Future Ventures targets AI with $169M fund

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The Daily Pitch: VC

June 3, 2024

Presented by Dropbox DocSend

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

Why PE firms are struggling to exit their investments in the dental sector

Steve Jurvetson's Future Ventures raises $169 million for an AI-focused fund

Key takeaways from MedCity News' INVEST healthcare conference

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

Today's Top Stories

Jurvetson's Future Ventures targets AI with $169M fund

Steve Jurvetson, a Silicon Valley heavyweight and close ally of Elon Musk, was an early investor in SpaceX and Tesla.
(Steve Jennings/Getty Images)

Future Ventures, the VC firm co-founded by longtime Silicon Valley investor Steve Jurvetson, has closed on $169 million for a AI-focused fund, according to a regulatory filing.

Specialist AI funds have become increasingly popular as LPs and GPs fear missing out on the upsides of the generative AI wave sweeping the VC industry.

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Pulling teeth: Why dental sector exits have been tough for PE

(Catherine McQueen/Getty Images)

PE firms have encountered an obstacle when it comes to exiting larger dental platforms, compounded by challenges surrounding physician retention and compensation.

As of Q1 2024, 37 PE-backed dental platforms in the US and Canada have been in managers' portfolios for more than five years—17 of these for more than seven years.

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Turned down in a downturn: Funding gap grows for underrepresented founders

Access to early-stage capital grew even more difficult in the past year. DocSend's 2024 Funding Divide Report shows historically underrepresented founders were hit hardest by the slowdown. As some optimism returns to the fundraising marketplace, will these founders be the slowest to feel the turnaround?

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Healthcare startups comb for VC interest at INVEST conference

Startup pitch competitions overflowed at MedCity News' recent INVEST conference, with founders courting VCs from biopharma, healthtech and medtech. Our latest analyst note shares key takeaways on the main topics of the event: GLP-1 weight loss drugs—such as Ozempic and Wegovy—precision medicine, value-based care and women's health.

read it now

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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.

read the report

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Private credit steps up battle with banks

(Tiero/Getty Images)

PE shops and other borrowers are taking advantage of slim credit spreads on offer by banks, though direct lenders are getting creative to win deals.

Borrowers opting for creative deal structures and ease of execution in the private credit market over the syndicated loan market was a major trend for much of 2023. So far in 2024, however, the syndicated loan market has attracted borrower companies back to the fold, enticing them with the chance to slash borrowing costs.

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Crypto's institutional moment

(Chloe Ladwig/PitchBook News)

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board—money manager for one of the largest public pension plans in the US—recently became the only such institution in the country to disclose ownership of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds.

These relatively new investment products offer ordinary and institutional investors alike direct exposure to the price movements of bitcoin. As the first to disclose, SWIB is paving the way for additional institutional ownership in a product that is still largely dominated by retail.

Read senior reporter Jessica Hamlin's report, which first appeared in our Capital Pool newsletter. Subscribe to that newsletter here.

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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

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73

Companies

7

Funds

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The Daily Benchmark:
2018 Vintage Non-US PE Funds

Median IRR

17.28%

Top Quartile IRR

21.69%

0.28x

Median DPI

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LVC USD Fund I

Westbridge II

INVL Special Opportunities Fund

*IRR: net of fees

57 Funds in Benchmark »

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People

Antonio Miranda and Steven Raich have been appointed managing partners at Connecticut-based PE firm Littlejohn & Co.

VC Deals

Chinese generative AI company Zhipu AI raised roughly $400 million from investors including Prosperity7, the Financial Times reported.

Cloud infrastructure provider Mavenir, which is based in Texas, raised $75 million in new funding from undisclosed investors.

Babylon, a Palo Alto-based bitcoin staking startup, raised $70 million in a round led by Paradigm.

Hannto Technology, a Chinese manufacturer of smart printers, raised 300 million Chinese yuan (around $41 million) in a Series C+ from investors including CICC Private Equity.

Los Angeles-based Squared Circles, a brand-incubation startup focused on the consumer space, raised a $40 million Series A led by L Catterton.

Indian fashion brand Libas raised $18 million from ICICI Venture.

EthonAI, a Zurich-based provider of AI-powered manufacturing analytics, secured 15 million Swiss francs (around $17 million) in a Series A led by Index Ventures.

PE Deals

Blackstone has agreed to buy a 55.1% stake in Japanese e-comics platform Infocom for $1.66 billion, Bloomberg reported.

IDG Capital is looking to buy Hong Kong broadband service provider HKBN, Bloomberg reported. The network has also had interest from China Mobile.

Texas-based cloud network and information processing software developer Mavenir raised $75 million from undisclosed existing investors.

KKR has acquired a majority stake in Agiloft, a Bay Area-based contract management software company. Existing investor FTV Capital will make an additional investment, with JMI Equity joining as a new investor.

Tennaxia, an ESG-focused cloud software company backed by Marlin Equity Partners, has acquired Paris-based carbon accounting platform Traace.

Progressive Dental Marketing, a marketing service provider specializing in dental practice, secured a $100 million recapitalization from McCarthy Capital.

Exits & IPOs

Guzman y Gomez, a PE-backed Australian fast food chain, is planning to raise as much as A$242.5 million (around $161 million) with its Sydney IPO in June.

VC-backed Pix, a robotics startup specializing in capturing footage for the real estate industry, has been purchased by View Labs for an undisclosed amount.

Talos, a trading platform for cryptocurrency assets, has acquired peer Skolem for an undisclosed amount.

NYSE-listed Broadridge Financial Solutions acquired VC-backed asset and wealth management specialist AdvisorTarget, though deal terms were not disclosed.

Fundraising

San Francisco-based Zetta Venture Partners, a VC firm investing in AI-native application startups, has launched a fund targeting $180 million, according to SEC filings.

Counterpart Ventures, a San Francisco-based VC firm investing in B2B SaaS companies, launched a $125 million fund, according to SEC filings.

Chart of the Day

"These seven public alternative managers are all pushing the boundaries of growth, approaching strategy expansion from several angles simultaneously. For example, Ares stated that it has been building out new investment platforms over the past several years in significant growth segments, including alternative credit, infrastructure, real estate debt, APAC credit, secondaries, wealth management, and insurance."

Source: Q1 2024 US Public PE and GP Deal Roundup

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Future Ventures targets AI with $169M fund

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