Special purpose acquisition companies have been hot this year, but the traditional initial public offering is closing out the year even stronger. Performance of traditional IPOs has outpaced SPACs throughout the fourth quarter, and this month is anticipated to be the biggest December on record for IPOs, ... READ MORE >
Tech, Media and Telecom
IT firms comprise the fastest-growing U.S. industry, with more than double the average growth of all other sectors. From software developers to new gig economy platforms, the middle market is an active participant in this exciting space.
CHART OF THE DAY: Dealmaking in the cybersecurity sector continues its strong year
Even in a volatile economic year, dealmaking in the cybersecurity sector continues to be robust. One of the largest cybersecurity deals this year involved RSA Security, which was carved out of Dell EMC at a transaction price of $2 billion. More recently, SentinelOne raised $267 million in its Series F ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: In the video game industry, it’s the most wonderful time
The arrival of the holiday shopping season has buoyed the hopes of retailers catering to a younger crowd, even as coronavirus cases continue to rise. This is especially the case with video games. The Entertainment Software Association, in a survey, found that 38% of people age 18 to 34 play video games ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: North America tech sector M&A reaches pre-pandemic levels
Since bottoming out in May, tech sector mergers and acquisitions in North America have been rising steadily. In October, dealmaking reached pre-pandemic levels last seen back in January and February of this year. Bright spots for M&A within the technology sector in recent months have been software, ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Venture capital investment in health tech on track for record year
North American investment in venture capital-backed health technology and digital health companies hit a record through the first 10 months of the year, outpacing all of 2019 with two months to go. The total venture capital raised by health tech so far this year reached $12.2 billion, compared with $10.7 ... READ MORE >
CHART OF THE DAY: Gaming goes to the cloud
With Amazon’s recent announcement of its cloud gaming service, Luna, the race to the cloud is on in the gaming industry as consoles and digital downloads are destined to become a thing of the past. By 2024, the global cloud gaming user base is expected to reach 124.4 million, with an estimated global ... READ MORE >
Education technology will be crucial this school year, could see record venture capital in 2020
As fall draws near, school districts, educators and parents are trying to figure out what educational plans will look like for students and teachers in the 2020-2021 academic year. Earlier in the pandemic, UNESCO estimated that nearly 1.5 billion learners globally were affected by school closures. On July ... READ MORE >
As cars become increasingly connected, the prevalence of autonomous vehicles will grow
In recent years, auto companies have developed more technologies that enable autonomy for their vehicles. As the number of sensors and technologies in cars has increased, so too has the amount of data available for machine learning algorithms to harness for potential innovation. These data points are ... READ MORE >
Upcoming Xbox, PlayStation consoles may accelerate the growing esports industry
Anticipation is building around new gaming console releases expected from Sony and Microsoft, at a time when the esports industry is already growing amid the coronavirus pandemic. Sony announced full details and specifications of the redesigned PlayStation 5 console on June 11, and is anticipated to ... READ MORE >
Video gaming and esports, already growing in the U.S., see major lift during pandemic
A rise in video gaming since pandemic shelter-in-place orders went into effect could be the wave the esports industry has been looking for to become a more widespread trend in the United States. Until more recently, the growing popularity of esports had been most dramatic in Asian countries. The trend ... READ MORE >