Emerging Tech Investment Opportunities

Humanoids may dominate the headlines—pouring coffee, doing backflips, and walking across factory floors—but they’re not where the real money is. The quiet winners? Specialized, task-focused robots. From Unbox Robotics boosting warehouse efficiency by 25% to Zipline delivering life-saving medical supplies, these single-task machines are quietly transforming industries. Okibo and Canvas are tackling drywall finishing, while Moxi roams hospital halls delivering supplies so nurses can spend more time with patients. Investors love them for one simple reason: ROI is clear and immediate. They’re cheaper to build, faster to deploy, and easier to justify on a balance sheet than flashy humanoids still stuck in pilot programs. The comparison is simple: forklifts changed the world, not Iron Man suits. The next wave of robotics won’t be about building machines that look like us—it will be about building machines that do the job better than us.

$700M invested. 2% adoption.  Travel tech is caught in a prisoner's dilemma. Skift just published the numbers. 80% of travel executives plan to deploy AI agents at scale within five years. Only 2% of consumers are willing to let AI book a trip on their behalf. Most people read this as a disconnect. I read it as a trap. Every major player — Booking, Expedia, Sabre, Amadeus — would rationally prefer not to spend hundreds of millions on a product nobody is using yet. But if Booking invests and you don't, you lose the moment the market turns. That moment is impossible to predict, and you can't afford to miss it. So everyone invests. Simultaneously. In infrastructure for a customer who doesn't exist yet. From the inside, as I see it, this is the only move you've got. The asymmetry is brutal.  The cost of not investing is existential.  The cost of negative ROI is just financial. If AI actually reshapes travel and you sit it out, you don't recover from that. You don't get to wait and see. Prisoner's dilemma works exactly this way. Both players know investing together would be cheaper. Neither can go first. Consumers don't trust AI to book yet. And it doesn’t look like that's changing anytime soon. Travel tech is too complex for fast integration. The industry keeps asking: why don't consumers rely on AI? The better question is: When will travel infrastructure actually be ready for AI agents? And how much will be invested by then?

What happened in Fintech in 2025 and what’s behind it? Here is my behind-the-scenes summary based on the FT Partners 2025 Annual FinTech Almanac numbers. 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: • Capital is concentrating into fewer, larger rounds as investors back proven platforms over early-stage fintechs. • Profitability and predictable revenue now matter more than growth alone, as higher cost of capital has reset how risk is priced. • Financial Management and WealthTech attract capital because banks and asset managers are still modernising core workflows around data, reporting, risk, and operations. • Crypto funding has shifted from speculation toward infrastructure. • Payments’ reduced share of financing reflects maturity of the core rails, with innovation moving to embedded and vertical-specific use cases. • Banking and lending funding is spread across specialised tools (onboarding, underwriting, compliance, servicing, etc) as most banks choose to modernise in layers and not by replacing their core in one go. • InsurTech investment is rising as insurers face worsening loss ratios (driven by climate volatility, inflation, and fraud) and use software to regain control over pricing, underwriting, and claims. • Capital is increasingly flowing to markets that combine fast-moving regulation, public-sector capital, and national digital rails (real-time payments, digital ID, open finance). • Mega-rounds are returning but mainly for scaled leaders, meaning this is not a generic market trend but focused on a small group of companies that already behave like infrastructure.   𝗠&𝗔 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆: • M&A activity is accelerating because many fintech categories are now mature, making consolidation the fastest way to expand. • Scaled fintechs are increasingly the buyers, using acquisitions to add capabilities faster than they could build internally. • Acquisitions are focused on filling product gaps (risk, data, compliance, embedded payments, fraud) rather than buying growth. • Payments M&A is driven by margin pressure and intense competition, with players buying scale and efficiency rather than chasing new geographies. • Financial Management and WealthTech M&A is driven by demand for platforms that already sit at the centre of financial operations. • Crypto M&A is selective, targeting regulated, compliant infrastructure rather than consumer-facing speculation. • Cross-border M&A is rising as fintechs use acquisitions to enter regulated markets faster than licensing alone would allow. • Private equity is accelerating as many strong fintechs generate cash but lack public-market scale, making them attractive candidates. What are the trends that you see continuing in 2026? What did I miss? Opinions: my own, Graphic source: FT Partners 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: https://lnkd.in/dkqhnxdg

🚨 Huge news: Banks just entered the corporate travel battlefield. Banks are no longer just financing travel. They are building the infrastructure to control it. The announcement that Capital One is acquiring Brex for $5.15B is not just a fintech deal. It’s a structural move into corporate travel, payments, and spend orchestration. Brex brings corporate cards, expense automation, and business payments — and Capital One plans to integrate it directly into its growing travel portal, allowing companies to manage travel spend, payments, and policies in one place. This marks a shift. Until recently, banks focused primarily on leisure and unmanaged travel: loyalty programs, rewards portals, and consumer booking experiences designed to bypass OTAs. With Brex, Capital One is now moving decisively into managed business travel. And it’s not an isolated case. American Express built a full corporate travel stack decades ago. Chase, Citi, and others have developed travel portals tied to loyalty ecosystems. Now Capital One is connecting booking, payment, expense, and policy into a single platform. This is not fintech anymore. It’s the emergence of banks as a new distribution layer in travel. OTAs disrupted travel by owning the booking interface. Banks are now doing something potentially more powerful: they already control payments, data, loyalty, and increasingly the corporate workflow. For hotels and suppliers, the question is no longer just “how do we compete with OTAs?” It’s: 👉 Who will control the decision layer between demand and supply in corporate travel? Because the next battle in distribution may not be fought by OTAs or TMCs — but by banks building end-to-end travel ecosystems. #TravelTech #BusinessTravel #Distribution #Fintech #Hospitality #Payments #AI #CorporateTravel

Jim Rowan and I dug into one of my favorite and rapid developments in AI: physical AI.    Much like the mountains behind us, the potential is sky high. Task-specific robots are already dominating factory floors, while drones, autonomous vehicles, and other intelligent machines are quietly becoming the workhorses of modern industry – all powered increasingly by synthetic data.    So what’s driving this surge?    🟢 Costs are coming down. The manufacturing cost of humanoid robots dropped 40% between 2023 and 2024 thanks to cheaper sensors, actuators, processors, and smarter supply chains.   🟢 Labor markets are tightening. The U.S. needs 4.6 million additional workers per year just to keep pace with demand. From aging workforces to skills gaps, every industry is feeling the strain—and automation is stepping in to fill it.    Right now, the biggest bottleneck isn’t imagination. It’s training. It still takes months to teach physical AI to perform tasks in pseudo-physical environments. Cracking that challenge will be a major unlock for real-world efficiency, safety, and innovation.    We actually explore this shift in more depth in our new Physical AI report, which looks at how intelligent machines that can perceive, reason, and act in the physical world are transforming industries—and what leaders can do to prepare: (https://deloi.tt/3J8Vuis)    The robots aren’t just coming. They’re clocking in. 

State of #fintech at the end of Q3’2024 by CB Insights Global Funding Trends: 🔵 Fintech #funding fell to $7.3B in Q3’24, a 25% quarter-over-quarter (QoQ) drop. However, the decline adjusts to 13% when excluding large deals from the prior quarter (e.g., Stripe, AlphaSense) 🔵 The average deal size in 2024 remains steady at $12.7M, reflecting a focus on fewer, higher-value #investments despite a 16% drop in total deal volume, reaching the lowest level since 2017. Geographic Insights: 🟠 Emerging Markets Lead Early-Stage Deals: 52% of early-stage deals occurred outside traditional hubs (e.g., US, UK), favoring regions like India, France, and Kenya Sector-Specific Trends: 🟢 Wealth Tech: Notable funding increase with a focus on solutions targeting niche demographics, such as medical professionals. #Wealthtech saw a 67% increase in funding QoQ, driven by significant deals such as Human Interest ($242M) and Earned Wealth ($200M) 🟢 Digital Lending: Continued activity in Asia and the US, with standout deals like DMI Finance ($334M) and MNT-Halan ($158M) 🟢 Payments and Insurtech: Both sectors experienced declines but retained pockets of high-value activity, particularly in #insurance #innovation Investor and Exit Activity: 🟣 #VentureCapital Shift: VC investments accounted for 29% of deals, highlighting a cautious but persistent interest in fintech 🟣 Exits: M&A dominated the exit landscape, with fewer IPOs or SPACs, indicating a shift toward #consolidation over public market enthusiasm. So what does all this mean for the near future? ♻️ We are entering a consolidation phase: With deal volumes at a historic low, the industry is undergoing a consolidation phase. Expect M&A to drive market realignments, especially in crowded subsectors like #payments and lending. ♻️ Increased focus on Emerging Markets: The shift toward less-crowded geographies reflects the untapped potential in markets like #Africa and parts of Asia. Companies targeting these regions may enjoy less competition and high growth prospects. ♻️ Selective Investment Persists: Investors are prioritizing fewer, higher-quality deals. #Startups will face increased pressure to demonstrate solid unit economics and scalability before securing funding. ♻️ Some Sectoral Bright Spots: The wealth tech boom signals a growing appetite for personalized financial management solutions. #Insurtech and #lending (especially in the small business) innovation remain attractive as they address core pain points with digital solutions. ♻️ Challenges for #Unicorns: The slowed rate of unicorn births underscores a recalibration of valuations. Companies aspiring to cross this threshold will likely need to showcase strong #profitability or growth metrics. Also, some of the existing unicorns 🦄 will lose their wings 🪽 if they test the market

Super Bowl LIX wasn’t just a showcase of top-tier football—it was also a test of how well the networks could handle one of the most demanding connectivity environments in sports. As the Philadelphia Eagles celebrated their victory, New Orleans’ telecommunications infrastructure quietly played a crucial role in keeping fans, media, and businesses connected across the Caesars Superdome, tailgate zones, hotels, the airport, and the French Quarter. While much of the spotlight is on game day, T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T took a long-term approach, ensuring that their investments would benefit the city far beyond the Super Bowl. T-Mobile took a broad approach, focusing on both in-stadium upgrades and wider city improvements to keep fans connected wherever they were. -Upgraded its Distributed Antenna System (DAS) inside the Superdome, enabling peak speeds of 1.2 Gbps for fans in the stadium. -Enhanced macro cell sites in high-traffic areas like Champions Square, boosting speeds up to 920 Mbps. -Expanded its 5G network across New Orleans, adding permanent improvements to the French Quarter, key hotels (Hyatt Regency, JW Marriott, Roosevelt), the airport, and the Smoothie King Arena. Verizon focused on delivering high-speed connectivity in dense environments, making key enhancements to its 5G Ultra Wideband network: -Installed 509 Ultra Wideband radios and 155 C-Band radios inside the Superdome to provide consistent coverage across seating areas, suites, and concourses. -Mounted 42 MatSing Ball Antennas on the stadium’s catwalks, improving capacity in crowded sections. -Laid down 560+ miles of new fiber across New Orleans, permanently improving connectivity in areas like Bourbon Street, the airport, and other key venues. AT&T: A Critical Role as the Neutral Host Key Investments: -A significant DAS upgrade featuring 91 zones of 5G+ C-Band, 3.45 GHz, and mmWave, improving capacity across the stadium. -Outdoor antenna system enhancements, ensuring strong connectivity in tailgate areas, parking garages, and fan zones. -City-wide 5G+ expansions, with 69 small cell upgrades and C-Band overlays, particularly in high-density areas like the New Orleans Convention Center. The infrastructure investments made for Super Bowl LIX are a blueprint for how connectivity should be approached at large-scale events. Planning ahead is crucial. The carriers spent years preparing for this one-day event. At LA28, we are planning for a global audience across multiple venues for weeks at a time. Adaptability is essential. The ability to optimize networks in real time using cloud-based vRAN, C-Band, and mmWave proved valuable in managing massive data surges. Lasting impact matters. The networks deployed for the Super Bowl aren’t just for the game—they now serve as part of New Orleans’ long-term telecom infrastructure. The next step? Taking these learnings and applying them to the world’s largest sporting event. #SuperBowlLIX #topvoices

The first quarter of 2024 is almost over. It’s looking positive. I think we have a clearer picture of what’s in store for the ecosystem. ❇️1/Fewer Unicorns, More Zebras Profitability is in trend again. 84% of Tech companies in the US posted earnings beats in Q4 2023. Software companies like Palantir, SoFi posted positive profits in their earnings. More public companies will turn profitable (some post-layoffs). VCs have switched their criteria and founders will follow suit or lose funding. Everyone will want to become a Zebra while cash-burning Unicorns are less favored. Whoever’s left after the dust has settled will have proven their resilience. ❇️2/Fundraising will rebound, investors remain cautious $6 trillion are sidelined in money markets. When the fiscal environment switches up - expect it to re-enter with vengeance. VCs that want to raise their next fund will also need to start deploying capital. While it might not hit the record highs of 2020 and 2021, VC fundraising is likely to have a rebound this year. However, they will be much more cautious with investments. Valuation pressure likely to continue. ❇️3/ More IPOs and M&A will happen 1,035 IPOs happened in 2021. This dipped sharply to 181 and 154 respectively for 2022/23. M&A activity has seen a similar dip versus 2021. When liquidity and sentiment improve, we’ll see these come back. 2024 might offer the right conditions. All eyes on Reddit’s IPO. ❇️4/ Stronger US economy, Rate Cuts Delayed The Fed is holding back and the economic numbers are coming in strong. Lower inflation, good rate of job creation vs cuts with manageable unemployment. Should see USD retaining its dominance. A roaring economy without monetary intervention means higher for longer. ❇️5/ More write-offs, an ecosystem reset It feels like a lot of the bad positions are being written-off now by VCs. No new indication of poor investments and a more cautious environment is persistent. It’s a necessary reset that had to happen. Paves the way for effort to be put in finding new deals. The startup and venture ecosystem is healing. Still some way to go, but the direction is upward and to the right. ☁️ What do you think?

Looking forward to the spring of 2024, the tech industry is preparing for substantial changes. A wide range of companies, including established industry leaders and emerging startups, are getting ready for their first-ever initial public offerings. This alignment of IPO candidates from different age groups is reshaping the investment landscape. Spotlight on Seasoned Players: Reddit, Inc., with nearly 19 years of history, leads the way for a cohort of experienced tech companies. These firms, including Klarna, StubHub, Turo, SeatGeek, Ibotta, Inc., ServiceTitan, and SHEIN, have made the strategic choice to go public. They aim to provide their employees and investors with an opportunity to participate, even if valuations may not reach their previous heights. Rise of the New Generation: Concurrently, a new generation of tech startups is entering the IPO arena. For example, SKIMS, founded just four years ago by Kim Kardashian, is gearing up for a public listing. Even Liquid Death, a seven-year-old canned water company, has enlisted the services of Goldman Sachs to realize its IPO ambitions. A Transformative Year in Tech: The surge in tech IPOs in 2024 represents more than just a financial milestone. It underscores the tech industry's adaptability and resilience. Amid evolving market dynamics and changing investor sentiments, these companies are seizing the moment to transition into the public sphere. Navigating a Changing Investment Landscape: Financial professionals and investors are closely monitoring this IPO wave as they seek a return to a more stable IPO environment. Following two years marked by fluctuations driven by factors such as rising interest rates and evolving valuation models, the market is searching for a greater degree of predictability. In conclusion, 2024 holds the promise of being a transformative year in which tech companies of various ages leave their mark on the IPO stage. This alignment of industry veterans with innovative newcomers offers a glimpse into the dynamic and uncertain future of the tech IPO landscape. Source: Nasdaq, Fast Company, The Information #BigIdeas2024 #ipo2024 #startup #tech #VC 

The Functional Evolution of Digital Assets — Key Insights Ripple Ripple’s paper outlines a structural shift in digital assets, moving from standalone instruments to embedded components of financial infrastructure. Shift from asset definition to functional utility Digital assets are increasingly defined by their role within financial systems rather than their classification as instruments. The paper highlights four primary functional categories: ▪️Store of value (e.g., Bitcoin) ▪️Medium of exchange (e.g., stablecoins) ▪️Settlement instruments (tokenised fiat, CBDCs) ▪️Programmable financial assets (smart-contract enabled instruments) The emphasis is shifting from “what the asset is” to “what the asset enables.” ------------ Three-stage evolution framework The report identifies a progression in market maturity: Stage 1: Digitisation ▪️Representation of value on blockchain rails ▪️Early experimentation with digital-native money Stage 2: Financialisation ▪️Development of liquid markets and derivatives ▪️Growth of stablecoins as transactional instruments ▪️Institutional participation increases Stage 3: Functional integration (emerging) ▪️Digital assets embedded within core financial workflows ▪️Use in settlement, liquidity management, FX, and treasury operations ▪️Infrastructure convergence with traditional financial systems --------- 3. Convergence of TradFi and digital asset infrastructure A central theme is the gradual convergence between traditional financial systems and blockchain-based infrastructure: ▪️Financial institutions increasingly explore tokenised settlement layers ▪️Stablecoins are being evaluated as operational liquidity tools rather than speculative instruments ▪️Tokenisation enables real-time transfer of value across systems This reflects a transition from siloed systems to interoperable financial networks. 4. Role of stablecoins in system transformation Stablecoins are positioned as a key transitional mechanism in the evolution of digital finance: ▪️Reduction of friction in cross-border payments ▪️24/7 settlement capability ▪️Enhanced liquidity efficiency for institutions ▪️Programmable use in automated financial workflows They function as a bridge between fiat systems and tokenised infrastructure. 5. Infrastructure layer as the primary value driver The report emphasises that value creation is shifting toward underlying infrastructure: ▪️Compliance-enabled transaction rails ▪️Cross-border interoperability ▪️Institutional-grade settlement systems ▪️Integration with regulatory frameworks and CBDC ecosystems The competitive focus is increasingly on infrastructure capability rather than asset performance. #Payments #Stablecoins #DigitaAssets #CBDC