TREND REPORTS
Amazon’s Tiny Profits, Explained
[Investing]
2019/08/22 11:42
It’s all about investing in the future. With Amazon, “profit” is not as simple as looking at the top and bottom lines. Amazon skeptics have long repeated a narrative about the e-commerce behemoth now worth $891 billion: that it doesn’t make money, that its razor-thin margins meant to crush competitors are unsustainable, and that its business model will surely, eventually, fail.And pretty mu...
(Video) Harvard - Hip-only Soft Exosuit for both Walking and Running
[Tech]
2019/08/22 11:41
A versatile, portable exosuit that assists both walking and running highlights the potential for lightweight and non-restrictive wearable robots outside the lab.The team’s portable exosuit is made of textile components worn at the waist and thighs, and a mobile actuation system attached to the lower back which uses an algorithm that robustly predicts transitions between walking and running gai...
Gen Zers Are Turning to BOPUS for Instant Gratification
[Consumer]
2019/08/22 11:30
These days, a dominant proportion of Gen Z consumers in the US are taking advantage of "buy online, pick up in-store." According to mailbox tech company Package Concierge, nearly two-thirds of shoppers ages 18 to 25, surveyed in May 2019, said they had used BOPUS within the past month.Convenience, unsurprisingly, was a major driver.Fifty-nine percent of Gen Z respondents said they had used BOPU...
Dutch Villa Makes 'Forest Therapy' Accessible in The City
[Design]
2019/08/22 11:30
The Green Villa concept is a four-story tower covered in plants, with the goal of bringing the benefits of "forest therapy" to city residents. Forest bathing has been found to decrease cortisol levels, blood pressure and heart rate. According to a Japanese study carried out by Chiba University, spending time in forests, or “forest therapy,” decreases cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart...
(PDF) Mckinsey - The Chinese Luxury Consumer
[Business]
2019/08/21 11:35
Chinese consumers are now the engine of worldwide growth in luxury spending. The fast-expanding bulge of affluent citizens combined with a small but very wealthy coterie means there’s much more income to spend on luxury goods and services—from fashion, jewelry, and prestige cosmetics to artwork and high-end travel.It’s a burgeoning market and maybe the deepest pool of spending on high-end pr...
Google's Hand-Tracking Algorithm Could Lead to Sign Language Recognition - MediaPipe
[Tech]
2019/08/21 11:23
Millions of people communicate using sign language, but so far projects to capture its complex gestures and translate them to verbal speech have had limited success. A new advance in real-time hand tracking from Google’s AI labs, however, could be the breakthrough some have been waiting for.The new technique uses a few clever shortcuts and, of course, the increasing general efficiency of machi...
Indonesia Coffee Startups Draw VC Investment as Java Booms
[Investing]
2019/08/21 11:23
Kopi Kenangan and Fore prove a hit with Luckin Coffee's grab and go model.[Although a coffee at Fore is priced at $2.50, customers are given an array of discounts and rarely pay full price.]The world's fourth largest coffee producer is experiencing a java boom all its own. Premium cafes have popped up across the Indonesian archipelago, perhaps enticed into the market by the long lunchtime lines...
Starship Technologies Raises $40M, Crosses 100K Deliveries
[Investing]
2019/08/21 11:23
Starship Technologies invented the category of rolling autonomous sidewalk delivery robots, and to date, the company has made more than 100,000 commercial deliveries on behalf of customers. The milestone comes as Starship adds $40 million in Series A funding, bringing its total funding to $85 million. When it announced an additional $25 million in June 2018, Starship was also piloting its first...
Where Top US Banks Are Betting On Fintech
[Investing]
2019/08/21 11:22
In 2019 YTD, US banks have participated in 24 equity deals to fintech companies. This follows a record 2018, where US banks backed 45 equity deal to fintech startups — a 180% increase from 2017.Investor strategy trendsThe most active US bank investors in fintech (by number of portfolio companies) are Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, and JP Morgan Chase & Co. While all three have ramped up their f...
