so many unicorns

Naked ambition

Hi there,

If you haven’t yet dined at Paris’ O’Naturel, you’d better make a reservation now — the city’s first nudist restaurant is shutting down on February 16 after being open for a little over a year.

Diners remove their clothes in the cloakroom, where they’re also required to ditch their cell phones. They are then provided with slippers, which can be worn throughout the meal.

One frequent patron said the food is great, but a year-round nudist establishment might have been ahead of its time.

C’est la vie.

All the pretty unicorns

There are currently 309 private companies around the world valued at $1B+ — aka unicorns. 111 of those joined the unicorn club just last year.

We’ve mapped them all out for you across 13 categories, from auto tech to e-commerce. Check out the full map here.

They’re heeeere

China has confirmed scientist He Jiankui’s claim that he created the world’s first CRISPR-edited babies in November — and a second pregnancy with a gene-edited embryo is already underway.

Need a refresher on how CRISPR works? We’ve got you covered. Check out our explainer here.

It’s been real

It’s all about machine learning on earnings calls now. Data science, it was nice knowing you.

 If you’ve got it, flaunt it

Walmart posted 43% year-over-year growth in e-commerce sales in Q3’18, up from 40% in the previous quarter.

What’s driving this? Walmart’s 5,352 brick-and-mortar stores.

We discuss how Walmart is leveraging its stores as a key advantage against Amazon in the e-commerce and logistics battle. Expert Intelligence clients can read about it here.

Cutting edge

2019 is expected to be an exciting year for hardware.

From facial recognition to tech-enabled healthcare devices to air taxis, we look at the trends shaping the future of smart cities, consumer hardware, and beyond.

Fatberg, dead ahead!

A 210 foot-long mass of fat, wet wipes, and grease is blocking a sewer in a seaside town in England.

The mass, known as a “fatberg,” is longer than the Leaning Tower of Pisa and will take around 8 weeks to remove.

Enjoy your dinner, everyone.

South West Water

 The network strikes back

Online credit card fraud is on the rise, and card networks have to set security standards and decide who is responsible for the cost of fraudulent transactions.

We take a look at how these networks have successfully combated in-person fraud with the EMV chip, and the new technologies they’re developing to fight online fraud. Expert Intelligence clients can read it here.

The Industry Standard

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

Bloomberg. Selina Wang (@selina_y_wang) writes about how the trade war might have contributed to the downfall of startup Meta Co. and references CB Insights data.

Retail Dive. Dan O’Shea lists five retail trends to watch in 2019 and references CB Insights research.

AdAge. Adrianne Pasquarelli discusses how D2C brands are out-marketing larger corporations and quotes CB Insights senior intelligence analyst Anagha Hanumante (@anaghahanumante).

I love you.

Anand
@asanwal

P.S. Do you love numbers? Are you passionate about GAAP? We’re hiring a controller.

P.P.S. On January 29, we’ll be discussing fintech trends to watch in 2019. Sign up for the briefing here.