PitchBook News - B2B fintech's Q1 boost

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The Daily Pitch: VC

April 28, 2023

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

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

Our Q1 2023 Enterprise Fintech Report digs deeper into an apparent rebound in the space.

GPs are investing more money in their own funds, but financing the commitments isn't always easy.

Our latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, now with league tables ranking the industry's most active players.

Today's Top Stories

B2B fintech's Q1 boost

Investors are betting on enterprise fintech, which attracted the bulk of fintech funding in the first quarter. Deal value appeared to rebound in the space, but that was largely due to Stripe raising $6.5 billion.

Across 336 deals, the enterprise fintech market attracted $11.8 billion in investments, according to our latest report on the sector. Excluding Stripe's deal, Q1 saw a 7.6% increase in deal value from the previous quarter. Other takeaways include:

Investors are looking to B2B opportunities, with enterprise fintech capturing nearly 80% of total fintech VC deal value in Q1.

The median deal size was $4.6 million, down 9% from the 2022 median.

Investors are looking for new opportunities in the space: Pay attention to insured sweep networks and know-your-customer orchestration platforms.

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VCs weigh in on Microsoft's bid for Activision Blizzard

(Mara Potter/PitchBook News)

Microsoft's $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard has been blocked by UK regulators. As the tech giant fights the decision, many VC investors are cheering it on.

They argue that consolidation is good, even essential, for an industry comprising many independent studios. They also say the decision focuses too narrowly on the issue of cloud gaming and could lead to a chilling effect on entrepreneurs.

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A message from Deloitte

Resilient dealmaking in work software points to frontier of empowering employees

In 2022, work software hit its second-highest percentage of all expansion-stage deal value on record, at 15%. Dealmakers are plying rapidly growing businesses in this sector to gain exposure as multiple businesses revamp their tech stacks and adopt new tools. In the latest edition of Road to Next, Deloitte reviews survey and PitchBook datasets in depth to explore these trends and more, with key findings including:

How exit prospects for work software companies are faring relative to the broader space
What Deloitte surveys are revealing about trends in employee tool usage and ROI
Analysis of dealmaking across regions paired with the latest trends in remote to hybrid workflow adoption

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Buckle up for insurtech's ride

Insurtech saw huge growth during the pandemic as newly emerging technology startups competed with traditional insurance carriers, but over the last 18 months, the vertical hasn't fared as well.

How bumpy has insurtech's ride been? Our 2023 Insurtech Overview lays it all out.

Insurtech companies raised $9.4 billion across 617 deals in 2022, a 42% decline in deal value year-over-year.

Exit activity also dwindled. Last year, $2.4 billion in exit value was generated, as opposed to $36.6 billion in 2021.

Still, opportunities remain for investors in segments including underwriting and commercial insurance.

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Pressure continues to mount on VC

There is no denying the obvious: Venture capital has gone through a rough couple of months. Just when a difficult exit environment seemed like it couldn't get any worse, the sudden failure of Silicon Valley Bank further rattled investors' confidence. Deal activity dropped in all stages and sectors during the first quarter of 2023, and the fundraising momentum carried from 2021 has evaporated.

But is the outlook really all that pessimistic? The latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, sponsored by Insperity, J.P. Morgan and Dentons, now includes league tables ranking the industry's most active players. The report tells the story behind the data—key takeaways include:

The estimated deal count for Q1 2023 remains above 2020's quarterly figures, despite a drop from Q4 2022.

Fundraising's momentum has all but come to a halt, with only $11.7 billion closed across 99 funds.

Late-stage deal value has plummeted to a 21-quarter low, hitting only $11.6 billion.

Venture growth deal value ticked upward in Q1, influenced heavily by Stripe's $6.5 billion raise. Deal count in the growth stage hit the lowest it has been since Q3 2020.

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Skin in the game: Why GPs are putting more money into their own funds

(kireewong foto/Shutterstock)

PE firms are increasingly investing more of their own capital into their funds in order to align their interests with those of their LPs, with some committing as much as 12.5% of a fund.

But securing the capital to make these commitments isn't always as straightforward as it may seem.

Recommended Reads

Welcome to a new, humbler private equity industry. [The Economist]

In a bid to remain one of fintech's biggest names, Klarna is rethinking its business model—with an assist from ChatGPT. [Fortune]

The climate crisis gives sailing ships a second wind. [The New Yorker]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

12

VC valuations

1973

People

527

Companies

28

Funds

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The Daily Benchmark:
2021 Vintage European Debt Funds

Median IRR

10.10%

Top Quartile IRR

15.80%

0.21x

Median DPI

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ICG Recovery Fund II

Pemberton Strategic Credit Fund II

Hoplon Opportunities Fund I

*IRR: net of fees

14 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Egypt-based discount grocery retailer Kazyon has raised $165 million in a round led by DPI.

Pinecone, a database startup providing long-term memory for AI, has raised a $100 million Series B led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Milan-based Energy Dome, which develops energy storage technology, has closed a €40 million Series B led by Eni Next and Neva.

Cryptocurrency startup Zodia Custody has raised a $36 million Series A led by SBI Holdings, Axios reported.

Biotech startup Therini Bio has raised a $36 million Series A co-led by Dementia Discovery Fund, MRL Ventures Fund, Sanofi Ventures and SV Health Investors.

Pattern Bioscience has raised a $28.7 million Series C led by Illumina Ventures and Omnimed Capital.

Octopus Ventures has led a $23 million Series A for TympaHealth, which specializes in ear and hearing healthcare.

Levitate, which offers a customer relationship management platform, has secured a $14 million growth investment led by Bull City Venture Partners.

M3ter, a metering and pricing engine for SaaS companies, has secured a $14 million Series A led by Notion Capital.

Parcel delivery network Hived has raised a $12.4 million Series A led by Planet A.

Ctrl has raised $9 million in a round led by LocalGlobe and Earlybird. The startup's platform simplifies and automates customer relationship management tasks.

Onin, which offers a calendar keyboard extension for mobile, has secured a £2.75 million seed investment from Octopus Ventures.

Shilling VC has led a €1 million pre-seed round for Reviewpad, which offers a code review automation platform.

Don't miss our upcoming webinar

This webinar examines the Q1 2023 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor and how ongoing market turmoil, culminating in the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, may impact the venture industry in Q2 and beyond.

In partnership with NVCA and sponsored by Dentons, J.P. Morgan, and Insperity, a panel of experts will discuss the venture environment and key findings from the recently released report. Key takeaways include:

Venture growth stage pre-money valuations have fallen to roughly 2018 levels, 64% below 2021's peak.

Crossover investors have pulled back, leaving a gap in financing needs and available equity funds.

Preliminary data shows exit value at a low of $5.8 billion, suggesting the IPO market won't thaw in the near term.

Register now to secure your spot.

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PE Deals

ABRY Partners and Adams Street Partners-backed retirement and investment custodian Millennium Trust has been considering a sale that would value the company at $8 billion, including debt, Reuters reported.

General Atlantic has invested in Tripleseat, an event management and payments software provider. Minority shareholders Vista Equity Partners, Level Equity and Enlightened Hospitality Investments remain as investors.

Fusion Risk Management has received an investment from Great Hill Partners. Minority shareholders Vista Equity Partners, Level Equity and Catalyst Investors retain stakes in the software company.

Horizon Capital has invested £40 million in UK environmental consultancy Ridge and Partners.

Exit & IPOs

Partners Group is among those looking to buy Hg-owned UK accountancy firm Azets, Sky News reported. The company, worth a reported £1.5 billion, has also attracted the attention of Apax Partners and PAI Partners.

Advent International is looking to sell part of its stake in maintenance and repair services company Rubix to a PE investor in order to help fund the company's merger with Dutch peer Eriks, Bloomberg reported.

Fundraising

Globis Capital Partners has held a final close for its seventh flagship fund on 72.7 billion Japanese yen (around $543.9 million). The fund will invest in startups aiming to disrupt Japanese industry giants and expand globally.

RoundShield Partners has held a first close of its European special situations and distressed opportunities fund on $750 million.

Investors

Kaiser Permanente's pension plan has lined up a sale of some of its fund stakes to a group of buyers that includes Ardian, Blackstone and Apollo Global Management for about $5 billion, Private Equity News reported.

Chart of the Day

Source: PitchBook's Q1 2023 Global M&A Report

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PitchBook News - B2B fintech's Q1 boost

Key phrases

Older messages

M&A shops the discount rack

VC dealmaking decline levels off

Who wants to buy a unicorn?

A surge in small funds ebbs

Zombie funds could rise again

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