Exploding Topics - ET: February 15th 2022

Presented By:

Hey,

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

Topic #1

Makgeolli

Makgeolli is a traditional Korean alcoholic beverage also known as Rice Wine.

Increasing makgeolli consumption among young adults between the ages of 20 and 30 is largely driving the rapid growth of this market.

(In fact, the Korean makgeolli market recently reached $386M.)

Slow Village, Makku and Jinro are examples of trending makgeolli brands.

What's next:
Makgeolli is part of the East Asian alcoholic beverages meta trend.

Other examples of trending alcoholic beverages from East Asia include:

Soju is a Korean distilled alcoholic drink. The North American Soju market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.32% and reach $361M by 2026.

Baijiu is a sorghum-based Chinese liquor. It is the most-consumed distilled spirit in the world by quantity.

Huangjiu, also known as yellow wine, is a fermented alcoholic drink made from rice, millet or wheat.

Topic #2

FitXR

Searches for “FitXR” are up 2400% over the last 24 months.

What is it?

FitXR is a VR fitness app for the Oculus Quest.

The app follows a Peloton-like subscription membership model ($10 per month.)

And 11.5K users have joined the official FitXR member group on Facebook (almost 2x increase over the last 12 months).

The startup has raised a total of $8.8M in funding to date. FitXR reports that their latest raise will be used to expand operations in Europe and North America.

What's next:
FitXR is a part of the “fitness platform” meta trend.

While the category was propelled massively by the pandemic, many digital fitness platforms had strong retention rates even before COVID-19.

(For example, Peloton’s 11-month member retention rate was 73% pre-pandemic.)

And fitness apps have been downloaded 400M times in 2021 alone.

Here are a few examples of fast-growing startups in this category:

Bold: At-home fitness platform aimed at older adults. Programs are personalized based on a quiz that users take during onboarding. The startup raised a $7M seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

BlazePod: Fitness hardware and software designed for athletes. The platform comes with a number of predefined activities along with the option to create custom workouts. The Israeli startup raised $9.8M in funding to date.

VAHA: Smart fitness mirror. The company reports that they currently sell 1,000 mirrors per month (at over $2000 each). Like Peloton, VAHA has a monthly subscription model. The Berlin-based startup has raised funding across 3 rounds.

Topic #3

Lactation Massager

Lactation massagers are tools designed to improve milk flow.

42% of new mothers face milk flow issues, according to research by the UC Davis Medical Center. And lactation massagers are one of a growing number of technical solutions to this problem.

Annual global sales of lactation massagers have hit $179M. And this market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.3% through 2026.

There are now over 200 results for lactation massager on Amazon. And one type of lactation massager currently ranks 30th on Amazon’s list of best-selling breastfeeding supplies.

Emerging brands in this niche include Haakaa, Youha and Frida Mom.

What's next:
Lactation massager is part of the breastfeeding tech meta trend.

The global breastfeeding tech market size is currently estimated to be $1.6B. And the industry is expected to increase at a CAGR of 7.8% through 2026, growing to approximately $2.55B.

North America and Europe account for approximately 75% of the breastfeeding tech market size.

Nanobebe is a startup that manufactures breastmilk storage bags. The startup has raised $4.31M in funding to date (Pitchbook).

Momcozy is another surging breastfeeding tech company that produces breastfeeding aids. It currently offers 12 different products in its breastfeeding tech catalog.

Another trending brand is Elvie. They are known for their wearable breast pump products. To date, the startup has raised over $151.9M in funding.

Topic #4

LiveKit

LiveKit is an open-source platform that allows users to build live audio or video experiences into their apps or websites.

LiveKit users can build audio-only rooms that support up to 1,000 listeners or audio and video rooms with up to 400 viewers.

According to the project’s documentation, a room can be built with less than 100 lines of code.

What's next:
LiveKit is part of the open-source conferencing meta trend.

The open-source services market is estimated to experience a CAGR of 21.75% by 2026.

And open source conferencing projects are estimated to account for 8.1% of the entire market by 2026.

Jitsi, Wire and NextCloud are examples of open-source conferencing platforms that are currently trending.

“Exploding Topics Pro is extremely valuable to me as an investor.”

Exploding Topics Pro is the only product that identifies trends at least 6 months before they take off.

Which is why 1,000+ VCs and entrepreneurs have signed up so far.

Like Josh Chapman, Managing Partner at Konvoy Ventures.

As a VC, Josh uses the product to “see around corners”. Which helps him identify underground startups and untapped markets.

“Exploding Topics Pro helps me identify trends that no one else is highlighting. Which is extremely valuable to me as an investor.”

The best part?

You can try Exploding Topics Pro for just $1.

So if you want to stay ahead of the curve, try Exploding Topics Pro today.

Try Exploding Topics Pro

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

Talk Soon,
Brian and Josh

PS: Did someone forward this to you? You can hop on the newsletter right here.

Exploding Topics
548 Market St. Suite 95149
San Francisco CA 94104-5401
USA

Unsubscribe | Change Subscriber Options

Exploding Topics - ET: February 15th 2022

Older messages

ET: February 8th 2022

ET: February 1st 2022

ET: January 25th 2022

ET: January 18th 2022

ET: January 11th 2022

You Might Also Like

🎙️ Find That Pod #262

AI Overviews in Search...Here's What Just Changed

Fixing Work Culture, Thinking Small and People Want What Others Desire

LUC #53: Embracing Simplicity: A Look Into Stateless Design

3 GA4 reports to start using now

Redneck Rich Financial Markets

15 retargeting/remarketing ideas

How scaling a browser for developers looks

How he Built a WooCommerce Empire?🤔

Future of TV Briefing: How upfront ad sellers’ ‘advanced audiences’ pitches have, um, advanced this year