π mesha wrapped 2021
Here's everything that happened in tech, business, and crypto this year.
Hey πΒ
Hope youβre having a great week!
Welcome to the mesha tribeβa biweekly newsletter by Mesha, an exclusive social community that lets you chat with friends, discover stocks and participate in challenges all on one platform.
Sounds good? Sign up below πΒ
Awesome. Letβs go!
2021: A Year In Review
Believe it or not but 2021 is ending.
And it has been a wild year, from billionaires losing their billion-dollar status in less than two days to Suez Canal obstruction that limited gift choices for birthdays and Christmas presents.Β
While it was a bleak year for the masses, tech, finance, and crypto saw one of their most profitable years to date. This edition will focus on the mega deals, fundings, IPOs, and all the other trends we saw this year.Β
First up,
I. Tech
2021 was the year of tech. But the biggest development was in medicines, not machines, which saved millions of lives worldwide. We have administered more thanΒ 9.09 billion dosesΒ of COVID-19 vaccines acrossΒ 184 countriesβthe biggest vaccination campaign in history.
For India's startup ecosystem, it was undoubtedly the best year yet. We sawΒ 42 startupsΒ achieve the covetedΒ unicorn status, including Mensa Brands, which became India's youngest unicorn after reaching a billion-dollar valuation in just six months. They raised overΒ $5.3 billionΒ across 31 funding transactions, with more than 140 investors participating in various round-types this year. India also surpassed the UK to become theΒ third-biggest unicorn hubΒ after the US and China.
2021 was also a big year forΒ M&A transactions in tech, with software giantΒ OracleΒ buying healthcare IT service companyΒ CernerΒ for $28.3 billion,Β SalesforceΒ purchasingΒ SlackΒ for $27.7 billion, andΒ Microsoft'sΒ $19.7 billion acquisition of AI and speech recognition platformΒ Nuance.
But we'd be remiss if we didn't mention the fall of everyone's beloved social giantΒ Facebook,Β whose disastrousΒ outageΒ in October caused the platform to collapse for six hours, making it theΒ largest communications breakdown in history. Plus, a whistleblower complaint about Facebook promoting false information and inciting violence, among several other allegations, supposedly nudged the company to change its name toΒ Metaβhighlighting its big move into VR services.Β
II. Finance
Last year completely revolutionised finance, asΒ meme stocksΒ to popularity after Redditβs WallStreetBets decided to give a royal FU by bidding up GameStopΒ andΒ AMC Entertainmentβstocks that were heavily shorted by hedge funds. And as more and more retail traders joined the movement, many startups IPO'ed via SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies). In 2021, overΒ 600 SPACsΒ went public and raised more thanΒ $160 billionΒ in capital.
Massive liquidity in the market hugely benefitted the Indian IPO ecosystem, which raisedΒ $453.3 billionΒ fromΒ 2,388 dealsΒ this year. The companies that went public includeΒ some of the biggest names such as Zomato, Nykaa, Policybazaar, CarTrade, MapMyIndia, and Paytm,Β among others. Not just that, India's fintech and e-commerce firms also had a remarkable year as insurtech firms likeΒ AcroΒ and e-commerce platforms likeΒ MeeshoΒ surpassed the $1 billion mark. Plus, India createdΒ 4 healthtech unicornsΒ andΒ 10 SaaS unicornsΒ this year.
III. Crypto
For overly enthused traders, the stock market wasn't enough this year. So they moved to the next best thing:Β cryptocurrencies. As investors heavily started investing inΒ BitcoinΒ and other altcoins such asΒ Ethereum,Β Litecoin, Monero, and others, they were joined by big firms likeΒ Tesla, PayPal and Microstrategy, with even the governments taking a keen interest. The global crypto market now stands atΒ $2.22 trillion.Β
Cryptocurrencies also witnessed the so-calledΒ 'meme effect'Β promoted heavily by Tesla CEOΒ Elon MuskΒ during his SNL appearance in May. Soon,Β Dogecoin,Β Shiba Inu, and other meme coins garnered massive mainstream attention, and lo and behold, we now have more thanΒ 250 meme tokens.
But the most fascinating development took place in an investment vehicle based on the same underlying technology as Bitcoin:Β Non-fungible Token (NFT).Β While it was conceived in 2014, NFTs became known to the masses in the first six months of this year after digital artistΒ BeepleΒ sold his NFT,Β Everydays: The First 5000 Days, forΒ $69 millionΒ in March. Soon the idea transformed into art, music, and sports, enabling monetisation of digital assets. As of December, the global NFT trade reachedΒ $23 billion.
And we're only getting started. As we see more fantastic development in Web3 technologies, it's only a matter of time when even these will seem normal.Β
Until next time π
Oh and before we go,
Share what you learn π€
Yay, you made it!
If you found this newsletter insightful, share it with your friends and colleagues and let us know what you think.Β Thank you for reading.
We, at Mesha, believe in democratizing finance.Β Join usΒ and be a part of a community that helps you to take your net worth #ToTheMoonπ