CB Insights - Apple's fifth acquisition of 2020

Hi there,

We officially have over 50 speakers for the CB Insights Technology Conference (June 16-18). Here's a sample of what we'll cover:

• How are America’s smartest business leaders pivoting their companies, and tech investments, to adapt to changing market conditions?
• Which technologies will enhance and support the new world of work?
• What tech is leading the way in retail automation?
• How are manufacturing and supply chains being realigned and innovated? 
• Where is investor interest growing?
• How are players in fintech shifting toward digital environments? 
• How are health systems using technology to optimize costs and expand access to care?

With the purchase of a ticket, you'll get access to all of the sessions, plus 1:1 virtual networking with other senior-level attendees. Get your ticket here.

5 acquisitions: Apple acquired artificial intelligence startup Inductiv. The startup’s team will reportedly work on Siri and machine learning projects for the tech giant. This is Apple’s fifth disclosed acquisition this year. See more of big tech’s recent acquisitions and investments in this analysis.

$3.2B: Amazon is in talks to buy autonomous vehicle startup Zoox, according to the Wall Street Journal. The startup has raised $990M in disclosed funding and was last valued at $3.2B, but Amazon is reportedly offering less for the company. If completed, the deal would significantly increase Amazon’s presence in the autonomous vehicle space — a position that was also strengthened by its acquisition of self-driving robot company Canvas Technology a year ago. We look at Amazon’s prior interest in the tech in our report on 40+ Corporations Working On Autonomous Vehicles.  
 

$84M: MIT spinout Commonwealth Fusion Systems raised $84M in fresh funding. The startup aims to commercialize fusion energy — a tech that could offer an abundant source of clean energy. Commonwealth Fusion Systems was part of our 2020 Game Changers list of startups that could transform the world. See all 36 featured companies, and the tech they’re working on, in this report.    

76%: Autonomous delivery startup Nuro announced a partnership with CVS to deliver prescriptions to some customers in Houston, Texas. Nuro offers driverless vehicles intended for relatively short-range delivery, and the company claims that 76% of America’s population live within 5 miles of a CVS store. The move reflects the rising interest in contactless healthcare services like online pharmacies. We dig into this trend, and many more, in our latest State Of Healthcare report. 
 

20%: A number of studies have indicated that major cities around the world are still far from reaching herd immunity for Covid-19, according to the New York Times. The report said that only 20% of New Yorkers had Covid-19 antibodies, a third of the level that some experts say would be necessary for immunity to naturally slow the spread of the virus. We compiled our research on how Covid-19 is affecting various industries on this resource page.   
  

$150M: Payments processing platform Marqeta raised $150M at a valuation of $4.3B — a more than 2x increase in valuation since its last funding round a year ago. We discuss emerging trends in the payments space in our State Of Fintech report.

$250M: Apeel Sciences closed a $250M mega-round at a $1B valuation, minting it as a new unicorn. The company is developing a plant-based solution that aims to increase the amount of time that food stays fresh. Expert Intelligence clients can see  50+ other companies working to reduce food waste in this market map.
 

$24M: Women’s health platform Tia raised $24M. Women’s health is attracting more investor attention as the industry continues to gain momentum. From novel genomic datasets to smartphone fertility tracking, we look at 9 of the biggest women’s health trends to watch in this  client-exclusive report.  

I love you.

P.S. We're hiring a senior software engineer. Check out the job specs here.

An Australian wildlife park is celebrating the birth of its first baby koala since the devastating Australian bushfires. 

Up to 30% of the koala population perished in the wildfires, according to Australia’s Federal Environment Minister.

The joey is named Ash, and keepers say that she is a "sign of hope for the future of Australia's native wildlife."