PitchBook News - Cloudy skies for SoftBank's Vision Fund

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The Daily Pitch: VC

April 6, 2020

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

Today's Top Stories

The Vision Fund's only competitor is itself

(Carl Court/Getty Images News)

Over the past few years, SoftBank's Vision Fund has sent shockwaves through the private markets with its brash tactics and enormous financings, a game-changer long before the coronavirus pandemic reshaped the industry.

The latest research note from PitchBook analysts details the establishment of the Vision Fund and its unique features, fund strategy and implementation. The report also explores how SoftBank and its record-breaking fund have grappled with growing issues as performance is called into question:

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Best-funded startups in Q1 are boosted and battered by the coronavirus

(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News)

The first three months of 2020 delivered more than 100 mega-rounds of $100 million or more, in line with the levels seen in past years. But most of those deals were negotiated before the coronavirus outbreak spurred billions of people to stay home.

Some of the most well-funded startups of the quarter could see a tailwind from the new normal, with online education and food delivery services topping the charts. But others, serving industries like restaurants and transportation, will have to weather the storm:

Recommended Reads

What happens when virtual creatures are brought to life? Thanks to strange, perhaps unsettling new creations called xenobots, it's not a question for science fiction anymore. [The New York Times]

One recent Saturday morning, a New York woman took her 2-year-old to the park and the grocery store. By the afternoon, COVID-19 had arrived with a vengeance. [The Cut]

With pro sports leagues on lockdown, athletes are flocking to Peloton. In fact, they're flocking to one Peloton instructor in particular. [ESPN]

Five days with migrants on their way to the US as they traverse the Darién Gap, one of the most dangerous journeys in the world. [The California Sunday Magazine]

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Today's Headlines


	The Daily Benchmark
	2005 Vintage Global Real Assets Funds
	VC Deals
	Lessonly books $15M
	OctoML nabs $15M Series A
	Fundraising
	Insight brings in $9.5B for latest fund
	VenBio wraps $394M life sciences fund

The Daily Benchmark

2005 Vintage Global Real Assets Funds

Median IRR

1.26%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

5.00%

1.01x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Och-Ziff Real Estate Fund

Westbrook Real Estate Partners V

SCF-VI

*IRR: net of fees

32 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 Tuesday at 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT.

Register here

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VC Deals

Lessonly books $15M

Lessonly has raised a $15 million Series C led by AXA Venture Partners, with Zendesk, Allos Ventures, Atlas Peak Capital, Rethink Education and The Yard Ventures also participating. The Indianapolis-based company is a developer of training and professional development software for customer experience teams.

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OctoML nabs $15M Series A

OctoML has raised $15 million from investors including Amplify Partners and Madrona Venture Group, the company announced in a Medium blog post. Based in Seattle, OctoML uses machine learning to help software teams deploy projects in the cloud.

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Fundraising

Insight brings in $9.5B for latest fund

Insight Partners has announced the close of its 11th growth equity fund on $9.5 billion. The New York-based firm, which typically makes growth investments in software-focused companies, closed its most recent namesake fund on $6.3 billion in 2018.

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VenBio wraps $394M life sciences fund

San Francisco-based VenBio has closed its third life sciences fund on $394 million. The firm's life sciences-focused portfolio includes Neurogastrx and Checkmate Pharmaceuticals. It closed its sophomore fund for the strategy on $315 million in 2016.

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View 34 investments »