Circle files for an IPO and the biggest news from CES 2024 | Equity Podcast

This episode is sponsored by Morgan Stanley atwork visit morganstanley.com Assessment to get your free transaction Readiness assessment [Music] Today hello and welcome back to equity a Podcast about the business of startups Where we unpack the numbers and the Nuance behind the headlines today is January 12th 2024 my name is Alex and I'm joined as Always by my dear friend and work bestie It's Maryann a aeto Maryann hi hi Alex How's it going uh I'm doing good Although I just realized when I was Reading our little intro that it's the 12th of January which means effectively That we're halfway through the first Month this year is already going too Fast I know I know it's insane before You know it it's going to be February And then June and then December oh my Gosh I yeah and then I'm going to be Older and then if you're like under 30 Listening to this time does get faster As you as you get older just absolutely Something to look forward to other Things look forward to on the Pod today Include two very excellent deals of the Week one from Shimmer one from over Moon And then we're going to talk about the IPO window and how critical it is that It does reopen this year have some cool Data from pitchbook there about

Necessary exits in the Realms of SAS Fintech and Ai and then we're going to Bring in two of our best friends haa and Kiren who are live from CES in Las V Tell us all about the startup Trends They are seeing there but Maryanne deals Of the week to begin with and I want to Start with Shimmer which is a platform For one-on-one personalized ADHD coaching and I love this for a Number of reasons one I wasn't familiar With the idea behind ADHD coaching but I'm a big fan of therapy in general and Just getting help with things two I Didn't realize how expensive it was to Get ADHD coaching yeah same um when I First saw the headline I thought that The technology or the the platform was Um aimed at you know younger people I Just kind of automatically assume that So I was pleasantly surprised to see This is actually a platform for adults And I think that's important because you Know people with ADHD it's it's they Range from you know small children to Probably elderly people still with the Problem so what they what Shimmer does Is they use personalized one-on-one Video coaching productivity tools what They call science learning modules to Help people with ADHD and then like Match them with a coach and so I thought It was really interesting and like you Said I was shocked to hear that the

Co-founder she said that she had looked Into some kind of coaching options Before she started the company and they Were like $300 an hour which is Absolutely insane I mean who can afford That so she wanted to to develop Something that was more affordable and That's that's what Shimmer is yeah and The reason why it's a deal of the week Is because the company just raised 2 .2 Million in the seed round that was led By work life insurance and seed to be And now the company has raised 3.5 Million which begs the question if the Idea is to reduce the cost of ADHD Coaching how is that a business well the Company has a couple of different plans If you want a 30 minute coaching session Each week it's 2:30 a month or if you Want 45 minutes it's 3:45 so it scales Up based on how much time you actually Use and the company says that it has Held over 15,000 coaching sessions which Supplies market demand and a bit of Product Market fit so I'm not shocked That it raise more money the thing that I worry about Maryanne is the the the Contrast between patient progress and The profit motive now we're both glad They're trying to expand access to a Needed service absolutely but when you Have a for-profit company in healthcare Especially mental healthare I always get A little scared so I'm hoping that this

Company has um good internal guard R set Up to ensure that it doesn't lose its Way as it seeks growth not that it will But just in healthcare I always want to Double click on that yeah no and I I Agree because you know you want the Incentives to not just be too focused on The financial returns for sure and Because you don't want that to Compromise the quality of care or the Mission of the company they they did say That they're planning to use some of That Capital to work with a provider Payer employee Partners to help reduce The out-of pocket cost for the members So that's encouraging so I guess it's Another one of the startups we'll have To try to check in with and and time and See how they're doing the other thing I Want to bring up is that if you scroll Back the clock to March of 2023 Mike Butcher for Tech runch wrote a story Entitled ADHD startups are exploding and Now there's even a dedicated browser now The browser element I don't want to Bring up but a couple of other companies Of note in this space include London Based hosf inflow which is based in New York there's numo which is Ukrainian of Origin and then there's Helios which I Think is actually in the UK so there's a Number of companies that are trying to Use technology products and services to Help people with ADHD good to see a lot

Of companies working on that very key Area and Maran with enough about that Talk to us about over Moon and why you Are over the Moon yes so over moon is an interesting Company with a model that I had not yet Seen in the prop Tech space so they're a Vacation rental startup what's different About this company is they're kind of a A combination of what or they're trying To be a combination of the of Both Worlds of airbnbs and hotels so one of The things what what they actually do is They buy vacation rental properties and Rent them out directly so they're Bypassing a middleman they're not a Marketplace like Airbnb they're buying The homes and renting them out on their Platform which they claim does a number Of things like number one they're able To offer more affordable pricing they Have more control over the management And maintenance of the properties I saw A thread on X earlier this week where Someone detailed a horrible experience She had with a property on Airbnb she Posted videos of roaches crawling Droppings from rats leakage all sorts of Just horrific things and also shared Screenshots of how she could not even Get a partial refund from Airbnb um and So you know this is one of the reasons Why this company was started according To the founder it wants to be able to

Have more control to offer reliable Consistent experiences for its guests so That sounded like a commercial didn't Mean it to but that's how the CEO worded It um another thing they're doing which Is also very interesting is they're Giving people who own vacation rentals a Way to say okay I'm tired of dealing With the management and maintenance of This so they have a new product where You can like exchange kind of just it's Called an exchange you can put your Property into this program and you get Like shares for it it's I know it sounds Like a time share and maybe it sort of Isn't a weird way but I don't want to go There it's a shared time system time Share system there a big difference yeah I'm not going to get into the details of Of that but but anyway so it's like okay Um I'm turning over my property into This exchange so they don't have to pay Capital Gains like on the sale of their Property just going into this fund and Then they become shareholders in other Properties so not just the one they own And then they no longer have to worry About maintaining or managing the Property that they put into the fund so That's something new that over moon is Doing as well which it thinks will be a New Revenue generator and then also um It offers coner services to the people It rents its properties out to so that's

Where it's kind of like a hotel but it Does charge for those services so that's Another way it makes money so it's just It's just a unique model I haven't seen Anything quite like it um they raised $10 million back in 2021 from investors Like nfx coasta Ventures camber Creek um The past year they raised 30 million in Financing from Real Estate Investors who Who have uh stakes in these properties As well and then 40 million in real Estate debt they claim to be growing Quite a lot so I just thought this was Really interesting okay so there's a Number of different models out there There's Airbnb right which is you can Rent out down to a room or a couch Somewhere there's verbo or VRBO which is Kind of like Airbnb but for renting out Whole properties which you can also do An Airbnb then there's over Moon which Is owned properties by the centralized Company but you are by yourself and You're not in a hotel but there's some Hotel Services then there are hotels Right and then there are Botique fancy Hotels I really think think we've Disaggregated the where to sleep when Not at home Market to the nth degree by This point I I guess my question is like Who was not sufficiently served by Existing Market offerings that we need Over moon but given their growth Venture Interest and success thus far I guess

I'm wrong but it does seem like we're Slicing this pie particularly fine well We are because I think while Airbnb and And vbo can you can have a great Experience like I like I mentioned you Can also have some pretty awful ones so I think the idea of having a a place Where the owner is actually invested in In it it's different Airbnb is not invested in its customers Satisfaction in the way that I think a Company that actually owns their Properties would be you know what I mean So that's just my opinion I I've come Around to being kind of big on boring Hotels like give me a big old hotel Right with unlimited hot water that Lasts for hours I can take like the World's longest shower give me some Medium bad Wi-Fi I'll watch YouTube in Bed and call it a night like it's all I Want exactly and so last year I'll say This and then we can move on overon says It hosted 4,000 guests it quadrupled the Number of homes it owns from 5 to 22 Which doesn't seem a lot like a lot but It's wants to keep growing at that rate And it says it also more than quadruple The revenue it earned on those homes one Last point for now it's focused on the Southeast and Sun Belt I think over time They'll like to expand more Geographically yeah points to Airbnb There because there's airbnbs everywhere

Whereas this is very much located to a Couple of different places I think it Was mostly in Florida and Texas Oklahoma I think it was Oklahoma yeah Florida the Sun Belt I thought that was the Midwest Someone get a geography expert on the Show we're not sure uh but Maran the Reason why I was really excited you Brought this to the show is because We've talked about proptech struggling Shutting down generally speaking being a Mess and this to me was the opposite Story very positive An encouraging one yeah exactly earlier This week I wrote about a company called Here shutting down its investment Platform so that you know that's also uh Was kind of a downer in the space last Week wrote about front desk shutting Down completely so this is a little bit Counter to this this narrative um and I Said it was going to be the last thing But I lied another thing that I thought Was interesting that the CEO said was uh Cuz I asked him like that mean interest Rates are crazy high like this is not The best time to be doing what you're Doing and he actually disagreed with me He said he thinks it's opened up Opportunity there's fewer competitors That they can get below asking prices on Their properties and they feel like that You know you can always refinance your Debt but you can't go back and pay less

Later and he claims that these companies That have shut down and and they say is Because of interest rates have really Shut down more just because of their Inability to raise more Capital so I I Like that he was outspoken about it I'm Not saying I agree with him but that was Just his opinion well I mean we'll see Airbnb is public we can see the numbers You know this compan is going to event Have a trajectory that we can track and Here's hoping it goes well the thing That I will say my last thing I promise This time this is my last thing is Everyone wants to have a vacation house Right but it's expensive and hard so Like making that generally more Accessible is cool um I may just be a Little bit burned out on tech companies Trying to do things inside of that Particular Niche because it feels like Everyone's trying and kind of failed Like it's like 10-minute deliveries to Me every couple of Cycles everyone tries This and then it doesn't work And the reason why no one can make Private jet travel affordable for Example is because it's not is right so Like it's never quite what I want Anyways we're going to take a very very Short break and when we come back big News us DC stable corn issuer Circle has Filed confidentially for an IPO and also We have notes on just how many IPOs are

Needed this year to clear the Unicorn Backlog is your company planning to go Public or conduct a shareholder Liquidity program within the next 18 to 24 months did you know that proactively Planning for your next private company Liquidity event or IPO can help you Maintain greater control over timelines And outcomes Morgan Stanley at work Believes that when you have the right Technology and systems in place working In harmony leading up to a transaction You can prepare and execute with more Accuracy and ease visit Morgan Stanley.com assessment to connect with Their issuer strategy and Excellence Team for a free assessment to find out If your company is transaction ready Again that's morganstanley.com Assessment to get your free assessment [Music] Today Maryann it's Bitcoin ETF week but I don't actually want to talk about Bitcoin ETFs because I feel like we have Jawed about that to death instead I want You to explain to our fine audience why Stable coins matter and why in Particular circle is the leading stable Coin provider in your heart well that's That's really funny because for me to Explain why stable coins matter um you Know really wouldn't be helping our Listeners too much but I can share that I was I was actually surprised to see

That the company had filed Confidentially for an IPO this week but Then again after I read yours and Jackie's story I I was less surprised Because I didn't realize they had the Second largest market cap on the market They're worth about $25 billion so just To contextualize that number Maran You're factually correct but by market Cap here we mean circulating Supply so Circle the issuer of the stablecoin usdc It's pegged to the dollar there are 25 Billion of them in circulation so There's a $25 billion market cap of usdc Essentially it is a dollar on the Blockchain the other big one in the Market is tether that has about 95 Billion doar of circulation so usdc is The second largest quite large B Maran The reason why uh I think circle is Going to try to go public again after a Couple of shots at the spack route is The thing we've talked about between us Quite often Rising interest rates has Made holding cash more valuable and Because this is a stable coin that is Backed one to one with dollars and other Assets they're holding a lot of cash so I presume as rates have gone up their Income has also risen so I can kind of See why this makes sense it it doesn't Shock Me The Way a crypto IPO normally Would yeah no it doesn't but I always Have to ask this question when when

These sort of things come up though is They're doing well now for sure but what About when interest rates come down Hopefully they have forecast or Projected enough to to deal with that so That they don't just like crater if if And when that might happen or if and When that happen because I think Eventually they will come down well Given the inflation number we got on Thursday maybe rates will stay higher Longer yes most certainly sitting on Cash does become more lucrative in a Higher rate environment but the other Way that Circle could make more money Would be to have a greater circulating Supply and if you go back to 2022 you Can see that the overall circulating Supply of us SDC was above 50 billion And has come down by about half so There's two factors that really generate Income I can't wait to read the S1 but Maryan what we really need is a lot more IPOs and you sent some research to me From pitchbook that I chewed on and I Got to say I knew the numbers were going To be rough but I was actually a little Bit shocked to see the numbers so in the US just amongst Venture growth stage Startups which means Series E or later Effectively just those companies in the US in the assass AI ML and fintech Sectors there is 9815 billion dollars which is damn close

To a trillion dollars in essentially a Liquid startup Equity that needs to find An exit which is a number so large I Think it would take a decade of normal IPO activity to clear and we're not even At that level so Maran Impressions on That number and why did this research Catch your eye yeah it was it is a bit Daunting right like you said it's like Man you know that's how on Earth is that Going to happen I mean how many IPOs did We see last year three just three right Well three that we counted yes yeah so It was sobering but I felt like there Was an optimistic tone to this report Did you not well I believe industry Reports that cater to um Financial Professionals might occasionally take a A a a tone that they would find to be um Salubrious and perhaps even calming I Don't think they're going to say dear Venture Capital Community you have not Exited a company in 18 Months I don't you know probably not Well I the reason obviously this caught My attention the most fintech was Brought up and and I I was surprised That according to the research that the Median valuation per startup of finex Was 4854 million and that was the highest Among all the verticals so that means Fintech startups are much more mature And maybe maybe more ready to go public

Than other verticals keep in that the That number is these Venture growth Stage companies so Series E or later or Have raised to six rounds but MaryAnn's Point that companies that have executed Those Milestones are more highly valued In the fintech world is is bullish kind Of or it's terrifying because when's the Last time we saw a new fintech Unicorn It's a fine line uh and I and we had Seen one not that long ago but I just Don't remember off the top of my head But um to quote pitchbook they said of Course all these startups will not go Public any year and some may never go Public at all but even a modest Percentage of these startups going Public could mean a ton of value being Recycled back into the Venture ecosystem So there's more bullishness yes yes and That's the thing because a venture Capitalists had taken a lot of LP cash And turned it into paper gains and Startups you have to convert that into Actual cash to return to your investors And there has been so little liquidity In the last two years that I people must Be screaming behind closed doors they Put on a very brave face public but man People eventually want their money back So it's it's going to be brutal but There is some hope for the 2024 IPO Market we mentioned interest rates Earlier there's a lot of companies that

Are doing quite well and you know with Just in the SAS World 5324 billion Dollars of Frozen Equity value amongst Late State startups in the us alone There's got to be enough standout Companies to have some IPOs this year Right exactly exactly I think that's the Point that pitchbook was trying to make Oh so okay okay I saw the headline Numbers and I was like holy crap this is Even worse than I thought it was at Least double the dollar amount that I Expected we had to shift through the Public markets yeah I guess what they're Trying to say is even if just a fraction Of these these companies go public it's Going to help it has to help it's like When you're trying to break a fever any Reduction in temperature is good so any Reduction in pain here is going to be Useful but speaking about getting to Fever and being in pain we are now going To shift our Focus over to Las Vegas Where we have a couple of dear friends Going through all the latest and Greatest gadgets gizmos and joy haa and Kirsten are at CES and we've asked them To come on the podcast today to give us A view from the ground now we're going To talk about a couple of startups that You may have seen already on teen.com But we're going to dig into some Highlights and then we're going to talk About startup related Trends as they

Relate to what they have seen in and Around the show floor at CES in 2024 in Vegas let's start with a A Kiron story Because this is the one that I'm the Maddest about about which is that Apparently I will not be able to avoid Chat GPT when I'm in a car yeah so Generative AI speak has been sort of the Buzzword for the past you know certainly The past year and now it's Completely in the automotive World Pretty much every automaker that's here Either was talking about gen or integ Like actually showing demos intending to Put Chachi BT or some kind of generative Ai ai C bot into their vehicles so I Tested one with Volkswagen and sens Which is a software company and yeah Generative AI is coming for your car Alex so I I I know that Maryann and I Are both just just boiling over with Excitement about this but is this like a Like a voice system that I use or do I Ask it to like write me a poem while I'm Driving I I guess when I think about Generative AI I have a very particular Use case and I'm struggling to meld that With driving same I'm very curious about This so I think what you're asking is Why in the hell do you need a Chad gbt In your vehicle and what would you use It for and it was difficult to get that Answer but the best answer I received The best answer I received was this the

Experience in most Vehicles today the Voice assistant is incredibly limited And it's usually a very frustrating Experience in which true oftentimes the Answer after you ask a question is I Don't understand or some other sort of Graceful exit from The Voice Assistant So the premise from a few automakers That I spoke with Executives from Mercedes and Volkswagen and some Suppliers the best answer was this the Llms really allow us to have true Natural language processing that is Fairly unlimited um many of them what They do is they use a small proprietary Llm on one side to deal with all of the Very important accurate data that has to Be provided to the owner so they will Create a data set with the manual of the Vehicle frequently asked questions Things like that and then if the Question goes beyond that it then goes To a a different model or service so for Instance open AIS chap gbt so okay the Idea is that the the plan theoretically Is so that you don't have those Hallucinations but uh interestingly when I I did the Volkswagen sence one they Did put limits on it so the ones you Might think of would be like you can't Talk about sex or there's profanity you Won't get an answer but also some Geopolitical topics and then the other One was you couldn't ask a

Question about any other brand in a Certain way so here I'll give you one Example if I were to ask and this is What was the example give me 10 reason Reasons why I should buy a Toyota while I'm sitting in a Volkswagen it will not Give you the answer that's funny but if You ask which automaker sold the most EVS in 2022 the answer will be Tesla and They will do that so so there are limits To it yeah maryan having heard that Pitch how much do you want to have chat GPT in your next Mercedes that's funny um yeah I'm like You I mean I when I first saw the Headline I was just struggling to Understand like Why why do we need this is this just Another way to try to capitalize on the The AI Trend so you know it seems like a Very much nice to have I cannot ever Imagine it being something like I would Feel like I have to have and um and I'm Curious as to like is this going to make The price of the vehicles go Up but it could also be something you Know how like like you know when GPS Came out and we thought now it's like an Every car so this could be a similar Thing and it could it could just kind of Take over and just be like a part of Everybody's Driving Experience so who Knows what I know or it could be like Many things be seen as CES in which they

Talk a lot about it and then we forget All about it forever I recall one CES That was all about iot and then iot Yielded us one company that went public And that was a lot of fun haa you're Also on site for CES you look Surprisingly healthy for someone who's Been in Vegas as long as you have Been um but the thing that I wanted to Talk about with you is the the the banin Mask which apparently is all about Muffling your speech yeah so the Founders of this company were also not Fully able to tell me what it was for Which is kind of worrying for most Companies uh so basically what this Thing is it's a it's a mask that you Kind of put on your on your face it kind Of looks like yeah it looks like a bane Style mask basically and it has lots of Acoustic Mufflers in it so basically you Can breathe normally so the air actually Gets exchanged as usual but it stops Sound from escaping the mask and as a Microphone in there the idea is that you Can talk and people sitting like one Chair next to you will be able to hear Some muffled sounds it'll be like and Two this was my very good illustration Of that and then if you sit two chairs Away you basically can't hear anything Because it's very like low volume and What they were pitching was like well if You are talking on your phone on a plane

Or if you have like a call center or if You are like a Commando in some sort of Attack situation you might want to be Over not want to be overheard it looks Kind of ludicrous and I can't imagine a World where that makes more sense than I Don't know not the mask was just I it Was just weird looking to be honest with You I thought who's really going to want To wear this yeah I mean there their Idea was Gamers and stuff like that but I'm like I don't the V diagram of having To speak not wanting to be overheard and Willing to wear a mask I feel like That's a vanishingly small little dot in The little there tiny segment of the Population it also looks like a muzzle So if you were in a call center and you Saw everyone wearing one of these it Would look like the humans have been Enslaved by some sort of like dog Overlord well to be fair if you're in a Call center you have been overtaken by a Dog Overlord yeah that's that's super Valid so ha I take it that your view of Um speech muffling headgear devices is Not particularly bullish I'm a fan of All technology right I I would love to See any sort of kind of technology and I Want to try everything it's amazing but Like it also need to have a business Case it needs to have a clear root to Market and a use case and a potential Customer and all that kind of stuff and

That part of the business seemed a Little bit undercooked okay yeah and so I have a quick question obviously last Year AI was the Hot Topic everyone's Talking about it continuing into 2024 was so far has CES um would you say It's been dominated by AI or has it just Been like kind of part of the Conversation I'm just curious like just How prevalent it was so I've done a lot Of walking around the halls and stuff And there's a there's a curious thing Right you have the kind of product where AI is just kind of shoehorned in there I'm like okay well do we need that I Don't know but then there's a number of Products that are starting to show up Where AI actually has a sensible use Case um one of them was like a dictation Device that you can use to kind of uh Get real time dictation where instead of Trying to shoehorn some sort of a Solution in there it has on device voice Models for doing immediate transcription Nice there are use cases for that makes Sense right so there are some some Places where this makes sense but Remember that AI is largely software Right and we're at CES which is mostly About hardware and so finding the Overlap there I think has been a little Interesting that's a good point on the Hardware front I want to talk about Lightweight electric personal aircraft

What's going on with pivotal uh yeah so Pivotal was called opener this is the Startup I guess you can call backed by Larry Page they've been at it for about 12 years now and um their first product Was called black flyer they did their First customer delivery in June and what They showed off at CES is the next iteration more stylish More sophisticated more capabilities and That is called the Helix I saw it Actually first in October at a special Event in Texas but they showed it off And the big thing was hey we're opening Up sales but to be clear very limited Use case right you don't importantly Need a pilot's license to fly this they Do require training it is because it's Under the lightweight category under the FAA which means that it's under 350 Pounds it has a fairly short flight time And has to be at about 1500 feet and Because it falls under this ultra light FAA Certification you can't be flying in Congested areas like in downtown New York or something the to me this is for The very wealthy person who lives in Like has a ranch or has a large property Or lives on a Suburban Edge enclave and Can just fly it around and go to other Places it's meant to replace how some Wealthy people use Helicopters but the interesting thing to

Me is you can learn within weeks like How to actually operate this thing and I I planed to and I hope to do go through The training actually well I love this Disappointed that it only has a range of About 20 mi and it costs $200,000 but I'm hoping that in time the range will Go up and the price will come down and Then we can all have them and we can Jump around like proverbial hugs it Sounds like a lot of fun now ha we've Talked about generative AI inside of CES We have talked about little airplanes We've talked about Bane style masks you Also wrote about something called Serenity trying to help people avoid Falls or at least detect them when they Happen well the ARP always has a big Stand right and they highlight a lot of Tech for uh aimed at older people and You know as people are aging and the Amount of nursing staff that exists Technology is part of the solution I Think as far as Serenity goes it's Actually a radar system that you put in Your house and then can look through Walls to see it learns how you move Around a building it can keep track of Two people it keeps track of them Separately so somehow it knows who is Who by how they move it can actually do Um respiration rate and heart rate Measuring via radar through walls I mean Sounds borderline creepy to me but at

Least it's less creepy than a camera Right if you cover your house in cameras Then you lose all privacy the the Interesting thing is so this thing is Out there they have a partnership with Alarm.com and and the CEO hinted that They're about to churn out half a Million of them so they're doing like There's going to be a lot of them around I also spoke to another startup uh based Out of France who is doing the same Stuff with basically smart sockets so They use the existing Wi-Fi signal Instead of radar And uses Wi-Fi as radar so that becomes Really interesting right so this device Is 20 bucks a month as a subscription You get a device for free two or three Of them covers a whole house and then You can actually track uh do fall Detection and all that kind of stuff Without any additional real Active Radar Technology in your house so I think the Whole idea basically is to make people More independent for longer and I think That's a really beautiful use of Technology I'm really glad you wrote About this as you some of you already Probably know my mother is elderly she's Almost 90 she lives with us so falling Is a huge huge issue and unfortunately She's Fallen about three times in the Past 4 and a half years since she lives With us this sort of Technology may not

Be as crucial but for the elderly that Do not have live with family or live Alone or even if they do live with Family just being able to have that kind Of Technology cuz what if for example She fell going to the restroom at night And I didn't know you know so anyway I'm I'm excited about this I love that it Doesn't feel like such an invasion of Privacy and like you said it really it Really warms my heart when we see things That have very real world implications Really just to help help people and not Just like Cool Tech that doesn't Necessarily like improve anyone's life In a mean meaningful way absolutely yeah Before we let you guys go I'm curious About the overall startup picture that's Forming there where are these companies Coming from is there any kind of Unifying theme behind them Kiren well of Course as you know I spend most of my Time in the transportation world so it's Very sort of narrow even though it's Still hundreds of companies in the main Halls of the convention center where I've spent a lot of time where most of The sort of mid-tier to very very large Companies interesting themes were this Autonomous vehicle Tech that was very Whizbang is now all about the companies That are highlighting it are in mining In agriculture industry it feels more Real applications so one of the largest

Boosts was John Deere or kend HD so we Saw a big presence in terms of that less Whizbang although in the whizbang Category we still did see some EV tolls A lot of tech from China a lot of uh Tech from Korea Hundai had pretty big Show as well as it's other company Kia So I felt like in the transportation World pretty much every geography was Represented but definitely a lot from Asia on the startup front it was a Pretty fair mix still did encounter Quite a few Chinese companies and there Was the Bay Area startups there but Harder to find in the big Halls did find Them but not as many and that makes Sense because these boosts are Incredibly expensive but I'd be curious To hear what high has to say because he Spent uh a lot lot of time in I don't Know if it's the drgs of the startup World but a place called Eureka Park Where there are thousands of startups Yeah Eureka Park is my favorite part of CES it's where it's where dreams go to Uh potentially die but there's lots of Hopes there's lots of hopes the Eureka Park is basically where all the startups Are there's a lot of international Pavilions so there was a huge Hong Kong And Taiwan and China and Poland and Ukraine and Holland and France and all These countries like the the government Hires out hires out this huge part of

The show floor and then invites startups Along uh as a way to kind of promote Their startups internationally and that Kind of thing so it's kind of hard to Get a a fix on geographically what was Going on I did go looking to see if I Could find a single Russian startup but For obvious reasons that wasn't Happening not a huge shock there not a Huge shock but it was curious right like It isn't impossible but that I couldn't Find any but yeah I think the overall Trend is like like there's a big Difference I feel between the US and Europe in a very important way which is That climate change and sustainability Is on everybody's breath all the time Non-stop I think part of the reason for That is actually the conflict in the Ukraine because a lot of the oil and gas From Russia got shut off right yes and So what happens is that the electricity Price and the gas price fluctuates Extremely throughout the day and as a Result people are much more conscious Like it touches your wallet day in day Out and so a lot of the tech actually Touched on that in various ways it's Like how do you make sure heaters are on Hot when the electricity is a little bit Cheaper and so ways of optimizing that And as a result of course you have a lot Of conversations and a lot of tech That's coming out AI or not related to

How to balance your fuel consumption and All that kind of stuff and so I think It's much more at the Forefront of the Mind because it's there all the time This is just making me so sad I I just Wish I was there I would love to walk Around e r Park and just like talk to Everybody I ah I I almost miss it I can See how jealous you are Alex I can see It Kristen ha thank you so much for your Time please don't get covid be safe Hydrate buy a humidifier and we will see You when you guys are back from CS thank You guys have fun bye cheers and that is A wrap Maran I am so glad that you and I Are at home and not in Vegas because it Means we can do lots more podcasting for Our friends and yes we are back on Tuesday and Wednesday and Friday of next Week due to an American holiday on Monday but Maryann has a special treat Coming for you this Saturday Maryann What is coming well I had a wonderful Conv ation with preed investor Jenny Fielding and if I do say so myself it Was really engaging she had a lot of Interesting things to say definitely Look out for it yeah Jenny is brilliant So look for that in your podcasting app Of choice and then Equity will be back On Tuesday with our kickoff Wednesday With our startup rundown and then of Course Friday with our round table on All things startup Adventure Capital

News in the meantime we are Equity pond On X and threads two sister shows found In Chain Reaction give him a listen We'll talk to you later goodbye bye Equity is hosted by myself editorinchief Of Tech runch Plus Alex Wilhelm and Tech Runch senior reporter Mary an aeto we Are produced by Teresa loans solo with Editing by Kell Bryce Durban is our Illustrator and a big thank you to the Audience development team and Henry Pette who manages Tech runch audio Products thank you so much for listening And we'll talk to you next Time