PitchBook News - SoftBank eyes $10B for ailing companies

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The Daily Pitch: VC

March 20, 2020

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Today's Top Stories

SoftBank seeks $10B to prop up Vision Fund portfolio

SoftBank is in talks to raise $10 billion to assist Vision Fund portfolio companies that are hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as to fund acquisitions, according to Bloomberg. Half of the money would come from outside investors and the rest from SoftBank.

Several prominent portfolio companies—including hotel chain Oyo, foodtech startup Zume and car subscription company Fair—underwent significant layoffs before the coronavirus became a global catastrophe. SoftBank's stock has fallen more than 40% this month, as investors fret about the state of portfolio companies and the firm's debt load.

At the end of last year, the Japanese investor had deployed three-quarters of the nearly $100 billion Vision Fund. The firm has yet to make significant headway on plans for its second Vision Fund.

More coronavirus news: Continuing coverage from PitchBook

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Wellness tech aims at corporate market

Rising healthcare costs, increased focus on preventive care and the growing geriatric population are driving demand for solutions from wellness tech startups, according to PitchBook's latest Emerging Tech Research report.
Key highlights:

VC funding totaled $2.6 billion across 632 deals last year following a decade-high of $3.9 billion in 2018.
Startups increasingly target corporations and market themselves as workplace wellness providers.
More wellness companies that traditionally sold directly to consumers are seeking FDA approval in hopes of gaining coverage from insurance providers.
If you have any questions or feedback about the research, we'd love to hear from you: analystresearch@pitchbook.com

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A Message from Lincoln International

Getting from A to B: A roadmap to freight forwarding

2019 brought challenges for the freight forwarding space as trade tensions between the US and China precipitated weaker year-over-year performance. As the trade war has cooled, a new decade has brought the exponential spread of COVID-19 across the globe, infusing the logistics space with uncertainty as manufacturing has slowed or halted in hard-hit regions and international travel has been restricted. Yet the disease has brought unprecedented demand for the timely restocking of household and medical resources around the globe as many shelter in place and hospitals treat beyond their capacity.

Global investment bank and advisory firm Lincoln International unpacks the fragmentation of the market and trend toward global consolidation, as well as how tech disruptors are poised to shake up the freight forwarding space by bringing rate discovery, clear price transparency and track-and-trace for containers to a previously opaque industry.

To read this and other perspectives from Lincoln, click here.

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Scopely adds $200M to Series D as mobile gaming surges in popularity

(Carol Yepes/Moment/Getty Images)

Mobile game developer Scopely announced on Thursday that it has secured an additional $200 million for its ongoing Series D. The new funding, which came from Advance and The Chernin Group, brings the round's total to $400 million. Founded in 2011, the Culver City, Calif.-based company landed an initial $200 million in Series D funding last October at a reported valuation of $1.7 billion. Scopely had previously raised $160 million in 2018 at a $710 million valuation, according to PitchBook data.

As public health officials across the world mandate social distancing, several entertainment providers have reportedly posted record levels of engagement as a result of people opting to stay home. The gaming industry could also stand to benefit from consumer dollars that have been freed up due to a lack of dining out, as well as cancelled vacations and events, according to a recent report by investment banking and research firm Cowen.

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Weekly VC Recap

Some highlights from our recent content:

• Telemedicine may be key in reducing the strain on the healthcare system amid the coronavirus outbreak.

• News broke this week that SoftBank may be backing out of part of a $9.5 billion bailout package it promised WeWork last fall.

• As worries related to the coronavirus pandemic worsen, mental health startups in the US are rising to the challenge by offering new services.

Motorists travel on Interstate 8 in San Diego as a sign encourages hand washing on March 15. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images North America)

• Even prior to the recent hit to the travel industry, Airbnb was recording steep losses.

• Blue Apron saw a phenomenal surge in its stock price this week. Has the meal-kit company found an unexpected boon in a society where no one is leaving their homes?

• As rival Beyond Meat's stock continues to tumble, Impossible Foods raised $500 million in new financing, bringing its valuation to a reported $4 billion.

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Recommended Reads

The world needs more ventilators. But without major changes, it might be some time before medical device manufacturers can make a real dent in the demand. [MIT Technology Review]

Chief executive Stewart Butterfield dives into the details of Slack's new look. [Protocol]

Sometimes, cheating in chess is a high-tech affair. Sometimes, it involves yogurt. [The New York Times]

Earlier this week, Impossible Foods confirmed $500 million in new funding while its CEO was working out of his children's old bedroom. [The Wall Street Journal]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

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Today's Headlines


	The Daily Benchmark
	2007 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds
	VC Deals
	Insight Partners leads $100M round for UserTesting
	Ada picks up $44M
	AI-based recruiting startup brings in $18M+ Series C
	Quantum Machines reels in $17.5M
	Portfolio Companies
	OneWeb weighs possible bankruptcy filing
	Exits
	VideoAmp picks up Conversion Logic

The Daily Benchmark

2007 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds

Median IRR

7.80%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

8.00%

1.38x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Vintage Ventures III

W Capital Partners Fund II

Pomona Capital VII

*IRR: net of fees

9 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Insight Partners leads $100M round for UserTesting

UserTesting, the provider of a customer experience platform, has raised $100 million in a round led by Insight Partners. Existing investors Accel, OpenView and Greenspring also participated in the funding. The San Francisco-based company was valued at $272 million in February 2019, according to PitchBook data.

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Ada picks up $44M

Ada has raised a $44 million Series B led by Accel, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, FirstMark, Version One, Leaders Fund and Burst Capital. The Toronto-based company is the developer of a chatbot platform designed to help companies including Zoom and Shopify automate customer support operations. Ada raised a $19 million Series A in 2018.

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AI-based recruiting startup brings in $18M+ Series C

Mya Systems has raised $18.75 million in a Series C led by Notion Capital, with participation from existing backers Foundation Capital, Cisco Investments, Emergence Capital and Workday Ventures. Founded in 2012, the San Francisco-based company is the developer of an AI-based recruitment platform designed to help companies automate HR operations such as applicant sourcing and screening.

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Quantum Machines reels in $17.5M

Tel Aviv-based Quantum Machines has raised a $17.5 million Series A to fund a hardware and software platform that aims to make quantum computing more accessible to researchers and development teams. Investors including Harel Insurance Investments led the round, with participation from existing investors TLV Partners and Battery Ventures. Quantum Machines landed a $5.5 million seed round in 2018.

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Portfolio Companies

OneWeb weighs possible bankruptcy filing

SoftBank-backed OneWeb is considering a possible bankruptcy filing as it runs out of money, according to Bloomberg. The London-based company is developing a network of satellites to deliver global high-speed internet, putting it into competition with SpaceX's Starlink system and Amazon's Project Kuiper. OneWeb has raised more than $4 billion from SoftBank, Coca-Cola, Virgin and Qualcomm Ventures.

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Exits

VideoAmp picks up Conversion Logic

VideoAmp has acquired Conversion Logic, which offers a marketing-measurement platform to optimize sales. Backed by investors including Lerer Hippeau, Pelion Venture Partners and Bonfire Ventures, Conversion Logic was valued at $23.2 million in 2017, according to PitchBook data.

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Chart of the Day

"In general, PE mega-funds ($5 billion+) look to be taking the next step toward dominating PE fundraising. In 2019, 15 mega-funds closed on a total of $162.2 billion, which accounted for 53.8% of total capital raised—the first year since 2007 in which $5 billion+ vehicles accounted for the bulk of capital raised."

Source: PitchBook's 2019 Annual US PE Breakdown