Exploding Topics - ET: April 6th 2021

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Hey,

Here’s this week’s list of rapidly trending topics, insights and analysis.

Topic #1

Mushroom Extract Powder

Mushroom extract powder is a concentrated form of dried mushrooms, like Reishi, Lions Mane and Maitake.

Proponents claim that mushroom powder supplementation can help boost immunity and mental acuity.

Four Sigmatic, with a reported annual revenue of $61.7M, largely kicked off the mushroom powder trend.

But we’re seeing a number of growing startups enter the space, including FreshCap, Vitacup and Maju Superfoods.

What's next:
Mushroom extract powder is part of the “mushroom superfood” trend.

The functional mushroom market is estimated to grow from $42B to $62B by 2023 (CAGR of 7.95%).

Unlike most superfoods that tend to fizzle out over time, mushrooms have hundreds of different varieties — each with their own host of potential health benefits.

Examples of popular mushroom products include mushroom jerky, mushroom coffee, and mushroom hot chocolate.

Topic #2

ESG ETF

An ESG ETF focuses on environmental, social and governance factors of each company in the fund.

According to Morningstar, sustainable funds have largely outperformed their traditional counterparts over the last decade.

Vanguard (the second largest ETF provider) has been adding more ESG funds as well. In late 2020, they launched their first ESG ETF in the US. And are reportedly hiring a new ESG product category team.

Overall, there are now more than 600 ESG funds and ETFs available to US investors, with $161B in assets under management.

Plenty of those are actively-managed funds.

But many track rules-based indices — which are themselves often versions of larger indices but with the least ESG-friendly companies filtered out (like fossil fuel and tobacco stocks). Two of the most popular ESG indices are the S&P 500 ESG Index and the FTSE Global Choice Index Series.

What's next:
ESG ETFs are part of the socially responsible investing (SRI) meta trend.

According to a Morgan Stanley survey of high net worth investors, 95% of millennials are interested in sustainable investing.

But this trend isn’t driven purely by goodwill.

A Nielsen study found that sustainable products had better growth than non-sustainable counterparts across all product categories.

In fact, ESG investments are already the norm in certain markets. For example, they account for approximately two-thirds of professionally-managed assets in Australia and New Zealand.

Topic #3

CBD for Dogs

Searches for “CBD for dogs” are up 2650% over the last 5 years.

Why the spike?

Firstly, there are now a number of CBD products designed specifically for dogs. Many dog owners were (understandably) concerned about giving their furry friends human-grade CBD oil. But companies, like Royal CBD and Gold Bee, have released less potent CBD products engineered for pets.

Second, early research out of Baylor College of Medicine shows that CBD oil can help treat canine osteoarthritis, which affects 20% of dogs older than a year old.

What's next:
CBD for dogs is part of a larger trend of adapting human-grade products for pets. Other examples of this trend include cat toothpaste, keto dog food and pet wipes.

Topic #4

Artlist

Artlist is Shutterstock for audio clips.

In other words, Artlist has a library of music and sound effects aimed at professional video editors.

But unlike most stock photo sites, Artlist doesn’t sell one-off clips. Instead, they have a SaaS-like subscription model.

And they’ve gone from 62K to 1.1M customers over the last 3 years.

Thanks to this growth, the company raised $48M from KKR in June.

What's next:
Artlist is part of the “video creation tech” meta trend.

YouTube reports that more than 500 hours of video content is uploaded to their platform every minute. And we’re seeing increased demand for software to help streamline this unprecedented level of video production.

Growing companies in this space include Viddyoze, InShot, Frame.io and LumaFusion.

Are You a VC Looking For Underground Startups to Invest In?

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Exploding Topics Pro is the only product that surfaces early stage startups… at least 6 months before they take off.

Here’s a small sample of trending startups that we identified up to a year before they went mainstream:

Substack
Blockfi
Magic Spoon
Carrd
Flodesk
Wavve

1000+ VCs and entrepreneurs already use Exploding Topics Pro to see what’s coming around the corner.

And if you want to get ahead of the curve, try Exploding Topics Pro today.

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We hope you enjoyed this week's Exploding Topics Tuesday. See you next week.

Talk Soon,
Brian and Josh

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