The best cover letter ever

Hi there,

We just released our 54-page Asia Tech Investment Report which looks at investment trends, top deals, active investors, and strategic activity in Asia.

Read about it below.

But first.

Discount for you

Today is the deadline to apply for discounted startup tickets for The Future of Fintech Conference.

Well done

It’s been quite an eventful few days in our inboxes.

Yesterday kicked off with the receipt of this cover letter.

Since many of you will ask, the answer is no.

The person did not get an interview. We loved the cover letter tbh but the experience wasn’t a fit.

Asia trends going up

At the current run-rate, deals to Asia VC-backed tech companies are on pace to increase by 14% over 2016’s total, while funding is on pace to grow by 132%.

You auto know

We identified 44 companies developing self-driving vehicles. They are a diverse group of players, ranging from automotive industry stalwarts to leading technology brands and telecommunications companies.

Snooze-as-a-service

In response to yesterday’s newsletter that highlighted mattress company Casper and said it’s not the best company in its space, we received the below email.

Note: It’s got some curse words in it so if you’re <9 years old, don’t read it and move onto the next section.

But otherwise, read it.

This. Is. Art.

You decide

Last week, we asked you all to think of a caption for this pie chart.

We got a lot of responses on Twitter. A lot.

So in addition to our team picking a winner, we’re going to have a “viewer’s choice” award.

Go see all the captions here and fav the one you like the most. The writer of the caption with the most favs (or hearts per Twitter) also will get a sweet CB Insights “Data > Opinion” t-shirt.

Note: If you wrote a caption, don’t tell all your friends to fav your response (actually, feel free to do that).

You must vote by 6PM ET on Wed, May 24th.

Cannabusiness

Hound Labs, developer of a marijuana breathalyzer, announced that it has raised an $8.1M Series B round backed by Benchmark. The company is one of over 60 companies found on our cannabis market map.

All the cool kids are doing it

If you’re a fintech startup that has raised less than $2.5M and wants to hang with VCs, acquirers, and customers, we have discounted tickets to The Future of Fintech for 10 of you.

Apply here.

Tickets are averaging $3200 right now, but these 10 folks will get tix for $995.

Battle of the realities

We looked at a breakdown of investment trends between AR and VR, along with startups serving both areas. In terms of deal volume, VR has long been the leading category.

The Industry Standard

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

Bloomberg. Olivia Zaleski (@oliviazaleski) writes about the investor search for a food delivery business that’s sustainable and cites CB Insights investment data.

The Next Web. Matthew Hughes (@matthewhughes) on the European startup scene with a mention of CB Insights data on unicorns.

Silicon Valley Business Journal. A look at financing to ag tech startups with a reference to CB Insights deals data.

Hope you had a terrific Tuesday.

I love you.

Anand
@asanwal

P.S. We’re digging into auto tech trends tomorrow. Don’t miss out.