Time - USA (2022-04-11)

73

SONDER

READY FOR DEPARTURE

As the travel and hospitality industry

seeks to rebound post-Omicron,

Sonder, a tech-forward short-term rental

provider that leases and manages

18,100 units in 35 cities across 10

countries, stands to take off. Guests

of the uniquely designed, locally

inspired spaces manage their entire

stay through the company’s app, from

booking to check-in, fresh towels to

dinner reservations. “Sonder is building

the hospitality brand of tomorrow,” says

CEO and co-founder Francis Davidson.

Sonder made its debut on the Nasdaq

and secured $400 million in new capital

last year, and it increased revenue by

more than 150% in each of its last

three quarters. —Jared Lindzon

THE PINKFONG COMPANY

THE EARWORM MACHINE

“Baby Shark,” which this January became

the i rst YouTube video to be viewed

more than 10 billion times, is more than

just a catchy song—it’s a big business

for its creator, South Korea’s Pinkfong

Company. Paramount announced in

February that a feature-lengthBaby Shark

movie is in the works, and an animated

series for preschoolers that launched on

Nickelodeon last spring is now headed into

Season 2. The company has also started

selling Baby Shark NFTs, expanding

its merchandising efforts into the digital

realm. —Chad de Guzman

TOO GOOD TO GO

Reducing food waste

As much as a third of the world’s food—accounting

for up to 10% of global greenhouse emissions—is

discarded every year, even as millions go hungry.

Too Good To Go and CEO Mette Lykke aim to slash

that number by enabling their 54 million app users

in 17 countries to order unsold or soon-to-expire

food from grocery stores and restaurants for a third

of the usual cost. The company’s success—it has

saved 124 million meals from landfills since 2016,

and revenue jumped 87%, to $73.6 million, last

year—also underscores the struggle many people

face to afford basic necessities.

—Juliette Pearse

STARRY

Cheaper broadband

The U.S. has made strides in

closing the broadband gap,

but millions still lack adequate

home internet access

because of high costs, credit

requirements, and more. A

potential solution from home-

wireless startup Starry and

CEO Chet Kanojia: Starry

Connect, an affordable

offering for low-income city

residents. More than 55,000

public and affordable housing

units in Boston, New York

City, Denver, and elsewhere

have access, no credit checks

are required, and federal

subsidies can cover the cost.

—Alex Fitzpatrick

CHET KANOJIA

METTE LYKKE

CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX

TECHNOLOGY CO. LTD. (CATL)

BRILLIANT BATTERIES

Amid concerns that the limited

supply of raw materials like lithium

needed to produce EV batteries

won’t be able to meet rising demand,

Chinese battery behemoth CATL in

July unveiled a sodium-ion battery,

the material for which can be

cheaply extracted from seawater.

The company, which is the world’s

largest supplier of EV batteries and

works with automakers like Tesla and

Volkswagen, plans to begin mass

production by 2023. —Amy Gunia

COURTESY OPIBUS; GOODRX: ILLUSTRATION BY LAURIE AVON FOR TIME; COUR

TESY TOO GOOD TO GO; STARRY: JESSICA RINALDI—THE BOSTON GLOB

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