PitchBook News - Alibaba share sale could spur SoftBank

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The Daily Pitch: VC

April 2, 2020

Like our newsletter? The data comes from the PitchBook Platform — our data software for VC, PE and M&A

Today's Top Stories

Why SoftBank is parceling off its most prized possession

(Carl Court/Getty Images News)

A $41 billion plan to restore investor faith in SoftBank may require the Japanese conglomerate to sell a chunk of its cherished stake in Alibaba.

The upcoming asset sale, of which a reported $15 billion could come from shares of the Chinese ecommerce giant, promises to reshape SoftBank's portfolio in a dramatic fashion:

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Slashed costs. Mass layoffs. Worries about what's next. It's the new reality for many startups in a crisis one Silicon Valley consultant has deemed "the great unwinding." [The New York Times]

A wait of 12 to 18 months for a COVID-19 vaccine might sound interminable. In fact, that relatively rapid timeline is a testament to recent years of massive progress in the biotech industry. [The Guardian]

Bill Gates shares his thoughts on how the US can make up for lost time in its battle against the coronavirus. [The Washington Post]

An Australian astrophysicist tried to battle the coronavirus crisis by sticking magnets up his nose. It didn't work. But the idea of embracing creative experimentation might be worthwhile. [The Outline]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

18

VC valuations

1335

People

419

Companies

8

Funds

See what our data software can do

Today's Headlines


	The Daily Benchmark
	2014 Vintage Global Buyout Funds
	People
	Tim Draper-led firm adds venture partner
	Grab brings on Peter Oey as CFO
	VC Deals
	Pandion Therapeutics lands $80M
	Aspen Neuroscience picks up $70M
	Vericool secures $19.1M Series A
	Portfolio Companies
	SoftBank opts against $3B WeWork bailout
	Exits
	Biotech startup eyes $75M IPO

The Daily Benchmark

2014 Vintage Global Buyout Funds

Median IRR

17.00%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

24.00%

1.45x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Nautic Partners VII

Consonance Private Equity

BVIP Fund VIII

*IRR: net of fees

78 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

Webinar: Understanding cash flow management for the private markets

The latest installment of the PitchBook Benchmarks webinar series covers how to better manage uncalled commitments and overall allocation to the private markets.

Senior strategist James Gelfer and senior analyst Hilary Wiek will discuss a range of topics, including how large capital calls tend to be and how often they occur, whether capital calls become increasingly predictable as commitments are added and how LPs should build a private market allocation.

The webinar will be on April 7 at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT.

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People

Tim Draper-led firm adds venture partner

Draper Goren Holm has brought on Rodney Sampson as a venture partner. Sampson is a co-founder of Multicast Media Technologies and a former partner at TechSquare Labs. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., Draper Goren Holm was established as Goren Holm Ventures in 2018 and later rebranded with the addition of Tim Draper. The firm focuses on accelerating and incubating crypto and blockchain startups.

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Grab brings on Peter Oey as CFO

Singapore-based Grab has hired Peter Oey as CFO. Before joining the company, Oey held the same position at LegalZoom, which offers tech solutions for the legal industry, and MyLife.com, the provider of a reputation platform. Grab offers ridehailing, food delivery and financial services; it raised more than $850 million in February.

View details

VC Deals

Pandion Therapeutics lands $80M

Biotech startup Pandion Therapeutics has wrapped up an $80 million Series B led by Access Biotechnology and Boxer Capital. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company is working on therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and will use the funding in part to advance clinical-stage trials of its drug candidates. Pandion raised $58 million at a valuation of $68 million in 2018, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

RA Capital, OrbiMed, Polaris Partners, Versant Venture Management, Roche Venture Fund, SR One, T1D Fund, BioInnovation Capital

View round

View 50 competitors »

Aspen Neuroscience picks up $70M

Aspen Neuroscience has raised a $70 million Series A led by OrbiMed, with participation from Arch Venture Partners, Frazier Healthcare Partners, Domain Associates, Section 32 and Sam Altman. The San Diego-based company is developing cell therapies to treat Parkinson's disease.

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Vericool secures $19.1M Series A

Vericool has raised $19.1 million from investors including Radicle Impact, The Ecosystem Integrity Fund, ID8 Investments and AIIM Partners. The company offers packaging made from recycled paper fibers and plant-based materials.

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View 2 competitors »

Portfolio Companies

SoftBank opts against $3B WeWork bailout

SoftBank has decided not to complete a planned deal to buy a $3 billion secondary stake in WeWork, according to Bloomberg, about two weeks after reports first surfaced that the purchase was in peril. It's believed WeWork founder Adam Neumann and Benchmark were in line to be two of the biggest sellers in the deal. Terms of the transaction were originally agreed to in October.

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View 18 competitors »

Exits

Biotech startup eyes $75M IPO

Keros Therapeutics has set an initial price range of $14 to $16 per share for its upcoming public offering of 5 million shares on the Nasdaq, according to an SEC filing. A midpoint pricing would raise $75 million. Based in Massachusetts, Keros is a clinical-stage biotech startup developing treatments for blood and musculoskeletal disorders. Valued last month at $206 million, according to PitchBook data, the company has raised prior VC from firms including Pontifax (32.6% pre-IPO stake) and Arkin Bio-Ventures (14.4%).

View details

View 7 competitors »

Chart of the Day

"The median and top-quartile pre-money valuations at the late stage spiked in 2019. The top quartile surged 78.9% to €54.6 million, and the median rose 52.1% to €15.7 million. Both metrics highlight how late-stage capital is enabling companies to continue developing rather than seek liquidity from an exit."

Source: PitchBook's 2019 Annual European VC Valuations Report