Highlights of the Week 11/13/2020

In the week where we celebrated Veteran’s Day as well as China’s biggest shopping ‘holiday,’ the U.S. is also being plagued with rising infection cases as well as continuing election-related troubles.

• Meanwhile, we shared a list of robotic companies pushing automation further during the pandemic by combating manual labor issues for delivery, supermarket clean-up, and more. Read about it here. 
• This week was also a big week for gamers, as Microsoft and Sony both launched new gaming consoles. While Nintendo has been a big winner in terms of console sales so far, there’s also been a lot of funding with online gaming startups too. Read our insight. 
• Remember to also take a look at our in-depth analysis of how the pandemic has shaped the future of fitness. 
• Even though Singles’ Day isn’t as widely known in the U.S., we are positive you may have seen an uptick in marketing emails about one day only sales in your inbox yesterday. Read more about this Alibaba created holiday and its rippling effects on eCommerce trends. 
• With staggering infection rates and fear that the year-end holiday will get worse, there is a rush for a working vaccine. While progress with Pfizer/BioNTech has put the nation in a more positive tone, there are also a number of other startups getting recognition for their vaccine development.
  See our list.
• Lastly, if you haven’t seen our year-end promotion, it’s time to act now. For a limited time only, subscribe for $199/month for three months compared to $299/month. 

Weekly Funding Highlights

Source: PrivCo Data

While not surprising that Software and Internet Services continues to receive the most funding, a number of biotech companies received some large some fundings (Ambrex, Prometheus Biosciences, and Cytek Biosciences). In addition robotics manufacturer Nuro raised a whooping $500MM in funding to put it at a $5BN valuation.