Why is Amplitude so popular among product managers and why does it arouse investor confidence? How is MasterClass growing with unique lectures from world-famous stars and experts? Why are gamers interested in Sleeper and what is its advantage over other eSports platforms? Figuring out in today’s article.

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1. Amplitude, a service for product mobile and web analytics, currently costs $1 billion (Source)

Amplitude, a startup from San Francisco that first appeared in 2014, allows you to collect data and analyze user behavior. It is one of the most popular tools for product analytics. With the global shift to online, the demand for Amplitude has begun to increase: companies are increasingly interested in improving the engagement and retention components of their services. Amplitude measures over a trillion user actions per month.

The startup raised $50 million of investments in a series E round, the lead was the Singapore GIS fund, Sequoia Capital and Benchmark Capital are among other participants in the new round for the project. As for now, the total investment sum in the startup is $186 million. In the last transaction, Amplitude was estimated at $ 1 billion, which gave the startup the status of a new unicorn.

What does this mean? Tracking and getting a forecast for the future as well as using the latest figures and sales is an indispensable element in the development of any project. Amplitude tracks more than a trillion “customer behavioral patterns.” In addition, a part of the functionality is provided completely free of charge. Having a cloud of large amounts of data, the project helps to increase sales to managers of the “anomaly”. Therefore, Amplitude has become a unicorn for a good reason, we will continue closely monitoring the evolution of the project.

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2. MasterClass online educational platform raised $100 million investment in a series E round (Source)

MasterClass is a platform with online lessons from global experts: for example, Gordon Ramsay teaches culinary skills there, Chris Voss shares the secrets of negotiating, David Lynch talks about the intricacies of directorial work, Christina Aguilera teaches vocal and Serena Williams teaches tennis. All celebrities’ workshops are organized in a series of 20–30 minutes videos. Virtual rooms are even organized for students, however, instructors do not interact with course participants on a daily basis (some do not interact at all). An annual subscription for access to master classes now costs $180. Over the past year, MasterClass-a’s revenue has almost doubled.

The startup raised $ 100 million of investments in the framework of the series E round; the lead investor in the transaction was Fidelity Management & Research Company. To date, with the raised investments, the company’s value is more than $ 800 million (according to Bloomberg’s estimates).

What does this mean? A new format of education is marching around the planet to learn from prominent people, now it is not necessary to know them personally or to study at top universities. For just $ 180 of an annual subscription, you get access to the wisdom of “the most recognized personalities in the world.” We look forward to the emergence of new players, new formats, education will never be the same again. I myself use MasterClass with pleasure, it is amazing how quickly people advise their platform, word of mouth works! I think that soon the top most expensive companies in the world will replenish just EdTech companies.

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3. Sleeper eSports startup raised $ 20 million in a series B round with Andreessen Horowitz as the lead investor (Source)

Sleeper is a social gaming esports platform. In fact, the application combines a chat for players and the game platform itself. Chat Sleeper allows you to simultaneously monitor the game and chat with friends or other fans without having to switch between multiple applications. Now the startup team will debut on the esports market, connecting to the popular annual League of Legends Championship Series game tournament. This year, the startup also plans to introduce basketball and soccer tools into its fantasy ecosystem.

San Francisco-based Blitz Studios, developer of Sleeper eSports messenger, raised $ 20 million in a series B investments last week. Andreessen Horowitz was the lead investor of the deal, with 8 investors taking part in the round, including Twitch co-founder of Twitch streaming platform and ex-player NBA Byron Davis.

What does this mean? Sleeper has created a powerful tool that solves the simple and obvious pain of players. In a few seconds, you can create a team with friends or join an existing league. Any product that allows you to jointly fan from the game, be united by common goals, can become a new unicorn, because there are very few such solutions on the market: yes, there is Twitch, but there are clearly not enough elements of socialization. I predict the emergence of several more startups on the topic of combining players with new mechanics of interaction between gamers. 2.5 billion people play games in the world, the market is huge, we are waiting for new solutions!