🤑 Investing Updates (Feb 23)
This Thursday's top stories for online entrepreneurs turned investors, with updates on the markets, online business, real estate, startups, and crypto.
MARKETS UPDATE
US stocks dropped this week after Fed minutes revealed unanimity over the need for further rate hikes to curb inflation, but the S&P has fought back to the green today.
Global debt sees its first annual drop since 2015, driven entirely by wealthier countries.
The US housing market lost $2.3T in H2 2022, the biggest drop since 2008, and mortgage applications fall to their lowest level since 1995.
Chart of the day
ONLINE BUSINESS UPDATE
Centurica’s free MarketWatch tool, which enables you to set up email alerts to see new listings before anyone else, has been improved. You can now filter by SBA Pre-qualified Only or Boopos Pre-qualified Only, as well as exclude certain brokers.
Nick Eubanks has joined Semrush as Head of Digital Asset Acquisition and is looking for websites with a digital marketing audience. This comes after the successful acquisition of Backlinko.
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STARTUPS UPDATE
Tome, using AI to reimagine digital presentation and storytelling, raised a $43M Series B led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Klarna, offering payment plans for e-commerce, observed a 71% YoY increase in GMV in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Germany as its largest market.
Kaito, building a search engine for crypto, raised a $5.3M seed round led by Dragonfly Capital.
CRYPTO UPDATE
Cypher Capital, led by ex-Binance M&A Chief is looking to raise over $100M for a new web3 VC fund.
Circle listed a euro-backed stablecoin on Coinbase.
BlackRock started a Metaverse-themed ETF.
REAL ESTATE UPDATE
Bloomberg revealed that the commercial real estate market has frozen, with bond sales declining 85% YoY.
Grant Cardone believes investors will create enough demand to prevent the market from crashing, stepping in to buy single-family homes at lower prices and with less competition.
Den, an ex Wework director’s prop-tech startup, raised $3M in venture funding co-led by Gutter Capital and Crossbeam Ventures Partners. Den provides customizable architectural plans and end-to-end construction management.
🤑 Other Investing Newsletters
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Not financial, investing or tax advice. This newsletter is strictly for information, entertainment and education purposes. Nothing in here is investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. This newsletter is not tax advice. Talk to your professional advisors. Do your own research.