Alternative Investing Report - August 21, 2024

_{*as of market close Aug 20}

New York Times-owned sports journalism website the Athletic is adding a new collectibles vertical, which will focus on the sports trading card and memorabilia market. It is part of a multi-year exclusive partnership with eBay, so readers will be able to browse and buy items relevant to the stories covered. This puts it in direct competition with the Darren Rovell-led collectibles media company CLLCT, which raised $4 million and launched in April.

➨ TAKEAWAY: While the collectibles market is no longer at its pandemic-era highs, it is clear that there is mainstream demand for more media coverage. The Athletic’s partnership with eBay will likely grow the market further, as people previously unfamiliar with the collectibles world see more headlines and can seamlessly buy items.

While 16% of U.S. startups are founded by people under 30, a disproportionately high 35% of all founders of businesses worth over $1 billion (“unicorns”) are younger than 30, according to research from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Founders between the ages of 30 and 39 are also overrepresented among unicorns, showing a clear trend that younger founders are more likely to hit big.

➨ TAKEAWAY: While it is unclear exactly why younger founders build more unicorns, one theory is that younger founders are more likely to take big swings and take on higher-risk, higher-reward ventures. In any case, perhaps investors should peruse the Forbes 30 under 30 from last year to scout who could be the next unicorn founders.

In the latest episode of Smart Humans, Slava Rubin talks with Frec CEO and Founder Mo Al Adham about direct indexing and tax loss harvesting and how investors can benefit from those strategies.

🪙 SEC rejects Solana ETFs: While Brazil approved a second ETF for the 5th largest cryptocurrency by market value, two applications in the U.S. seem to have been rejected by the SEC, as the expected filings were never posted on its website.

🏡 Sonder + Marriott: The short-term rental platform Sonder, with over 9,000 rooms worldwide, entered into a 20-year long partnership with Marriott to brand their rooms under the Marriott Bonvoy banner. The agreement contains a much needed injection of liquidity for Sonder, whose market cap has dropped from $2.3 billion to $29 million, and it brings Marriott into the short-term rental world.

🚀 Defense tech is booming: Led by VC giants a16z, Founders Fund and General Catalyst, defense tech startups like Anduril have already raised $2.5 billion in 2024, beating out last year’s total of $2.1 billion, and heading towards a new record-high.

🏡 Greystar expands into infrastructure: The largest apartment manager in the U.S., which operates $320 billion of real estate globally, is expanding into the industrial real estate world, eyeing data centers, logistics hubs and clean power facilities.

🎨 LGBTQ+ Art Auction: Tomorrow, Swann Galleries opens its latest auction, with items from artists such as Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, as a previously underserved subculture gets more exposure.

🏀 Bezos eyeing Celtics?: The Amazon founder has been rumored to be interested in the iconic NBA franchise that is likely to sell for over $6 billion, but later reports suggested that he is not planning to bid.

Coin: Aave (AAVE)
Price: $132.59
Price change last 7 days: +36.6%

The decentralized crypto lending platform Aave set a new high for weekly active borrowers of 40,000 to move past its previous high set in late 2022. As a result, its native token has seen a surge in price, and with the entire DeFi ecosystem on the rise, it is not a surprise that it has outperformed the market in the past week.