PitchBook News - Has venture bottomed out?

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The Daily Pitch: VC

October 4, 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:

Take a first look at data from our upcoming PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor

As rules around sports team ownership ease, investors see opportunities for strong returns

Brookfield contributed nearly 30% of the capital committed to its latest $12 billion fund

Today's Top Stories

Has venture hit its rock bottom?

Does venture-backed fundraising have further to fall? Or has it already hit rock bottom? The languid IPO market is finally signaling a reopening, but it's still too soon to tell how much exit activity investors can expect.

Early-stage deal closures are still lagging far behind recent years, and they may cloud how well LPs can pick out the stellar GP fund managers from the mediocre. Get a taste of how Q3 2023 shaped up for VC around the world with our First Look data packs.

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Climate-focused emerging manager raises $375M successor fund

From left, At One Ventures founding partners Helen Lin, Tom Chi and Laurie Menoud.
(Courtesy of At One Ventures)

It's a tough time for emerging managers raising successor funds, as the dry exit environment prevents them from returning cash to LPs.

At One Ventures, a climate-dedicated venture investor, still managed to attract $375 million for its second fund—even before it has distributed any returns from its 2021 debut fund. The emerging manager's pitch to LPs: a bold climate thesis and investments in buzzy companies like "de-extinction" startup Colossal Biosciences and battery recycler Ascend Elements.

Recommended Reads

The secret behind the first $1 billion green hydrogen startup. [The Wall Street Journal]

Struggling corporate borrowers turn to private credit to defer interest. [Bloomberg]

Researchers tested AI watermarks—and broke all of them. [Wired]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

12

VC valuations

1758

People

607

Companies

39

Funds

See what our data software can do

The Daily Benchmark:
2018 Vintage European Real Estate Funds

Median IRR

9.31%

Top Quartile IRR

11.81%

0.38x

Median DPI

Select top performers

Exeter Europe Value Ventures III

CASA Partners VIII

NREP Nordic Strategies Fund III

*IRR: net of fees

17 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Green hydrogen startup Electric Hydrogen has raised a $380 million Series C led by Fortescue, Fifth Wall and Energy Impact Partners.

Enterprise AI company Prins AI has secured a $100 million Series B led by AAB VC.

Iambic Therapeutics, an AI-driven drug discovery company, has raised a $100 million Series B led by Ascenta Capital and Abingworth.

Accounts payable automation company Stampli has raised $61 million in a Series D led by Blackstone.

Pulumi, which offers a platform for writing infrastructure code, has raised a $41 million Series C led by Madrona.

Automata, a robotic automation specialist for the life sciences industry, has secured $40 million in a round led by Dimension.

Transport logistics fintech startup Loop has raised a $35 million Series B led by Index Ventures and JP Morgan Growth Equity Partners.

French plant-based meat startup Umiami has raised €32.5 million in a Series A extension, bringing the round's total to €59 million.

South African open banking company Stitch has raised $25 million in a Series A extension led by Ribbit Capital.

Unitary, which offers an AI-powered content moderation platform, has secured $15 million in a Series A led by Creandum.

Qobra, the provider of a sales commission management platform, has raised a €10 million Series A led by Singular.

PE Deals

Brookfield Asset Management will acquire UK onshore wind operator Banks Renewables, part of The Banks Group, in a deal worth almost $1 billion, the Financial Times reported.

Warburg Pincus will invest in Brookfield Asset Management-backed Everise, providing an exit for Everstone Group and valuing the company at $1 billion. US-based Everise facilitates healthcare customer service outsourcing.

KKR is in talks to buy Eugin, which runs fertility clinics in Spain and Portugal, from German healthcare group Fresenius at a valuation of about €500 million, Cinco Dias reported.

Vista Equity Partners has acquired a majority of enterprise software company TRG Screen and committed to investing $250 million in the corporate subscription manager alongside another investor, Bloomberg reported.

Grey Rock Investment Partners plans to acquire and invest up to $100 million in CarbonCycle, which is developing carbon capture and sequestration projects.

Arlington Capital Partners has purchased Avenu Insights & Analytics, a revenue enhancement, payments and administrative software for local governments, from Mill Point Capital.

InvestBev has invested in Santa Monica-based Thomas Ashbourne Craft Spirits, a ready-to-drink cocktail brand that launched in 2022.

Advent International and Warburg Pincus have completed their acquisition of US-listed Baxter International's Biopharma Solutions business.

Ardian-backed DiGiCo has purchased UK live music software developer Fourier Audio.

Exit & IPOs

Bain Capital is considering putting a 49% stake in US LBM up for sale in a deal that could value the specialty building materials distributor at about $7 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Vista Equity Partners may sell its stake in low-code app development platform Quickbase, which could fetch a valuation of more than $2.5 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Canadian insurer and wealth manager iA Financial will buy Vericity, a direct-to-consumer life insurance company majority-owned by JC Flowers.

Pave America has acquired Central States Paving and Concrete from Grove Mountain Partners, which retains a stake in the Midwest-area business.

Fundraising

London-based VC firm Atomico has raised $1.1 billion across its Growth VI and Venture VI funds, the Financial Times reported.

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has held the final close of Quinbrook Renewables Impact Fund, which targets UK power infrastructure assets, on £620 million.

Visa has launched a $100 million initiative to fund companies developing generative AI technologies through its corporate investment arm, Visa Ventures.

HCVC has closed a $75 million second fund that will target pre-seed and seed-stage startups in sectors including decarbonization, defense and space, according to reports.

Investors

European pre-seed and seed investor Ada Ventures is launching a program that will cover the cost of up to 40 hours of backup childcare each year for founders in its portfolio.

Chart of the Day

Source: Q2 2023 US PE Middle Market Report

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PitchBook News - Has venture bottomed out?

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