Crisis could drive boom for venture debt

| Don't want to receive these emails?

PitchBook

The Daily Pitch: VC

April 24, 2020

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

Today's Top Stories

Will venture debt play a bigger role during the crisis?

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky at the Fortune Global Forum in San Francisco in 2015. Airbnb recently raised a total of $2 billion across two debt rounds. (Kimberly White/Getty Images Entertainment)

PitchBook's venture debt research note examines how the strategy could prove a useful avenue for VC-backed companies looking to extend their runways during pandemic-related economic distress.

Breaking down the pros and cons of utilizing venture debt, the note also explores how venture lending could transform during the current, unprecedented situation:

read it now

More coronavirus news: Continuing coverage from PitchBook

Share:

Cybercriminals scam three UK PE firms in $1.3M heist

(Peter Cade/Stone/Getty Images)

An investigation by cybersecurity provider Check Point found that a trio of unnamed British private equity firms recently fell victim to a £1.1 million (around $1.3 million) cyberattack.
While cybersecurity is top of mind for many investors, cybercriminals are becoming more adept at their craft, launching attacks that often continue for weeks or months—and VC and PE firms are lucrative targets:

Recommended Reads

Few startups have ascended to unicorn status faster than Bird. But the scooter company's unceasing focus on growth may have come at the expense of the people who made it happen. [The Verge]

A mysterious disaster off the Norwegian coast is raising new questions about Russia's ambitions for sending manned submarines to the deepest depths of the world's oceans. [The New York Times]

Some in Silicon Valley think psychedelics are the next frontier in wellness and healthcare. Is that such a good idea? [OneZero]

Amid overwhelming demand, whether or not a business won access to the recent $350 billion coronavirus relief bill in the US too often came down to one question: Who do you know? [Forbes]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

12

VC valuations

1341

People

410

Companies

31

Funds

See what our data software can do

Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2006 Vintage Global Venture Funds with more than $250M
	VC Deals
	AvidXchange banks $128M
	Affinivax brings in $120M Series B
	Accent Therapeutics picks up $63M
	Peter Thiel backs psychedelic-drug startup Atai
	Freewire Technologies scores $25M in debt and equity
	Fundraising
	Venrock raises nearly $447M for healthcare fund

The Daily Benchmark

2006 Vintage Global Venture Funds with more than $250M

Median IRR

3.56%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

11.74%

1.28x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Summit Partners Venture Capital Fund II

Thomas McNerney & Partners II

M/C Venture Partners VI

*IRR: net of fees

22 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

AvidXchange banks $128M

AvidXchange, which offers businesses an automation platform for processing invoices and payments, has raised $128 million. The company collected $260 million in January at a $2 billion valuation, according to a PitchBook estimate; the latest funds are part of that earlier round. Founded in 2000 and based in Charlotte, AvidXchange is backed by investors including Pivot Investment Partners, TPG Sixth Street Partners and Mastercard.

View round

View 40 competitors »

Affinivax brings in $120M Series B

Affinivax, a developer of vaccines and immunotherapies for bacterial infections, has raised a $120 million round led by Viking Global Investors, with Bain Capital Life Sciences and Ziff Capital Partners also participating. The clinical-stage biotech company plans to use the funding in part to advance its pneumococcal vaccine program.

View round

View 17 competitors »

Accent Therapeutics picks up $63M

Accent Therapeutics has raised a $63 million Series B led by EcoR1 Capital, with participation from investors including GV, Abbvie Ventures and The Column Group. The Boston-area company is developing RNA modification treatments for cancer patients. It raised $40 million in 2018 at a $52.5 million valuation, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

NS Investment Partners, Droia Oncology Ventures, Atlas Venture, The Mark Foundation for Cancer Research

View round

View 45 competitors »

Peter Thiel backs psychedelic-drug startup Atai

German biotech company Atai Life Sciences has raised $24 million in a convertible-note round from a group of investors that includes PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. Atai, which is developing psychoactive compounds to treat mental health disorders, is considering an IPO in the next 12 months, according to Bloomberg. It is an investor in Compass Pathways, which received a breakthrough therapy designation from the Food and Drug Administration in 2018 for its psilocybin-based depression treatment.

View round

View similar company »

Share:

Freewire Technologies scores $25M in debt and equity

Freewire Technologies, which offers charging services for electric vehicles, has raised $25 million in a round led by BP Ventures, with support from Silicon Valley Bank and others. The company was valued at $46.1 million in September, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

ABB Technology Ventures, Energy Innovation Capital

View round

View 11 competitors »

Fundraising

Venrock raises nearly $447M for healthcare fund

Venrock has closed its latest healthcare-focused vehicle on almost $447 million, according to an SEC document. The fund follows a $400 million predecessor that closed in 2018. The VC firm's biotech investments include Corvidia, a developer of treatments for cardio-renal diseases, and Keros Therapeutics, a creator of therapies for blood and musculoskeletal disorders that recently went public.

View fund

View 440 investments »

Chart of the Day

"We expect to see more European take-privates in the coming quarters due to COVID-19. €9.8 billion worth of European take-privates closed in Q1, Europe's highest first-quarter absolute figure in a decade."

Source: PitchBook's Q1 2020 European PE Breakdown