechCrunch. Alex Wilhelm (@alex) and Natasha Mascarenhas (@nmasc_) look at Stripe’s valuation change and reference CB Insights data. 

Bloomberg. Ercan Ersoy (@inagaddadavidah) covers mobility app Marti’s SPAC merger plans and mentions CB Insights data.

P.S. We analyze blockchain & crypto trends every other Thursday. Get on our Blockchain Newsletter here.