PitchBook News - SoftBank exodus grows

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The Daily Pitch: VC

September 30, 2022

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In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find:

SoftBank's Vision Fund unit is set to cut 30% of its staff, adding to the ongoing exodus at the firm.

VC funding for internet-of-things startups in Q2 fell to its lowest quarterly level in three years.

Porsche has debuted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in one of Europe's largest IPOs ever.

Today's Top Stories

SoftBank Vision Fund staffing cuts add to ongoing exodus

(Chloe Ladwig/PitchBook News)

SoftBank's Vision Fund unit is set to cut around 150 people, or 30% of its staff, according to a source familiar with the decision. CEO Masayoshi Son made it clear in August that layoffs were coming, following two quarters of steep losses at the firm.

Prior to the cuts, the Vision Fund experienced a string of executive departures that eroded much of the leadership surrounding Son.

A PitchBook analysis found that the Vision Fund has lost around half its leaders in the years following WeWork's failed IPO in 2019. Most of the board have also turned over, including several members who had advised the firm for more than a decade.

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VC funding for IoT fades in H1

VC funding for the internet-of-things market cooled in the first half of 2022 amid challenging economic conditions. The IoT sector's reliance on global supply chains and cyclical industries such as manufacturing may leave it relatively more vulnerable to economic uncertainty, but the shift to connected cars continues to drive investment in the space.

Our latest Emerging Tech Research update explores VC trends in the IoT vertical and highlights emerging opportunities in connectivity management, software-defined vehicles and wireless power. The report also includes a market map of the industry's subsegments, from smart homes to healthcare and IoT security, and takes a closer look at companies such as Ambiq and Uptake. Other takeaways include:

Global IoT startups brought in $2.8 billion in venture funding in Q2—a 57% decline from the record first quarter and the lowest deal value since Q4 2019.

Disclosed VC exit values have all but evaporated, with only $119 million recorded in Q2.

The IPO pipeline for IoT security specialists may not open until 2023, and the category continues to face consolidation via M&A.

read the preview

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A message from Citizens

5 reasons to go private: could your company benefit?

Against a backdrop of headwinds in the equity markets and plentiful capital, private equity funds and other investors may see attractive valuations as an opportunity to acquire select public companies and take them private. Middle-market companies could see a wave of go-privates among peers and competitors.

To help understand these dynamics and decide what's best for your company, our new article discusses:

5 reasons why public companies go private
The 4% bonus for privatization
3 actions for stakeholders at publicly traded middle-market companies to consider

Why companies go private

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Porsche goes public in landmark IPO

Porsche CEO Oliver Blume, right, and board member Lutz Meschke at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
(Daniel Roland/Getty Images)

Porsche has debuted on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in one of Europe's largest IPOs to date, pricing its shares at the top of its expected range and reaching a market cap of more than $75 billion.

The listing is a bright spot in an otherwise grim landscape, as IPOs have plummeted in Europe to the lowest levels in a decade.

Recommended Reads

How angel investing has become a casual pastime for Silicon Valley's ultrarich. [Bloomberg]

Why companies are paying huge sums of money to show their ads to bots. [Wired]

Past performance metrics have a greater impact on Black- and Latino-owned private capital funds than on their white-owned peers. [Institutional Investor]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

13

VC valuations

1782

People

497

Companies

33

Funds

See what our data software can do

Quick Takes

	The Daily Benchmark
	2012 Vintage Global Debt Funds
	VC Deals
	Business planning platform Pigment lands $65M
	Workstream adds $60M to Series B
	Ox exits stealth with $34M
	Airplane brings home $32M
	Femtech startup Delphinus raises $30M
	Path bottles up $30M Series A
	Noodle.ai nabs $25M

The Daily Benchmark

2012 Vintage Global Debt Funds

Median IRR

7.30%

Top Quartile IRR

9.91%

1.29x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Central Valley Fund II

Cerberus Institutional Partners V

Sullivan Debt Fund

*IRR: net of fees

51 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Business planning platform Pigment lands $65M

Paris-based Pigment has raised $65 million in a round led by Meritech and IVP. The startup offers a business planning and forecasting platform.

View round

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Workstream adds $60M to Series B

Workstream has raised $60 million in a round led by GGV Capital, bringing the total Series B financing to $108 million. The company is the developer of a hiring and onboarding platform.

View round

View 70 competitors »

Ox exits stealth with $34M

Ox Security has emerged from stealth and raised $34 million led by Evolution Equity Partners, Team8 and M12. Ox is the developer of a supply chain security platform.

View details

View similar company »

Airplane brings home $32M

Developer infrastructure startup Airplane has raised $32 million in a Series B led by Thrive Capital.

View round

View similar company »

Femtech startup Delphinus raises $30M

Delphinus Medical Technologies has raised a $30 million Series D from backers including Arboretum Ventures, Beringea and North Coast Technology Investors. The company's ultrasound technology is used to screen for breast cancer in individuals with dense breast tissue.

View round

View 6 competitors »

Path bottles up $30M Series A

Path, a producer of bottled water in recyclable aluminum, has raised $30 million in a round led by Altos Ventures, and joined by investors including comedian Kevin Hart's Hartbeat Ventures, Ryan Seacrest and Guy Fieri.

View round

View similar company »

Noodle.ai nabs $25M

Noodle.ai, which offers a supply chain intelligence platform, has raised a $25 million Series C from investors including ServiceNow Ventures and Honeywell Ventures. The new capital brings the company's total funding to more than $100 million.

View details

View 31 investments »

Chart of the Day

"Looking at the historic long-term middle-market exit trend, the slowed exit activity seen in H1 2022 is still on pace to come close to the average exit counts and values, although it is a sharp drop compared with the record-breaking exit activity seen in 2021."

Source: PitchBook's Q2 2022 US PE Middle Market Report

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PitchBook News - SoftBank exodus grows

Older messages

Growth after a down round

Private debt funds raise $82B in H1

Where allocators see opportunities

VC funding for IoT fades

Will startups pivot from IPO to M&A?

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