Implosion of Media Startups

The year 2017 started off with news of blogging platform Medium laying off 50 people or one-third of its staff because it is unable to make money selling ads. Since then, the media industry has been on tenterhooks. BuzzFeed also reduced its revenue projections by 50%. The latest news from Medium has renewed fears that the media industry is about to implode. >>>

2017 IPO Prospects: Apttus Hedging Exit Options

Quote-to-cash SaaS player Apttus has been toying with the idea of going public for a while. In September 2016, the company made it clear that it will go public in the first half of 2017.

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Billion Dollar Unicorns: Neo Technology Takes Databases to the Next Level

According to Gartner, the global database market is estimated to be worth $33 billion in 2015. The market was dominated by traditional relational databases back in the 1990s, but in the 2000s, innovative technologies such as document databases, NoSQL, in-memory, graph databases have become popular. One such pioneer in the industry is Neo Technology, which recently joined the Billion Dollar Unicorn club.

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Death by Overfunding: Fab.com

At the height of the popularity of flash sales sites, Fab.com was one of the hottest startups. Investors poured $336 million into it and its valuation skyrocketed to $1 billion. But in the end, it was acquired by PCH International for an estimated $15 million-$50 million. >>>

Cotiviti Helps Control Inaccuracy of Payments

According to market reports, the healthcare costs in the United States grew 5% annually over the past ten year period to $3.2 trillion in 2015. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) expects the healthcare costs to continue to grow at 6% annually through 2024. Of the $3.2 trillion spend in the industry, the US federal government estimates that inaccurate provider claim submissions ranged from 3%-10%. Cotiviti Holdings is hoping to reduce this inaccuracy through its analytical engine.

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Death by Overfunding: Gilt Groupe

At one time, the flash sales sector was a favorite with investors. We saw the valuation of several companies like Groupon, Gilt Groupe, LivingSocial, and Zulily skyrocket. But as the sector got washed in funding, companies stopped delivering on hyper growth. Investors fled from the scene and the companies collapsed. Gilt Groupe was acquired by Hudson Bay for a quarter of its estimated value at its peak. >>>

Death by Overfunding: Glam Media

After raising an enormous amount of money over a decade, Mode Media, formerly Glam Media, finally gave up fighting the uphill battle of trying to run a vertical ad network and content platform that could be scaled while being profitable and relevant. >>>

The Sad Demise of Pebble

Smartwatch maker Pebble was one of the most heavily funded startups on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter. It grew rapidly, but could not sustain its hyper growth pressures. Fitbit acquired it recently for its software assets and it does not plan to continue with its products. >>>