CB Insights - AmEx's $850M fintech acquisition

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This week in data, we've got a $123M drug discovery raise, 200,000-year-old grass bedding, and 2,500 electric garbage trucks. Check it out below.

$123M: Machine learning drug discovery startup Atomwise raised $123M in new funding as it looks to scale its business. The company was featured in our latest AI 100 and Digital Health 150 lists of the most promising startups in these respective spaces. See the entire Digital Health 150 in this report.

+1 unicorn: Sales platform Gong became a unicorn after raising a $200M mega-round at a valuation of $2.2B — an almost 3x increase in valuation since it last raised 8 months ago. The startup was one of our 50 future unicorn predictions, made in partnership with Fast Company. See the rest of our picks here. 
 

20M+ cases: The global count of Covid-19 cases surpassed 20M, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of reported cases doubled in just the past 6 weeks as outbreaks continue to surge across the world. We look at how the pandemic is reshaping major industries like healthcare, retail, and finance in this analysis.

$18B: Airbnb may soon file to go public, according to the Wall Street Journal. The home-sharing platform — last valued at $18B in a downround in April — abandoned previous plans for an IPO earlier this year as bookings plummeted amid the pandemic. However, the company says that demand for short-term rentals has since rebounded, likely driven by an increase in local vacations. Clients can see recent trends in  funding to travel tech startups in this interactive report. 

$200M: Impossible Foods raised $200M in fresh funding. The company has raised $1B within a period of just over a year as plant-based protein continues to gain traction with consumers. We dig into the alternative protein landscape in our Meatless Future report. 

2,500 garbage trucks: Electric vehicle maker Nikola announced that it had received an order for 2,500 electric garbage trucks from US-based waste services company Republic Services. A lot of companies are placing big bets on electric vehicles. See what some of the top players are doing in our Race For The Electric Car report. 

$850M: American Express is reportedly in talks to acquire SMB lender Kabbage for as much as $850M. The fintech startup’s last disclosed valuation in 2015 was $1B. We discuss emerging trends in the alternative lending space, including last quarter’s jump in funding and the increased demand for paycheck advance services, in our latest State Of Fintech report.

120 satellites/month: SpaceX reported that it was making 120 satellites every month. The satellites, each weighing about a quarter of a ton, are intended to form part of a 12,000-strong constellation that the company will use to provide space-based internet services.  

3,608 diamonds: Jewelry company Yvel said that it has made a face mask valued at $1.5M, which it claims to be the most expensive in the world. The mask includes 3,608 diamonds, 250 grams of 18 karat gold, and N99 filters. Yvel is far from the only company to pivot in response to Covid-19. See how businesses across 6 industries shifted focus amid the pandemic here. 

200,000 years: Researchers identified remnants of 200,000-year-old grass bedding, the oldest yet discovered, according to a study published in Science. The authors found evidence of plants being layered on top of ash in a cave in South Africa, stating that the ash may have helped repel insects. 

I love you.

Some people miss traveling so much that they’re ordering... airline food. 

Australian in-flight catering company Gate Gourmet sold out of meals online at one point, while Indonesian airline Garuda Indonesia revamped its meals to taste better on the ground. Imperfect Foods said it sold 40,000 of JetBlue-branded airline snack packs, which include crackers, cheese, and dried fruit. 

“It lived up to airline food’s reputation of being not very good,” a former frequent JetBlue flier who ordered one of the snack packs said. “I was curious to find out if maybe it’s the setting that makes airline food taste not great, like being in a steel tube soaring through the air. But that wasn’t it.”