A Sector-by-Sector Look at 2024’s Online Startup Deal Flow

CHART OF THE WEEK 📈

By Léa Bouhelier-Gautreau | Read

If you're a frequent startup investor, you've probably noticed that some industries are more active than others when it comes to online deals. Access to investment opportunities across a wide range of sectors is key to building a diversified portfolio that aligns with your investment thesis. To help visualize the landscape of online startup deals in 2024, we created an interactive chart. It highlights the number of equity deals available per industry and shows which platforms featured the most activity in each sector.

Simply hover over the chart to explore the data in more detail in the fully story HERE.

Have a suggestion for a data story you’d like us to look into? Submit by replying to this email

KINGSCROWD PODCAST

By Sam Fiske / Watch | Apple | Spotify

What Investors Love in 2025: Top Platforms and Key Industries
Explore which industries—like healthcare, food and beverage, and consumer goods—are currently driving equity crowdfunding growth. Plus, get insights into our latest platform ratings and a comprehensive review of the meal delivery startup Vegetable + Butcher.

PITCH REVIEW 💸

By Léa Bouhelier-Gautreau \ Deal Report

Brief: Yarnhub Animation Studios is an entertainment company bringing military history to life through high-quality 3D animated films. Its YouTube channels attract around 35 million monthly views with cinematic stories of heroism, using game engine technology to make history feel immersive and modern. Now expanding into gaming, Yarnhub is developing Brass Rain, an interactive WWII game that lets fans engage directly with its narratives.

Léa’s Take: With new media come new investment opportunities—have you ever thought about investing in YouTube channels? I hadn’t, until I discovered Yarnhub. Yarnhub produces animated historical war videos on YouTube, telling timeless stories of bravery that resonate with a broad audience. The channel recently hit 35 million views in just one month and has built a viewer base of tens of millions, primarily composed of men across all age groups.

What makes Yarnhub particularly interesting as an investment opportunity is its plan to evolve beyond video content. The company aims to use its storytelling expertise and engaged audience to develop a free-to-play video game. With its channels already breaking even, Yarnhub has a built-in audience ready to immerse themselves more deeply in the worlds it creates. That’s a major advantage compared to most new game studios, which typically need to spend heavily on marketing just to get noticed and convince people to try their games.

Surprisingly, I find myself liking this opportunity, though I’m also aware of the risks. Developing a game will require at least $2 million in capital, and even with a strong audience, success is far from guaranteed. The company, while fairly valued for a gaming venture, feels slightly overpriced if viewed purely as a media business. Ultimately, investor returns will depend on the success of the game in a highly competitive market, Yarnhub’s ability to sustain audience growth, and whether the business can scale enough to position itself for a strong exit.

In this educational session, EquityMultiple’s Daniel Brereton joined Kingscrowd CEO Chris Lustrino to explain why commercial real estate debt is offering attractive 10–12% yields right now. They broke down the private credit opportunity, how EquityMultiple structures its Ascent Income Fund, and what sets their approach apart from traditional real estate crowdfunding.

STAFF PICKS 🌶️

AsyncHealth

By Teddy Lyons

AsyncHealth's lifelike AI-doctors have been used by 550 patients across 3 clinical trials. Although clinical study patients have reported 84% satisfaction rates, are AI-doctor visits still too weird to catch on?

FinEV

By Léa Bouhelier-Gautreau

EVs can be highly beneficial for small businesses. Some models can be cheaper to run and fit with some SMB's mission. But financing them can be tough. FinEV is specializing in solving this problem, with banks already interested in offering lines of credit. Still, the company is still early, valued quite highly, and could be affected by potential cuts in federal EV tax credits.

ConsumerDirect

By Teddy Lyons

A KC Capital portfolio company, ConsumerDirect is raising at a 3.3X markup from its 2024 round. The company is also planning to go public later this year. So, why are they raising a last minute Reg CF round?

Enjoyed this newsletter? Forward it to an investing-minded friend and have them signup here.