SoftBank makes mountains of cash off of human laziness

Published March 5, 2021

Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast, where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.

Natasha and Danny and Alex and Grace were all here to chat through the week’s biggest tech happenings. It was yet another crazy week, but we did our best to get through as much of it as we could. Here’s the rundown, in case you are reading along with us!

Square is buying Tidal in a deal that some are skeptical of, but one about which we found quite a lot to like.
How capital-as-a-service can get you your first check in 2021, and a nod to Indie.VC, a pioneer in alternative financing for startups that announced it is shutting down net new investments this year.
Oscar Health priced its IPO above its raised range, which was good for it in terms of fundraising. However, since its debut the company has lost pricing altitude. Its declines mimic those of other public neo-insurance providers in what could be a new trend.
And sticking to the insurtech beat, Hippo is going public via a SPAC. Because everyone else is?
Compass filed its S-1, which triggered a debate on how it’s different than Opendoor.
Coupang’s IPO is also coming, replete with huge growth, an improving profitability picture and a massive valuation. This is one to watch.
There was also a whole global news circuit around grocery delivery startups, with Instacart raising at a $39 billion valuation.
And we wrapped with the Surreal seed round that we found to be more than a little spicy. As it turns out, commercialized deepfakes are not merely on the way; they are here.

How China’s synthetic media startup Surreal nabs funding in 3 months

And with that we are back on Monday. Have a rocking weekend!

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