PitchBook News - VCs seek out stability in crypto sag

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The Daily Pitch: VC

August 21, 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:

Despite sagging deal value, crypto still holds opportunities for VCs

The owners of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers are targeting $50 million for a debut VC fund

Party over? The aggregate valuation of European unicorns just posted a rare decline

Hayfin closes a mega-fund that clocks in as 2023's largest European private credit vehicle

The leveraged loan market became a little riskier in Q2, according to LCD's "Weakest Links" analysis

Today's Top Stories

Crypto sags but retains opportunities for VCs

Crypto deal value and count fell for the fifth consecutive quarter, and to their lowest points since Q4 2020, according to our Q2 2023 Crypto Report.

But there are still VC opportunities such as stablecoins—designed to be less volatile because they are pegged to other currencies and commodities. Startups are also working to create fairer markets by mitigating the effects of transaction manipulation.

read the preview

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San Francisco 49ers family office targets $50M for first VC fund

San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York
(Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

The owners of the NFL's San Francisco 49ers are raising a debut VC fund with a $50 million target.

Managing partner Jed York, CEO of the professional football franchise, has been quietly investing in venture since 2014. Recently, York became embroiled in several lawsuits alleging insider trading and violations of federal securities laws in his role as a board member at edtech startup Chegg.

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PitchBook's 2023 Media Kit released

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By partnering with PitchBook Media, you will have daily opportunities to reach 1.5M+ industry professionals in our newsletter, and you can broaden exposure of your brand through our core industry reports. We also help clients create custom research to share data-driven insights on the market.

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European unicorn valuations see first dip in a decade

(Carol Yepes/Getty Images)

The aggregate post-money valuation of companies worth over €1 billion in Europe fell in the first half of 2023 for the first time in a decade.

Higher financing costs and public market volatility have put pressure on unicorn price tags, conditions likely to persist throughout the year.

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Q2 'Weakest Links' in US leveraged loan market

(Maksim Tkachenko/Getty Images)

The $1.4 trillion US leveraged loan market became a bit riskier in the second quarter, according to LCD's "Weakest Links" analysis.

The analysis tracks lower-rated debt issues of B-minus or less that also have a negative rating profile. These have shown to be an indicator of potential default activity.

This is the fourth-straight increase in the number of Weakest Links, as sharply higher debt costs spurred by recent rate hikes have impacted leveraged loan coverage ratios.

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Hayfin closes on $6.5B for 2023's largest European private credit fund

(John M Lund Photography Inc/Shutterstock)

UK-based Hayfin has raised over €6 billion (about $6.5 billion) for its latest direct lending fund, making it the largest European private debt fund to close in 2023. The appetite for the asset class has remained strong in a tough financing market.

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Recommended Reads

The Panama Canal has become a traffic jam of the seas. [The Wall Street Journal]

Here's why former Vanity Fair employees started working at Standard Industries. [The New York Times]

A failing power grid and affordability strains are dividing Puerto Rico into haves and have-nots. [Bloomberg]

The Daily Benchmark:
2017 Vintage North American PE Funds

Median IRR

19.84%

Top Quartile IRR

29.84%

0.50x

Median DPI

Select top performers

Spectrum Discretionary Overage Program

SSC Partners Cantium

Great Hill Equity Partners VI

*IRR: net of fees

94 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

SoftBank has bought a 25% stake in Arm from its Vision Fund unit, valuing the chipmaker at just over $64 billion ahead of its planned IPO, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Viome, a consumer life sciences startup, has raised an $86.5 million Series C from investors including Khosla Ventures and Bold Capital.

UK-based life sciences company Lightcast Discovery has secured a £38 million Series B led by M Ventures.

Digital health startup Venteur has raised $7.6 million in a round led by GSR Ventures.

MyGwork, which operates a networking platform for the LGBTQ+ business community, has raised €1.5 million in a round led by 24Haymarket.

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PE Deals

Apollo Global Management has completed its $5.2 billion acquisition of aluminum parts maker Arconic.

EQT plans to take Frankfurt-listed open-source software company SUSE private. It will launch a voluntary public purchase offer of €16 per share for around 21% of the company's remaining shares.

Truelink Capital has acquired Toronto-based Flipp Corporation, a digital marketing company focused on retailers and consumer packaged goods manufacturers.

Peak Rock Capital is preparing to sell home healthcare company Paragon Infusion, Axios reported.

LongueVue Capital has made a growth investment in TTi Logistics, a B2B logistics services provider.

Portfolio Companies

UK-based medtech specialist Doccla has acquired telemedicine company OpenTeleHealth. Doccla is backed by investors including General Catalyst, KHP Ventures and Speedinvest.

Fundraising

Assembly Ventures has closed its debut fund on $76 million. The vehicle will target seed, Series A and Series B investments in the mobility sector.

Chart of the Day

"There is a clear relationship between purchase price multiples paid and size, with valuations stepping up to buy scale and stepping down for smaller companies and bolt-on deals. ... Significant discounts emerge [for companies and deals below $25 million in value], with a median revenue multiple at 0.8x, or 58.3% below the median multiple paid for deals of all sizes."

Source: PitchBook's Q2 2023 US PE Breakdown

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PitchBook News - VCs seek out stability in crypto sag

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