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The Daily Pitch: VC

April 6, 2023

The Daily Pitch is powered by PitchBook’s industry-defining research and best-in-class data

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Today's Top Stories

VC says good riddance to a chaotic Q1

For the venture capital industry, March was far more lion than lamb. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank wreaked havoc across the ecosystem, even if the worst-case outcomes were largely avoided.

As VC looks to reset, all eyes are on a frigid exit market that has drained liquidity for investors. VC-backed companies recorded just $5.8 billion in exits during Q1—less than 1% of the record exit value generated in 2021. The exit route has stopped the normal flow of capital, causing both late-stage deal activity and fundraising to take a nosedive.

The first look at our upcoming PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor has the data on deals, exits and fundraising for the year. The full report, sponsored by Insperity, J.P. Morgan and Dentons, will be released April 13.

read it now

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US VC fundraising screeches to a halt

(OrelPhoto/Shutterstock)

Managers attempting to raise new funds are feeling the burn from the startup industry's exit slowdown.

With LPs' capital tied up in late-stage unicorns, GPs are left with few places to turn. Established firms and those with a differentiated approach are likely to have an easier time garnering commitments.

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A message from Ansarada

Dealmakers face growing due-diligence scrutiny this year

Ansarada has released their 2023 Deal Indicators report to give dealmakers valuable insights into the trends driving deal activity. Derived from Ansarada's Data Rooms, the data provides an accurate picture of the current environment and the trends emerging over the next six to nine months.

The report highlights the importance of ESG due diligence in the current business landscape; the shift toward sustainable deals is one of several factors that will extend the due-diligence scope in the coming months, leading dealmakers to adopt a cautious approach.

Deal Indicators reveal a 36% decrease in global M&A deals and a 17% decrease in capital raises last quarter. Find detailed insights on deal durations, transaction types, and industry breakdowns in the full report.

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Corrections

Readers who looked at the Q1 2023 Mobility Tech Public Comp Sheet and Valuation Guide promoted in yesterday's newsletter received some incorrect data. The report was reuploaded on April 5, 2023, to update data points on pages 3 through 13. You can view the report here.

Ag biotech stocks thrive, while other agtech sectors need more time to sprout

The public markets are rebounding, but agtech companies have largely failed to capture the same momentum. Due to mounting cashflow challenges and a difficult economic environment, indoor farming share prices dropped even as the Nasdaq composite rose.

Conversely, the animal biotech segment fared much better. Mean stock prices grew modestly in Q1 2023, while gross profit margins averaged 53% in 2022. An overall outperformance of ag biotech stocks follows 2022's VC investment enthusiasm for biotech startups.

Our Q1 2023 Agtech Public Comp Sheet and Valuation Guide has the latest data on stock performance, revenue forecasts and market caps of key publicly traded companies. This quarter's guide also includes new data on our new gross income metric, which shows standout companies representing the precision agriculture, animal agriculture and animal biotech sectors.

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IPO indexes give up some early-year gains

(Drew Sanders/PitchBook News)

Newly public companies had a mixed stock market performance in March, according to a suite of indexes created by PitchBook and Morningstar, as markets balanced a banking crisis with the relatively strong showing by tech stocks.

Formerly PE- or VC-backed companies fared better than those that went public through blank-check deals. Companies that merged with SPACs have been involved in a string of bankruptcies and sales at deeply discounted valuations this year.

The VC-backed IPO index has risen 15.8% this year, while the PE-backed IPO index is up 14.3%. Both have outperformed the S&P 500, which has climbed nearly 7%.

The PitchBook DeSPAC Index gave up much of its January gains, falling for two consecutive months. It has risen 6.5% this year.

explore the indexes

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Recommended Reads

What the world's hottest MBA courses reveal about 21st-century business. [The Economist]

Quant strategies: Systematic credit can shrink drawdowns and help investors hit the "liquidity jackpot." [Institutional Investor]

The "SPAC king" warns the Federal Reserve's end to its zero-interest-rate policy could daze tech startups that had been hooked on cheap money. [Fortune]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

15

VC valuations

2152

People

591

Companies

36

Funds

See what our data software can do

The Daily Benchmark:
2010 Vintage Global Debt Funds

Median IRR

10.23%

Top Quartile IRR

14.91%

1.41x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Lone Star Fund VII

Stone Tower Structured Credit Recovery Fund

Avante Mezzanine Partners SBIC

*IRR: net of fees

43 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Messaging startup LayerZero Labs has raised a $120 million Series B from investors including a16z crypto, Lightspeed and Samsung Next. The startup is now valued at $3 billion.

LED display developer Mojo Vision has raised a $22.4 million Series A led by NEA and Khosla Ventures.

Toronto-based on-demand health treatment startup Felix has raised a C$18 million (about $13 million) Series B led by BDC Capital.

Finanzguru, a Frankfurt-based digital financial adviser, has secured €13 million in a round led by SCOR Ventures and PayPal Ventures.

Munich-based smart thermostat startup Tado has added €12 million to a previous funding round, bringing the total to €55 million. Investors in the round included S2G Ventures, Kiko Ventures and Bayern Kapital.

Marketing startup Hype (formerly known as Pico) has raised a $10 million Series A led by King River Capital.

Dutch circular waste management platform Seenons has raised €10 million from investors including Shamrock Ventures and Swiss Post.

Clue, which offers a period tracking app, has raised €7 million in a round led by Balderton Capital and Union Square Ventures.

Magnotherm, a German developer of magnetic cooling technology, has closed a €6.3 million seed round. Investors included Extantia and Revent.

Copenhagen-based Teton.ai has raised $5.3 million in a round led by Plural Platform. The startup is building an AI companion for nurses.

PE Deals

Apollo Global Management and others are interested in buying UK-based telecommunications company Vodafone's operations in Spain, which could be worth $4 billion, Bloomberg reported. The company is not running any official sale process.

Apollo Global Management has made a fourth and final offer for UK-listed engineering company John Wood Group. This latest bid values the company at $2.3 billion.

TPG has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Elite, which automates and streamlines workflows for law firms, from Thomson Reuters in a deal valuing the business at $500 million.

Aurelius has agreed to buy LSG Group, the catering unit of German airline Lufthansa. The carrier sold its LSG Sky Chefs division to Gategroup in 2019 and is looking to focus on its core activities.

Capdesia plans to partner with Tokyo-listed restaurant chain Toridoll in a bid to buy Fulham Shore, the owner of UK pizza franchise Franco Manca. The offer values the company at £93.4 million.

Audax Group has acquired Krayden from Quad-C Management. Denver-based Krayden distributes specialty materials to original equipment manufacturers that serve aerospace, defense, industrial and electronics companies.

Mill Rock Capital has acquired Asbury Carbons, a graphite and coke processor and supplier founded in 1895, from its founding family and the company's employee stock ownership plan.

Through recapitalization, Blue Point Capital Partners has acquired Europa Eyewear, an independent eyewear designer and manufacturer founded in 1977.

Exit & IPOs

NGP Energy Capital Management is looking into selling Tap Rock Resources and Hibernia Resources, which together could fetch more than $7 billion, Reuters reported. Both upstream oil and gas companies are focused on the Permian Basin.

Corporate M&A

UK-listed betting company Entain has acquired Israeli sports media business 365scores for $150 million and contingent payments of up to $10 million.

Apparel Brands has acquired UK-based streetwear brand Nicce.

Chart of the Day

Source: Exploring European Buyout Multiples

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PitchBook News - No exit for VC

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