Billion Dollar Unicorns: Kabbage Latest Unicorn in Slowing Online Lending Sector

Loan approvals from traditional banks to small businesses had taken a huge hit after the recession and this has led to the rise of alternative lending services and online lending platforms. According to a research study by TradeUp, more than $8.6 billion or 2.8% of small business loans in 2014 were from online lending platforms. Kabbage is one such online lending platform that has recently made its way to the Billion Dollar Unicorn Club . >>>

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Facebook Keen on SMBs But Not on Monetizing WhatsApp

According to BIA/KELSEY, spending on local media by small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) will reach $50.4 billion in 2015, representing 35.8% of total local media spending in the US. Out of this, SMBs are expected to spend $12.4 billion on digital media. Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) is looking to tap this market with its focus on SMBs. >>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: FanDuel Creates a Billion Dollar Company out of Fantasy Sports

According to an ESPN research, non-betting, yearly-based fantasy sports users are a fast growing demographic, reporting a 25% annual growth rate since 2011. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association estimates that there are nearly 51.8 million fantasy sports players in the US and Canada in 2015. Another research firm Eilers Research estimates the daily games to generate nearly $2.6 billion in entry fees in 2015 and grow 41% annually to $14.4 billion by the year 2020. The fast growing industry is also helping create Billion Dollar Unicorns. One such company is New York-based FanDuel.

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Billion Dollar Unicorns: Secretive Infinidat Makes its Way to the Club

According to an IDC report, the worldwide enterprise storage systems market is projected to grow to $37.3 billion in 2015, growing 3.9% annually over the period 2010 through 2015. Needham, Massachusetts-headquartered Infinidat is a secretive little company in the sector which has suddenly shot into the Billion Dollar Unicorn Club.

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Billion Dollar Unicorns: Square Files for IPO Below Last Round of Financing

I have constantly questioned the prudence in the venture funding of companies at unjustifiable valuations. I believe that some of these Billion Dollar Unicorn companies, when scrutinized through the stock market investor’s lenses, will see their valuations whittle down to more acceptable levels. Last week, mobile payment processing company Square filed their IPO and as predicted, they failed to sustain their valuation.

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ERII Finally Gets Its Due

Growing populations, increased demand for water, and diminishing freshwater sources due to environmental degradation and drought have created water shortages across the world. According to a report from BCC Research, the global market for seawater and brackish water desalination is expected to reach $7.2 billion in 2018 at a CAGR of 11.9%. Water desalination expert Energy Recovery Inc. (ERI) (NASDAQ: ERII) is seeing strong revenue growth driven by the strengthening of the global desalination market. However, what has caused the 220% jump in its stock is its $125 million 15-year deal with Schlumberger in the oil and gas industry. >>>

Should Apple Acquire Pandora?

According to a study by Edison Research and Triton Digital, Pandora is still the leading Internet-only audio service with 54% share followed by iHeartRadio (11%), Spotify (10%), and iTunes Radio (8%). However, what is killing Pandora is its rising content acquisition costs and an unsustainable business model coupled with increasing competition. Its value has dropped considerably, which might make it an attractive prospect for Apple. >>>

Zynga Struggling to Play its Game

There is sudden interest in the online gaming industry’s stock market performance followed by the recent $5.9 billion acquisition of King.com by Activision earlier this week. It is a reasonable exit for a company that was valued at $7 billion when it went public in March last year compared with the massive erosion in value that some other players have seen. Case in point is online and social gaming rival Zynga (Nasdaq: ZNGA) which is currently trading at nearly 75% discount over their list price valuation of $7 billion.

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What Should SAP Acquire Next?

According to a recent cloud computing report published by Bessemer Venture Partners, the global cloud computing market is projected to grow 23% annually over the period 2014 through 2018 and reach $127.5 billion by the year 2018. The report reveals that enterprise spending on SaaS applications is currently at nearly 30% of all application spending. Technology companies that have embraced cloud are already seeing strong results.

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Overseas, Mobile, and Content Key Focus for LinkedIn

According to a Cowen and Company survey of time spent on social networks, LinkedIn figured at the bottom of the list with just 9.8 minutes. User engagement is a key focus for LinkedIn right now and it is looking at mobile apps and relevant content to rev it up. The Lynda.com acquisition and its subscription fee business model have helped it, but it should look at more such options. The Influencer program is a good initiative for driving up user engagement, and as you know, I am a top-ranked member of the LinkedIn Influencer network. >>>