Sodium batteries corrode lithion-ion's crown

Read online | Don't want to receive these emails? Manage your subscription.

Log in

The Daily Pitch: VC

June 14, 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:

Analysts see plenty of M&A targets in insurtech

Y Combinator dominates peers in churning out unicorns

Can sodium batteries disrupt energy storage?

We dig deeper into Sequoia's split from China

Today's Top Stories

The batteries that could power net zero

Supply chain shortages could halt the EV revolution before it even takes flight. The cost of lithium-ion batteries has plummeted 97% over the past 30 years, but now manufacturers are staring down the barrel of multiple materials constraints. New tech offers a promising solution: sodium-ion batteries.

Our latest analyst note investigates the alternative made from more abundant materials and offers a glimpse into the storage needed to power the world's ambitious energy transition.

read it now

Share:

Y Combinator leads accelerators in unicorn-creation rate

President and CEO of Y Combinator Garry Tan
(Harry Murphy/Getty Images)

Y Combinator made its name by backing companies such as Airbnb and Reddit early on, and it has ridden that wave to become the accelerator to beat.

Nearly 5% of the startups that have gone through Y Combinator since 2010 have become unicorns—significantly more than Techstars, MassChallenge, 500 Global or SOSV, a PitchBook analysis found.

But even the tech world's primo accelerator has needed to make cuts to its programs through the downturn.

Recommended Reads

Munjal Shah's last startup lost millions, yet Andreessen Horowitz backed him again anyway. [Forbes]

As continuation funds plague LPs, investors search for a solution. [Institutional Investor]

Goldman Sachs is at war with itself as CEO David Solomon comes under fire. [The Wall Street Journal]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

18

VC valuations

2313

People

685

Companies

26

Funds

See what our data software can do

The Daily Benchmark:
2016 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds

Median IRR

18.18%

Top Quartile IRR

23.97%

0.71x

Median DPI

Select top performers

Industry Ventures Special Opportunities Fund III

Timber Bay Fund I

Greenspring Secondaries Fund II

*IRR: net of fees

28 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Mistral AI, a generative AI startup that could compete with OpenAI, has raised a €105 million seed round led by Lightspeed.

CubicPV, a startup creating wafers for semiconductor manufacturing, has raised $33 million backed by SCG Cleanergy, Hunt Energy Enterprises and Breakthrough Energy Ventures; another $70 million is dependent on project milestones.

AI video creation startup Synthesia has raised a $90 million Series C led by Accel and joined by Kleiner Perkins and GV, among others.

Madrid-based road freight operator Trucksters has raised a €33 million Series B from investors including Volvo Group Venture Capital, BigSur Ventures and Amplifier VC.

Striveworks, a machine learning operations startup, has raised $33 million in a round led by Centana Growth Partners.

Fernride, a Munich-based autonomous electric trucking startup, has closed a $31 million Series A from backers including 10x Founders, Promus Ventures and Speedinvest.

Generative AI search platform Vectara has raised a $28.5 million seed round led by Race Capital, according to reports.

Salonkee, a Luxembourg-based beauty appointment booking platform, has secured a €28 million Series B led by PeakSpan Capital.

Kodem, an application security analysis startup, has launched from stealth with $25 million from Greylock and TPY Capital.

Energy storage startup On.Energy has raised $20 million in a Series B led by Ultra Capital.

Medivis, which uses augmented reality to enhance surgery, has raised a $20 million Series A led by Thrive Capital.

Beaconcure, a clinical data technology startup, has raised a $14 million Series B led by NewVale Capital.

ClimateView, which helps cities plan and manage their climate transitions, has raised €14 million. Investors in the round included Norrsken VC, CommerzVentures and NordicNinja VC.

Smedvig Capital has led a €6 million Series A for EdgeTier, a Dublin-based customer service analytics specialist.

Paris-based cybersecurity startup Filigran has secured a €5 million seed investment led by Moonfire Ventures.

PitchBook webinar: Emerging Tech Talks with Quantum Health

Healthcare and benefits navigation plays an important role in a healthcare ecosystem with ever-increasing complexity. PitchBook analyst Aaron DeGagne will host Zane Burke of Quantum Health, a PE-backed healthcare navigation company. Key topics include:

Data on current VC and PE funding in care navigation.

An overview of the competitive landscape and what makes Quantum Health's approach different than peers.

Opportunity and growth dividers in the care and health benefits navigation market.

Register now to secure your spot.

Share:

PE Deals

Goldman Sachs Asset Management's PE division has agreed to invest $300 million in TV advertising specialist Madhive.

VSS Capital Partners has invested in new platform Olympus Cosmetic Group, which offers plastic surgery and non-surgical cosmetic procedures.

Unigrains-backed Italian PE fund Fondo Agroalimentare Italiano has invested in seafood distributor Urbis Food, according to reports.

Exit & IPOs

EQT has agreed to sell BBS Automation to Frankfurt-listed Dürr Group. EQT first backed the German industrial automation provider in 2018.

Fundraising

Permira Credit has closed its fifth direct lending fund with €4.2 billion to invest in European middle-market companies.

Hidden River Strategic Capital has closed its first fund on $245 million. The firm is targeting $5 million to $25 million debt and equity investments in small businesses.

Helsinki-based early-stage investor Voima Ventures has launched a €90 million fund to invest in Nordic and Baltic deep-tech startups.

London-based VC firm Black Seed has raised £5 million for its debut fund to invest in Black founders.

Investors

Proparco, an investment arm of Agence Française de Développement, will invest $35 million in Quadria Capital, a healthcare-focused PE firm that specializes in growth investments in South and Southeast Asia, Reuters reported.

Chart of the Day

"Entrepreneurs who attended two accelerators estimated that without attending the programs, their exit probability would have been 10%, which we compare with founders who attended just one accelerator who estimated a 19% exit probability, assuming no accelerator. The difference ... might suggest that joining multiple programs simply means that the founder needed more resources to launch their offering. It could also mean that their idea isn't strong and/or they aren't equipped to execute it."

Source: Quantifying the Success of YC and the Largest Accelerators

About PitchBook | Terms of use | Advertise with us | Contact

This email was sent to you via the PitchBook Platform.

Do you want to change your email address, get a different edition or unsubscribe? Manage your subscription here.

Sodium batteries corrode lithion-ion's crown

Older messages

Small sums for infrastructure funds

Content is still king in gaming

The impact of accelerators

Crypto at a crossroads

For sale: Tiger's portfolio companies

You Might Also Like

The Fed locked us out of the housing market, Satoshi gave us a new set of keys.

LUC #67: Unpacking Containerization: Transforming Software Development and Deployment

Inside Perplexity AI’s Unicorn Journey: from $500M to $9B in a Year

The best tools to streamline your email marketing efforts

PE's tide finally turns

'Tackle the Things That Scare You the Most'

$150K MRR | 400K Users | 4 Years - Simple Form Builder

Boost conversions of your Tweets

Jaycee Nolan speaks social media

✅ ✅ SEO Black Friday came early this year...