LinkedIn Acquires Lynda.com: An Analysis

Earlier this year, we covered Billion Dollar Unicorn company Lynda.com. Carpinteria, California-based Lynda.com is an online learning company that has seen meteoric rise in valuation in the recent past. Last week, they reached their peak when they were bought for $1.5 billion by professional social network, LinkedIn. This was not only the biggest acquisition by LinkedIn so far, but was also the biggest valuation for an ed-tech company. I have long believed that LinkedIn should get into subscription-based ed-tech for the professional education category, and this acquisition makes perfect sense to me. It also reaffirms my belief that LinkedIn is one of the smartest companies around today.

>>>

Featured Videos

Billion Dollar Unicorns: RealReal Shows How to Consign Luxury Products

According to Bain & Company research, the personal luxury goods market in the US is estimated to be worth $74 billion. Economic conditions have hurt the segment, but the market has still managed to register a growth of 2% annually. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member RealReal is helping consigners deal with the luxury products.  >>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: Powa Puts London on the Map

According to a Wevio report published last month, global B2C ecommerce sales are projected to grow 17.75% in 2015 to $1.74 trillion. The market is projected to grow 10% annually to $2.356 trillion in 2018.  Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Powa Technologies is helping retailers gear up for this growth.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: Niche E-Commerce Works for Fanatics

A recent TechNavio report, Global Licensed Sports Merchandise Market 2015-2019, estimated the licensed sports merchandise market to grow 2.74% annually over the period 2014 through 2019. Recent turnover of the industry is not available, but back in 2011, analysts had estimated the market to be worth $15 billion. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Fanatics is among the leading players in this industry.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: Privalia Dominates the Latin America Markets

According to a Forrester Research report published earlier this year, the Latin American eCommerce market is led by Brazil where the B2C ecommerce sales are projected to grow from $17.8 billion in 2014 to $40.8 billion in 2019. The number of online buyers in Brazil is expected to increase from 33.5 million in 2014 to 61.8 million in 2019. Argentina is the second largest market where ecommerce sales are projected to grow from $3.4 billion in 2014 to $8.3 million in 2019 with online consumers growing from 12.6 million in 2014 to 7.8 million in 2014. Mexico is the third largest market and is projected to grow from $2.8 billion last year to $6.7 billion in 2019. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Privalia is counting on this Latin American market growth.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: athenahealth Enters the EHR Market

A Frost and Sullivan report on the US Hospital Information Systems (HIS) estimates the market for HIS in US hospitals to grow at 5.7% annually over the period 2014 through 2020. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member athenahealth (NASDAQ: ATHN) is a leading player in this market.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: The Impressive Story of Airpush

According to a BI Intelligence report, mobile advertising will be the fastest growing digital advertising format in the US. Mobile display ads are expected to grow 96% annually over the period 2013 through 2018. Mobile programmatic ad revenues, including ads sold through real-time bidding will account for 43% of US mobile display-related ad revenue in 2018. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Airpush is a profitable and a financially sound player assisting with this fast-growth mobile advertising market.

>>>

MaxPoint – A Terribly Undervalued Public Company

According to Euromonitor, 88% of retail purchases in the US were made at a physical store in 2014. While e-commerce is growing, physical store sales are not going to reduce for some time. Euromonitor believes that by 2019, purchases at physical store locations will account for 85% of retail sales. Analysts believe that a majority of retail store sales happen close to the customer’s location. Recently-listed MaxPoint (NYSE: MXPT) helps drive these retail store sales up.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: Farfetch Connecting Designers with Consumers

A report from eMarketer expects apparel and accessories to be the fastest growing segment within retail e-commerce. Analysts expect the market to grow 17% annually through 2017. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Farfetch is cashing in on this growth.

>>>

Billion Dollar Unicorns: Elance-oDesk Taking on the Freelance World

According to a recent study by research firm Edelman Berland, more than 53 million people in the US are doing freelance work. That accounts for 34% of the country’s workforce. Billion Dollar Unicorn club member Elance-oDesk is helping this freelance workforce make their mark in the economy. >>>