Comment – Page 21

First quarter sees 15 deals worth at least $500m

Back in 2013-2014 it was possible to almost see in real time the jump in professionalism and ambition of investors backing entrepreneurs through tracking the number of large rounds of at least $100m being done and hence the valuation increases of the overall businesses.

Samsung sees departures

Young Sohn, who is now a senior adviser at Samsung, will create a new venture fund with Shankar Chandran and Francis Ho, former heads of Samsung’s Catalyst corporate venturing unit.

When something is working, why change?

James Mitchell, chief strategy officer at China-listed gaming group Tencent, in its annual earnings call yesterday reported by newswire Reuters said the company would stick with its normal practice of acquiring minority stakes in Chinese startups.

Connected fitness increases during pandemic

Through covid-19 and lockdowns around the world, people’s desire to stay fit and healthy has led to a surge of interest in connected fitness companies.

The golden age for innovation

We clearly live in a golden age for innovation as, despite backward-looking concerns, funding and ideas feed off each other to support the next wave of productivity and products and services.

Meeting the latest fashions

September saw the UK’s largest initial public offering (IPO) since 2015 when The Hut Group (THG) raised £1.88bn ($2.7bn) on its stock market debut, giving it a valuation of close to £5.4bn.

Tencent’s phenomenal performance

China-listed gaming and internet conglomerate Tencent publishes its annual results in a week’s time, on 24th but it is already clear the performance will be phenomenal.

Global Healthcare Council launched

GEC Healthcare Q1 2021 forward by Rob Coppedge, chief executive, Echo Health Ventures, and Bill Taranto, and president, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund