CB Insights - how safe will reopening schools be?

Hi there,

Schools are reopening. 

Colleges across 36 US states have reported 8,700 Covid-19 cases. Fingers are being pointed at young people and at institutions alike, but outside of the blame game, the real question of how to carry on with education in a way that delivers remains. 

Perhaps this is edtech’s moment?  

We map out some of the potential paths for education, as part of our ongoing series on the post-Covid world. Check it out here.

Bet on it

Berkshire Hathaway announced Sunday that it purchased 5% stakes in 5 of Japan’s largest investment cos: Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, and Sumitomo.  

Warren Buffett is famous for his value investing philosophy — which shines through in this wager. Dive deeper into Buffett's investing rationale here. 

Work hard, play hard 

As part of our quarterly Hack Day, our director of engineering Julien Capron recreated the CB Insights office in Minecraft. We're pretty proud of it. 

Take a look here — and don't miss the secret (unfortunately fake) speakeasy. 

Feeling energetic

NuScale recently announced that its small nuclear reactor was the first of its type to receive US safety approval. 

New tech, like NuScale's small modular reactors and molten salt reactors, is making nuclear energy more compelling as a way to generate low-carbon energy. Read more about NuScale and the promise of nuclear energy in our Game Changers 2020 report. 

Blast off into our VR health exploration

For weeks, we've been teasing our mystery speaker for the Future of Health (September 23-25). We're excited to announce it's Karen DeSalvo, the chief health officer at Google.  

Her Future of Health fireside chat will be embedded into a one-of-a-kind virtual reality experience for event attendees only. (3D headsets are not required; making your own avatar is.) 
 

To read about all of her impressive accolades, go here. 
 

In the VR experience, Future of Health attendees will be treated to cool technology and topic-oriented meetups.
 

No event compares. Save $300 with code agoodKaren.
 

And major congratulations to our 3 winners who will receive Oculus Quests, so they can make the most of the VR platform. Thanks to all who entered.

• Bernard Fallon, Managing Director, Industry Research and Education, Biotechnology Innovation Organization
• Mike Anderes, Chief Innovation and Digital Officer of Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin
• Brittany Sigler, Health Tech Research Associate of NYC Department of Health

Here, educate yourself

Education is digitizing — fast. 

From coding to test prep to career development, we identify 100+ of the most well-funded private companies working specifically on edtech in this market map. Expert Intelligence clients can see it here.

CNBC. Bertha Coombs (@berthacoombs) cites CB Insights research and quotes CB Insights senior healthcare analyst He Wang in covering recent telemedicine funding deals. 

WWD. Arthur Zaczkiewicz (@arthurzaczkiew1) looks at the CB Insights State Of Fintech Q2’20 report and top fintech unicorns. 

Modern Retail. Anna Hensel (@ahhensel) reports on Bayer’s acquisition of Care/of, referencing CB Insights data and quoting CB Insights analyst Kenya Watson.
 

P.S. We're looking for a product manager. Check out the job spec here.

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