Hi there,
Welcome to the 75th edition of Heartcore Consumer Insights. Curated with 🖤 every week by the Heartcore Team.
If you missed the past newsletters, you can catch up here. Now, let’s dive in!
Blockchains are the new app stores - Chris Dixon (a16z Crypto)
If you were an ambitious, risk-seeking founder in the mobile golden age (2009-12), you built a new mobile app. That was when Uber, WhatsApp, Insta, Snapchat, and many other top apps were built.
Mobile has since moved up the technology adoption S-curve. Great mobile apps will still be built, but the low-hanging fruit has been picked. The computing frontier of this decade is building apps on programmable blockchains.
Programmable blockchains are interesting for the same reason mobile phones became interesting when they opened up development to 3rd parties via app stores: the best ideas tend to come from the fringes.
Programmable blockchains are the computing frontier, as PCs were in the 80s, internet in the 90s, and mobile in the last decade.
We saw this start to play out last year during "DeFi summer". This year NFTs and gaming were the next wave of blockchain apps to break out: NBA Top Shot, CryptoPunks, Axie Infinity, etc.
What will be the next wave of blockchain killer apps? Computing waves are hard to predict, but there are some interesting emerging categories: DAOs, social tokens, blockchain-based social networks, Crypto-enabled metaverse experiences etc.
These are some ideas, but entrepreneurs are better at building the future than VCs at predicting it.
The Homebrew Computer Club of 2021 is a DAO or a Discord server, but the pattern is the same. Enthusiasts sharing ideas. Tinkerers hacking away on nights and weekends. These are the good old days - life on the frontier.
The TikTok spike - Olivia Moore (Partner @A16z)
You post a TikTok about your new app. It goes viral, getting millions of views and bringing in tens of thousands of users (for free!). That's the dream, right? But it can quickly become a nightmare.
A number of consumer companies post app demo videos on TikTok, and have them unexpectedly blow up! The TikTok algo is unique in that you don't need followers to have your content boosted. You can get millions of views on a brand new account.
But like a ProductHunt or TechCrunch spike, TikTok virality raises questions about how "real" your traction is - & on a much larger scale, given TikTok's audience.
The growth is often not sustainable. A few days post-viral video, you'll see downloads, DAUs, and MAUs fall. It's easy to get investors excited when your charts are up and to the right, but this could be short-lived.
"TikTok cohort" quality is often low. These users tend to be higher churn + lower engagement, and can actually make your aggregate metrics worse. This is particularly true for apps reliant on density (geo or social group), as viral videos tend to pull in unconnected users.
Your product may not be ready for primetime. Going viral with an app that's buggy, crashes, or doesn't yet "hook" users is tough. You get one first impression! These users will churn or leave negative reviews, and you'll have to fight to change perception when you re-launch.
So, how can you use TikTok? 1) Build a pre-launch audience around your vision. You may even recruit team members! 2) Send users to a waitlist to collect info on their needs, and find beta testers. 3) Lurk! Let the algo help you find users to partner with/target when you're ready.
If you do have a "TikTok spike," split out growth and engagement for these users in investor convos. Show your data with & ex-TikTok. It helps understand how you're thinking about this, too!
The insurtech landscape and five predictions for the future
12 mobile consumer insights
How essential is it to have a strong "why now"?
Look East, not West - The Rise of C2M in Ecommerce
5 Lessons from 5 Years Scaling Product at Uber
A Review of Reviews: Why This Sector is Set for Reinvention
Nike's mobile pivot
5 Lessons from China's Internet Companies
Online Travel Trends Report 2021
🇪🇺 Notable European early-stage Consumer rounds :
ClipDrop, a France-based AI-powered photo editing app, raises €1.2M with Air Street/Kima - link
Arrive, a Germany-based start-up delivering high-end consumer goods in 30 minutes, raises €6M with 468/La Famiglia/Balderton - link
Euler.xyz, a UK-based DeFi lending protocol company, raises $8M with Paradigm/Lemniscap - link
Shares, a France-based social investing app, raises $10M with Singular/Valar /GFC/Red Sea - link
Stockeld Dreamery, a Sweden-based dairy-free cheesemaker, raises €16.5M with Northzone/Astanor/Eurazeo - link
Borzo, a Netherlands-based delivery startup, raised $35M with Mubadala/VNV/RDIF/Flashpoint - link
Cajoo, a France-based grocery delivery provider, raises €40M with Carrefour/Headline/Frst/XAnge - link
🇺🇸 Notable US early-stage Consumer rounds :
Solo, a Seattle-based platform for gig workers to optimize time and maximize income, raises $5.3M with Slow Ventures - link
Firemaps, an S.F-based startup that uses satellites and drones to defend homes from wildfires, raises $5.5M with a16z - link
Clay, an N.Y.C-based personal and business relationships CRM, raises $8M with Forerunner /General Catalyst - link
Mindset, an L.A.-based audio platform featuring personal artists stories, raises $8.7M with USV - link
Moment House, an L.A.-based virtual concert venue, raises $12M with Forerunner - link
Royal, a Las Vegas-based marketplace that let people buy ownership in songs directly from their favorite artists, raises $16M with Founders Fund/Paradigm/Atomic - link
Syndicate, an S.F-based startup creating a decentralized investing protocol that enables anyone to create an investment syndicate on the internet, raises $20M with a16z/Atelier/Coinbase/Sound Ventures - link
MakersPlace, an S.F-based NFT digital art marketplace, raises $30M with Bessemer/Pantera - link
Point, an S.F-based challenger bank, raises $46.5M with Valar/Breyer/YC - link
🔭 Notable later stage Consumer rounds :
Eight Sleep, an N.Y.C-based start-up that makes smart mattresses, raises $86M with Valor/SoftBank/Khosla - link
Humane, an S.F-based new class of consumer hardware startup, raises $100M with Tiger/SoftBank/BOND/Forerunner - link
Calibrate, an N.Y.C-based obesity-focused telehealth platform, raises $100M with Founders Fund/Tiger/Optum - link
VanMoof, a Netherlands-based company that designs and sells electric bikes, raises $128M with Hillhouse/Norwest/Felix/Balderton - link
Picsart, an S.F-based photo, and video editing app, raises $130M with SoftBank - link
Heroes, a UK-based Amazon merchant roll-up platform, raises $200M (debt/equity) with Crayhill Capital Management - link
Whoop, a Boston-based maker of fitness wearables, raises $200M with SoftBank/IVP/Cavu/Thursday/GP Bullhound - link
Zepz, a UK-based money transfer start-up, raises $292M with Farallon/Leapfrog/TCV - link
Berlin Brands Group, a Germany-based start-up buying up brands selling on Amazon and scaling them, raises $700M (equity/debt) with Bain Capital - link
🍭 Notable Consumer Exits
Playtika acquires Reworks Oy. Reworks Oy is a Finland-based mobile gaming studio – link
Headspace merges with Ginger. Ginger is an S.F-based on-demand mental health service - link
Remitly files for IPO. Remitly is a Seattle-based remittance company - link
🖤 Heartcore
La Fourche is looking for a Country Manager (Germany). Check out the full offer - link
Excited to see our fantastic portfolio company Futureplay joining Plarium’s ranks. 🎉
Heartcore Consumer Insights is a weekly newsletter covering notable consumer rounds and exits and top content in the B2C space.
