illegal ice cream

You’ve been softserved

Hi there,

The Future of Fintech kicks off in a couple of hours. It’s our best one ever.

In other news, New York City seized 46 ice cream trucks last week in a sting called “Operation Meltdown” after operators racked up 22,000 summonses for violating traffic laws and created shell companies to evade ~$4.5M in fines over almost 10 years.

That’s a whole lot of popsicles.

It’s for everyone

Blockchain technology is no longer just for banking and cryptocurrency.

Businesses across a wide range of verticals are expected to spend $2.9B on the tech this year, up almost 90% from 2018.

From cannabis to public transportation to accounting, we analyze 55 industries that blockchain could transform.

Edit mode

A Russian biologist says he plans to produce CRISPR-edited human embryos and bring them to term as soon as the end of this year.

What is CRISPR and how does it work? We break that down here.

Bingo!

Got 5 in a row? You might be a VC.

Source: newsletter subscriber via twitter.com/inagfatt

Look what I bought

Last week, Google announced it planned to acquire analytics startup Looker for $2.6B — its fourth-largest acquisition to date.

We created a visual timeline of the tech giant’s biggest purchases in its history. Check it out here.

Summer’s flamin’ hot trend

Forever 21 is teaming up with Cheetos to create a line of summer clothing, including bathing suits for men and women, flip-flops, fanny packs, t-shirts, and more.

Oreos is coming out with a line of men’s underwear that I hear was previewed at Davos earlier this year to rave reviews.

 You’re like, really pretty

Unilever is reportedly acquiring luxury skincare brand Tatcha, which offers a range of rice- and green tea-based creams, for $500M.

We listed Tatcha as a likely acquisition target for beauty corporates. Clients can see our other predictions here.

 Be resourceful

HR departments are increasingly using software to bring their recruiting, talent, and administrative processes into the 21st century. Globally, HR tech now represents a $148B opportunity.

From talent acquisition to performance management to payroll, we take a look at 145+ startups making HR processes more efficient. Expert Intelligence clients can see them all here.

The Industry Standard

CB Insights data is the most trusted by those in the industry and the media. A few recent hits.

Forbes. Bernhard Schroeder (@bernschroeder1) discusses unicorn failures and what it takes to be a successful billion-dollar company, and refers to CB Insights research.

Reuters. Sam Nussey (@samnusseyrtrs) reports that Japan-based business card management company Sansan has raised $360M and cites CB Insights data.

American Banker. Penny Crosman (@pennycrosman) writes about this year’s fintech merger trend and quotes CB Insights senior fintech analyst Lindsay Davis (@lcdavis1225).

I love you.

Anand
@asanwal 

P.S. Love the CB Insights team? Want to help us grow? We’re hiring an SVP of People Strategy.