Quick news №31

Once a $1B valuation and unicorn status seemed like an unattainable status, but today, that is, this year, the number of decacorns with an assessment of >$10B has reached thirty, having doubled the last year's figure. That's really: venture conquers more and more peaks, and this is not the limit.

By the way, twelve companies, having become such giants, immediately lost this status, because they entered the stock exchange. Perhaps, not wanting to repeat their path, the founder of VkusVill said that the company is considering the possibility of abandoning the IPO in favor of a strategic investor. By the way, right now the project is being prepared for an initial placement on NASDAQ, but, according to the founder of the company, Andrey Krivenko, a clear decision has not yet been made. In September, the WSJ wrote that VkusVill could raise a valuation from $3 to $5B on the stock exchange and sell up to 20 million shares.

EdTech M&A deal: Skyeng has acquired a quarter of Qmarketing Academy —  an online marketing and design school —  and plans to increase its share to full within a year. Thus, the company declares its position in the segment of additional education —  a highly competitive market in Russia.

Moving on to your favorite cryptoblock. Brand Analytics analyzed the interest of the Russian segment of Internet users in cryptocurrencies in order to make a rating of "favorites". As expected, Bitcoin is in the lead, but behind it is the stablecoin Tether, not Ethereum. Most likely, the point is that Tether is backed by the dollar, but ether is not tied to the world currency. The top three is closed by Litecoin, created ten years ago.

The "butterfly effect", but a little more global and about mining, happened this fall. Back in September, the People's Bank of China announced that now all operations with cryptocurrencies in the country are considered illegal. In general, mining has become not only difficult and expensive, but also dangerous, so crypto specialists collected the equipment —  and transported it to neighboring Kazakhstan, where at least more loyal laws. So Kazakhstan became the second country after the United States in terms of mining activity. Electricity consumption there has already increased by 8%.

Some die at war, and some make profits of it. And while Kazakhstan is thinking where to get electricity, the Thai authorities are going to restore tourism at the expense of the crypt and tourists who got rich on it, issuing special tokens. Special crypto tourism!

Not tourism, but also work with foreign markets: the venture ecosystem Starta VC has opened an office in Berlin. It is assumed that in this way the international infrastructure will work even more efficiently, and Russian startups will gain access to the European market. By the way, in December the company is opening a new set for the accelerator! 

Another entry into the international arena is the final of the educational technologies competition Global EdTech Startups Awards (GESAwards), where the TeenUp project from Belarus entered. TeenUp is an app for school children that helps them get through their school years more environmentally and psychologically comfortably: get help from high school students in their studies, find a tutor among them or support during bullying.

Have a productive week!