Proprietary insight into private companies
OpenSea: Peer-to-peer NFT marketplace
Non-fungible token marketplace offered online allows for NFTs to be sold directly at a fixed price, or through an auction.
Nuro: Robotics company developing autonomous delivery vehicles
Robotics company developing autonomous delivery vehicles
Flexport: Supply chain management and logistics
Supply chain management and logistics, including order management, trade financing, insurance, freight forwarding, and customs brokerage.
Kong: Go-to API Management and Microservice Platform for Businesses
Founded in 2007, Kong Inc is a leading cloud-native API management platform providing an open-source API marketplace for developers and engineers.
Docker: A Pioneer in Collaborative Application Development
Founded in 2010, Docker Inc is a leading provider of cloudnative application development tools, content, and services for developers.
Bolt: Bridging Browsing-Buying Gap With One-click Checkout Technology
Founded in 2014, Bolt Financial Inc operates as a payment platform offering online checkout technology to retailers.
Venture Bytes #95: The Race for AI Hardware Supremacy Gets Intense
The latest edition of Venture Bytes, a monthly insight report from Manhattan Venture Research. As with all our Venture Bytes, this edition has two lead articles, our takes on topical news items, and selected funding rounds and exits. The report rounds out with selected private and public valuations, and a liquidity watchlist, which is a proprietary list of top-25 promising private companies in the TMT space that are candidates for a liquidity event – either an IPO or a merger - within the next 12 to 18 months. The two lead articles are titled The Race for AI Hardware Supremacy Gets Intense, and Venture Debt Gains in Prominence, respectively. First, the rapid adoption of Generative AI has intensified the AI arms race. While Microsoft and Google have been battling it out with their language models, a quieter yet equally significant rivalry is brewing on the hardware front between the big tech companies as well as some new innovative start-ups. With the global AI chip market size expected to reach $227 billion by 2032 from $16.9 billion in 2022, the AI hardware battle represents a critical step in the development of AI and its applications. The second article looks at the growing prominence of venture debt. Venture debt has evolved over the past decade as a pragmatic funding option for startups across all stages. According to Pitchbook, the US venture debt deal value surpassed $34 billion in value across nearly 2,500 deals in 2022, representing an impressive 4.6x growth since 2012, and has accounted for roughly 10-20% of the total venture funding in the US in the last decade. Much like the wider venture capital (VC) market, venture debt has benefited from affordable capital in the last few years. This Liquidity Watchlist has one change in the top-25 ranking. Brex, a provider of app-based credit card and expense management services, entered the top-25 following the IPO of Klaviyo.
Venture Bytes #94 - Autonomous Delivery Set to Take Off
The two lead articles in this edition are on autonomous delivery services taking off and immersive technology coming off age, respectively. Driven by the need for faster, more reliable, and cost-effective delivery solutions, autonomous delivery services offer a futuristic alternative to traditional delivery methods. With advanced algorithms, better mobility software, machine learning, and high-tech sensors, they promise to revolutionize the delivery landscape, creating a paradigm shift that could potentially disrupt the status quo. Nuro, a promising startup and a category leader, is well-positioned to tap into the growing global autonomous delivery market by leveraging its best-in-class tech stack, well-funded business model, and strategic partnerships with major retailers. The second article, The Future is Now for Immersive Technology, is our take that immersive technology products are gaining momentum with rapid advancements in technology, creating a strong market for virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) start-ups. These game-changing technologies have the potential to revolutionize the way we consume and experience content, breaking down the barriers between the digital and physical worlds. The widespread availability of Meta’s Quest 2 and Quest Pro has unlocked a plethora of exciting opportunities for consumers, spurring market growth and laying the foundation for an innovative future. From nearly 11 million units in 2021, the worldwide shipments of AR/VR devices are expected to reach nearly 88 million by 2026, per estimates from CCS Insights.
Venture Bytes #93 - Generative AI Cranks Up the innovation Engine in the Valley
The first lead article, Generative AI Cranks Up the Innovation Engine in the Valley, builds on our previous articles on generative AI. We continue to believe that Generative AI holds the promise to be a truly transformative technology, in the same vein as the internet and cellular technologies. While the high computing and inference costs of large language models have been a drag, OpenAI’s 90% price cut for its APIs could democratize the technology and foster faster adoption. With trillions of dollars in economic potential, the technology is offering a wealth of opportunities for investors looking to ride the next generation of AI growth. At the heart of this trend is a growing ecosystem around three layers - hardware layer, foundation infrastructure and large language model layer, and application layer – all three working together to create new and more powerful AI systems.
Venture Bytes #92 - Metaverse: A Strong Long-Term Bet
The two lead articles are on the outlook for Metaverse and Generative AI, respectively. The first article, Metaverse: A Strong Long-Term Bet, is our take that despite the lack of buzz around the Metaverse in 2022, the economic potential of Metaverse is too enormous to be overlooked. As the human pursuit of exploring new digital realms continues to propel innovation and investment in the Metaverse, the metaverse opportunity could be worth $1.5 trillion by 2030, per CB Insights, and the real value creation opportunities for investors in this ‘world of tomorrow’ exist today. The second article, Generative AI Raises the Stakes for Big Tech Dominance, centers on our belief that Generative AI is undoubtedly the fastest growing technology in recent times. Its ChatGPT algorithm has already surpassed 100 million users within two months of its launch. Sensing a gold rush, there has been an influx of investment and product announcements from a number of start-ups and their big tech backers. This Liquidity Watchlist has four changes in the top-25 ranking. Lacework, Naven (formerly TripActions), Indigo Agriculture and Thrasio, replaced Hootsuite, OfferUP, Revolut and GoPuff. The Liquidity Watchlist is Manhattan Venture Research's proprietary list of top-25 promising private companies in the TMT space that are candidates for a liquidity event – either an IPO or a merger - within the next 12 to 18 months. The companies are ranked based on a series of quantitative and qualitative factors from a pool of over 350 companies that we closely monitor. As with all our Venture Bytes, the report also includes selected private and public company valuations. As always, we look forward to your comments and suggestions.
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