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The Daily Pitch: VC

May 23, 2024

The Daily Pitch is powered by PitchBook’s industry-defining research and best-in-class data

In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find:

Private capital is increasingly concentrated in funds valued above $1 billion

Valar Ventures' latest fund is less than half the size of the Peter Thiel-backed firm's two most recent vintages

Italian soccer team Inter Milan has a new Los Angeles-based owner

Why PE got serious about gaming deals last year

Today's Top Stories

Private fundraising's concentration problem

Private market fundraising is becoming increasingly concentrated among blue-chip players. In the first three months of 2024, total capital raised across private market strategies was on par with figures from the same time last year.

But total fund count has fallen 45.9% year-over-year with the majority of capital raised going to managers with funds valued above $1 billion. Our Q1 2024 Global Private Market Fundraising Report breaks down capital gathering across private market funds.

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Lower recoveries ahead for distressed leveraged loans?

(Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)

While leveraged loans have generally had a strong year thus far, trading levels of distressed loans suggest some bifurcation is at play.

Prices for distressed loans match the lowest readings in three years, an ominous sign for any potential recovery down the road. And while borrower access to the broadly syndicated loan market is normalizing, riskier triple-C rated credits may have to find other avenues to address their financing needs.

PitchBook Credit, powered by LCD (Leveraged Commentary & Data), combines news, research, data and indexes into one convenient platform to help you navigate shifting credit markets. Learn more

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Peter Thiel's Valar closes $300M fund, less than half the size of predecessor

Peter Thiel (Marco Bello/Getty Images)

Peter Thiel-backed Valar Ventures closed its ninth fund on $300 million, less than half the size of its two most recent vintages, according to a regulatory filing released this week.

The fintech-focused VC firm has amassed over $2 billion of investor capital since its inception in 2010. But in recent years, its fundraising has slowed and its vehicles have shrunk.

"Fundraising today is more challenging for sure than it was a few years ago," Valar founding partner James Fitzgerald told PitchBook.

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Here's how indexes of private capital strategies performed in 2023

PitchBook's Private Capital Indexes provide quarterly return benchmarks for the private markets, offering a high-level view of performance in terms of cash flows and changes to net asset values.

Indexed returns are given for PE, VC, real estate, real assets, private debt, funds-of-funds and secondaries, as well as their sub-strategies.

To assist allocators in risk modeling, our analysts provide adjusted returns to account for the inherent return smoothing in private capital strategies. Volatility estimates and correlations to public markets are included for each fund strategy.

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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

9

VC valuations

1803

People

723

Companies

22

Funds

See what our data software can do

The Daily Benchmark:
2015 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds

Median IRR

18.70%

Top Quartile IRR

29.25%

1.08x

Median DPI

Select top performers

Siguler Guff Secondary Opportunities Fund

SG/NMERB Secondary Fund I

Ion Pacific Phillion I

*IRR: net of fees

12 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

People

Maelle Gavet has stepped down as CEO of accelerator Techstars, citing health reasons. Co-founder and board chair David Cohen will serve as the new CEO.

VC Deals

Crypto social media network developer Farcaster, based in Los Angeles, raised a $150 million Series A led by Paradigm, reportedly valuing the company at $1 billion.

Suno, a Massachusetts-based music AI startup, raised a $125 million Series B led by Founder Collective, Lightspeed, Matrix Partners and others.

Pheon Therapeutics, a UK-based biotech startup specializing in cancer treatments, raised a $120 million Series B led by TCG Crossover Management.

SixPeaks raised a $30 million Series A led by Versant Ventures, alongside $80 million in financing from a partnership with Astra Zeneca. Switzerland-based SixPeaks develops weight loss therapies.

Allez Health, a San Diego-based startup developing technology for monitoring blood sugar levels, raised a $60 million Series A led by Osang Healthcare.

Nashville-based palliative care startup Tuesday Health raised $60 million in early-stage VC funding from Valtruis, Blue Venture Fund, Mass General Brigham Ventures and CareSource.

Oregon-based Boulder, a startup providing virtual treatment for addiction, raised $35 million led by Advance Venture Partners.

Hydrolix, an Oregon-based cloud data platform startup, raised a $35 million Series B led by S3 Ventures.

London-based Praktika, which offers a language learning app, has received a €29.9 million Series A led by Blossom Capital.

Nory, an AI-powered restaurant management platform, secured a $16 million Series A led by Accel.

PE Deals

Philadelphia's Renovus Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in Texas legal services company Case Works.

UK-based Growth Capital Partners invested in enterprise resource planning advisory CloudRock.

Forward Consumer Partners acquired a 50% ownership stake in tortilla chips and salsa producer Xochitl.

Healthcare services PE firm InTandem Capital Partners invested in Adams Clinical, a clinical trials network.

Novata, the developer of an ESG management platform, received financing from Hamilton Lane, S&P Global and Motive Partners.

Exceleron Software and PayGo Utilities have merged to form utilities company Empower Grid Holdings with backing from Accurant International, Moore Strategic Ventures and Avista Development.

KKR invested in Phinma Education, the higher education arm of Philippines-based Phinma.

Nordic Capital agreed to acquire BRP Systems, an enterprise resource planning platform for the gym and fitness industry based in Sweden, from Valedo Partners.

BV Investment Partners made a majority investment in cybersecurity company CyberSheath, which was previously backed by Lightview Capital.

Milan-based PE firm Progressio acquired Officine S. Giacomo, an Italian maker of mechanical presses.

Exits & IPOs

Blank-check company Admiral Acquisition is buying Acuren from PE firm American Securities in a deal that values the engineering services provider at $1.85 billion.

UK computer-maker Raspberry Pi has confirmed its plans for a London IPO. The company, which will list in June, will sell $40 million in new shares.

BC Partners-backed publishing company Springer Nature has lined up banks for a renewed attempt at a Frankfurt IPO later this year.

French healthtech company Doctolib acquired VC-backed Aaron.ai, a Berlin-based maker of an AI-powered telephone assistant for medical practices.

NYSE-listed MasterBrand is acquiring cabinets producer Supreme Cabinetry Brands from GHK Capital Partners.

Fundraising

Chicago-based Entrepreneurial Equity Partners closed its Fund II on $546 million.

London's IMPAX Asset Management reached a €459 million final close of its fourth infrastructure fund—its largest vehicle to date.

Alcazar Energy, a Dubai-based infrastructure fund, raised $490 million for its second renewables fund.

Riata Capital Group closed its Fund II on $285 million. The vehicle will target the lower middle market.

Utah-based Peterson Partners raised $265 million for its 10th PE fund.

Chart of the Day

Source: Q1 2024 European Venture Report

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PitchBook News - Fundraising's blue-chip firm fixation

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