CB Insights - 3 smart VCs

Hi there, 

So today, I brought reinforcements. 

Let me explain.

After the outpouring of love for the prior editions of “request for startup” (herein RFS), where I shared startup ideas I’d been thinking of, I decided we had to keep that going.

But there was 1 big problem.

I don’t have that many ideas.

So today, I’ve enlisted partners at a few venture capital firms, namely Sequoia Capital, Firstmark, and Homebrew, to share their RFS ideas. 

They are below (along with how to contact them if you’re working on these).

BTW, if you missed the prior RFS ideas, you can find them here, here, here, and here.

Top of the class

100 AI companies. 18 industries. All doing cool isht.  

Here are the 100 most promising AI companies in the world.

If you invested in prior AI 100 cohorts, you're sitting pretty.  

Translation: check out this group.
 

For an expert look at the 2021 list, join us for our webinar on May 5 at 2 pm EDT.

We'll highlight the companies to watch and the trends taking off in the space, from AI transparency to virus modeling. Register here.

3 requests for startup ideas

Without further ado...

Costco-ization of industries 

RFS by Mike Vernal (partner, Sequoia Capital). Early investor in Blues Wireless, Rockset, and Whisper.

I'm fascinated by businesses that try to align incentives w/ customers by charging a monthly/annual subscription fee for the platform (all margin) and then sell goods/services at near-zero gross margin.

Twitter: @mvernal 

Email: vernal(at)sequoiacap(dot)com

23andMe for water
 

RFS by Amish Jani (founder & partner, FirstMark Capital). Early investor in Shopify, TraceLink, InVision, Pendo, Starry, and Frame.io.
 

Given all the concerns about water quality (pharmaceuticals, lead, etc.), I’d love to see a simple at-home test to identify water quality.
 

Twitter: @amishjani

Email: amish(at)firstmarkcap(dot)com
 

Education concierge for students
 

RFS by Satya Patel (general partner, Homebrew). Early investor in Chime, Plaid, Gusto, Shield AI, and Weave.

Colleges are losing their value and alternative educational pathways are emerging at an exponential rate. But navigating those potential options and understanding their value is a nightmare. A clear opportunity exists for a data-driven service that matches student interests and skills to the educational option that is highest ROI for him or her. Think a personalized US News and World Report college ranking that includes bootcamps, online schools, digital certificate programs, etc. Give every student the best chance of getting educated and finding a job that earns him or her a sustainable income.
 

Twitter: @satyap 

Email: satya(at)homebrew(dot)co

Get them while they're hot
 

Prices go up tomorrow for CB Insights Tech Market: Digitizing P&C Insurance (May 13-14). 
 

Check out the agenda here to see all our speakers — from the likes of Google, Travelers, AXA XL, and more — plus the 25 companies giving demos. 
 

Register today before prices go up tomorrow. Save $50 with code techdemos.

Beauty in the eye of the VC beholder

Investors have funneled $1B+ into the beauty & personal care space so far in 2021, up from just $238M invested in Q1’20.

Expert Intelligence clients can see where top investors are placing their bets across the industry here. 

Swing your partner round and round

As telehealth startup funding reached record highs in 2020, business relationship activity also picked up.

We dig into where recently funded telehealth companies are forming relationships across healthcare in this client-only brief.

Axios. Bryan Walsh (@bryanrwalsh) digs into the CB Insights AI 100 report and quotes CBI senior managing analyst Deepashri Varadharajan (@deepalearning).

WWD. Adriana Lee (@adra_la) uses CB Insights research to cover beauty startup funding trends.

Wall Street Journal. The Pro VC newsletter reports on venture funding, citing the PwC and CB Insights Q1 2021 MoneyTree Headline report.
 

P.S. We’re hiring a product designer who can rebuild, unify, and expand our data admin. Check out the job spec here.

The Blurb

Pocket money. More than 100,000 people in China have signed up for a mobile app that allows them to test spending China’s digital yuan. 

WSJ

Roadtrip. “Vaccine tourists,” or people traveling to get a Covid-19 shot, are helping boost some local economies in the US.

The Atlantic

Guessing game. Some fans of the viral travel game GeoGuessr are angry at volunteers who are filling in the gaps of Google’s Street View map, claiming the amateur photos make the game more difficult. 

Rest of World

Documented. Approximately 1 out of every 10 articles added to the PubMed database in 2020 were related to coronaviruses vs. 1 out of 130 in 2019.

Pudding 

Time out. Digital watch NFTs are aiming to entice watch collectors — without physical watches.

NYT