Futuristic, the adjective, means “having or involving very modern technology or design.” The term was once used to describe how the world would be centuries down the road. Yet, we now find ourselves living right in the midst of futuristic times. As with many areas that revolutionize along with technological advances, the term, futuristic, has become a staple in the area of market research methodologies. Indeed, 2014 has never seen more opportunity for analysis of data. The total global amount of data is now estimated at approximately 4 zettabytes, with a zettabyte being 1000^7th bytes. As such, techniques for managing analysis of this massive global population of data must dynamically evolve as well.

Cord blood banking is a profitable and rapidly growing industry. Ten years ago, there were only 23 cord blood banks worldwide; now, there are nearly 500, a 21-fold increase (2,100%) in the companies involved in the industry over the past decade. This rate of growth has generated enormous interest in the industry from venture capital funds, investment banks, and even individual investors, including Richard Branson—the billionaire business magnate and investor who now owns the Virgin Health Bank as one of his portfolio companies.

The key metrics, among others, that investors must know in order to profit from the cord blood banking sector are the current and historical market penetration rates. As the global leader in cord blood industry data, BioInformant was recently asked by the Wall Street Journal (a major U.S. news outlet) to provide data on market penetration rates for U.S. private cord blood banking since 2004, a 10-year historical analysis. Because this is a powerful question and the answer reveals critical market data, BioInformant is also sharing the findings with our readers.

Let’s dig into the numbers…