Solution: Trip Finances

Answer: CAPITAL EQUIPMENT

Written by Tan Chor Kiang

Solvers might find that these ponies’ “money making schemes” sound like actual businesses. Using the descriptions of these schemes and/or solving the rebuses displayed on the “cutie marks” of these ponies will allow solvers to identify the actual companies which each pony represents. The ponies’ mane colours also serve as secondary confirmation, as they correspond to the colour scheme of the companies’ logos.

The companies are listed in alphabetical order:
1Password
Carousell
Gorillas
Grammarly
Hopin
Instacart
SWORD Health

These companies are actually unicorn startups (startups whose valuation is above US$1 billion) - the “My Little Pony” theme of the puzzle being a further nod to their “unicorn” status. These unicorns are linked to money bags, which represent their sources of financing - in the startup world, these are their investors, venture capital firms.

There are various startup databases that document the startups’ investors, such as dealroom.co. Using such databases, solvers can identify the corresponding investors linked to the unicorns.

They are again listed in alphabetical order:
Accel
Coatue Management
General Catalyst
Institutional Venture Partners
Khosla Ventures
Sequoia Capital
Tiger Global Management

Extracting the relevant letters from the investors, solvers will then arrive at the thematic answer, CAPITAL EQUIPMENT.

Over the past few years, I have been supporting startups in my line of work. I always felt that many startups have interesting names and business models, which provides good material to base a puzzle on. The huge unicorn plush toy on display in my office then further serves as the motivation for the “My Little Pony” theming of this puzzle.