PitchBook News - Universities blame VC for low returns

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The Daily Pitch: VC

October 20, 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:

Some university endowments are blaming private market portfolios for lackluster returns

PE exits lost ground in Q3 after a short-lived recovery

We rank the top generative AI startups by total cash raised

Today's Top Stories

MIT, Columbia endowments post negative returns for PE, VC portfolios

(Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Columbia University and MIT are blaming private market portfolios for their endowments' lackluster investment returns, according to reports released this month by university treasurers.

Overall endowment performance has been a sunnier picture than in 2022, when many endowments recorded their worst annual performance since the global financial crisis. But schools including Stanford and the University of Virginia said such performance was in spite of negative results in their private market portfolios.

As the tech valuation reset hits large institutional LPs, some managers may reassess their extensive PE and VC allocations, which reaped bumper returns in 2021.

Recommended Reads

Inside Meta's struggles to turn Reels into an advertising powerhouse. [The Information]

How AI can help the shipping industry cut carbon emissions. [Fortune]

Mapping the world's largest stock exchanges. [Visual Capitalist]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

39

VC valuations

1851

People

524

Companies

28

Funds

See what our data software can do

The Daily Benchmark:
2014 Vintage European Funds-of-Funds

Median IRR

20.00%

Top Quartile IRR

21.03%

0.73x

Median DPI

Select top performers

HarbourVest International Private Equity Partners VII Europe

Capital Dynamics LGPS Collective Private Equity 14/15

SwanCap Opportunities Fund II

*IRR: net of fees

10 Funds in Benchmark »

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VC Deals

Sydney-based Employment Hero raised A$263 million (around $165.7 million) in a round led by TCV for its HR, payroll and benefits platform.

SynFutures, a crypto exchange startup, raised a $22 million Series B led by Pantera Capital, TechCrunch reported.

Amsterdam-based climate-tech startup Overstory raised a $14 million Series A led by B Capital.

AI startup Imbue raised an additional $12 million for its Series B, bringing the round total to $210 million, Reuters reported.

Ai Build, a London-based AI-powered printing software provider, secured an $8.5 million Series A led by IQ Capital.

Helsinki-based Boksi closed a €7 million Series A led by 3TS Capital Partners and Nexit Ventures for its content creation platform.

Beluga, a crypto startup based in San Francisco, raised a $4 million seed round led by Fin Capital.

Estonian Bisly secured €3.6 million led by Aconterra for its intelligent building platform.

Nanogence, a Swiss developer of low-carbon building materials, received funding from a consortium of investors led by CirCap.

PitchBook webinar: Exploring composable digital commerce

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The current state of composable commerce adoption and the near-term outlook.

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PE Deals

Family office Redwood Holdings agreed to buy Newly Weds Foods, a food ingredient company, for around $4 billion, Reuters reported.

I Squared Capital agreed to acquire Arriva, one of the biggest operators of London's red buses, from Deutsche Bahn, which acquired the business in 2010.

Digital Classifieds Group, backed by Cambodia's Tanncam Investment, acquired online property marketplaces Lamudi Indonesia and Philippines from Dubizzle Group.

Ares Management backed NXT Capital's $166 million continuation fund, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Software specialist aPriori received a strategic growth investment from Vista Credit Partners.

Portfolio Companies

Freight and logistics startup Convoy is shutting down. The Seattle-based startup had raised $1.08 billion from investors like Jeff Bezos, T. Rowe Price and Greylock Partners.

Fundraising

KKR closed its Next Generation Technology Growth Fund III on $3 billion.

BlackRock-owned venture debt specialist Kreos Capital held a final close of Kreos Capital VII on €1.25 billion, surpassing its €1.2 billion target. BlackRock completed its acquisition of Kreos in August.

Springcoast Capital Partners raised more than $500 million across two vehicles aimed at small technology deals, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Paris-based VC firm Breega launched a €150 million fund targeting early-stage startups.

Singapore-based East Ventures announced its first healthcare-focused fund with a target of $30 million.

Investors

Paris-based VC investor Founders Future bought French equity crowdfunding platform Sowefund, TechCrunch reported.

French asset manager Ardian is launching a platform to target investments across the semiconductor value chain with a focus on Europe. Ardian Semiconductor will be launched via a strategic partnership with Silian Partners.

Chart of the Day

Source: H1 2023 Global Real Estate Report

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PitchBook News - Universities blame VC for low returns

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