Connexa Capital closes $20M debut VC fund

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The Daily Pitch: VC

June 26, 2024

Presented by Microsoft for Startups

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

Startups boost healthcare access through AI chatbots and improved search platforms

Some PE managers are adding partial exits to their toolkits as a way to cope with a tough environment

As debates over online privacy reignite, gaming specialist k-ID has scored $45 million for kids safety

Our analysts' crystal ball has been largely accurate on Europe's private markets

Today's Top Stories

Exclusive: Connexa Capital closes $20M debut VC fund

(Barry Winiker/Getty Images)

When raising his first VC fund, Jonathan Beda tapped into his deep roots in consumer companies. Beda founded Zumbini, the child-focused edtech startup that spun out of Zumba Fitness. And his LP base includes the co-founders of weight-loss app developer Noom and Zumba.

But the former founder has "pivoted away from consumer" given the expensive and challenging nature of the segment. Instead, Connexa Capital has closed with $20 million to invest primarily in B2B SaaS companies, Beda told PitchBook exclusively.

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How VC can make healthcare more accessible

Improved search platforms and AI chatbots are among the ways startups are helping patients access healthcare, according to our latest Emerging Tech Research.

Digital health startups are addressing mental health with generative AI chatbots, which show increased potential in public health. Better care search platforms connect patients and providers, with fewer barriers—as easy as booking a hotel on a website.

Across the digital health sector, VC investment remained stable in the first quarter. There were 77 deals totaling $1.1 billion, on par with recent quarters but still down from the telehealth funding boom during the pandemic.

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A message from Microsoft for Startups

Founders & investors go niche and earlier in AI

Venture investment in AI continues to remain resilient amid market volatility. Worldwide, close to 1,800 transactions have closed thus far in 2024 for an aggregate of $21.1 billion. This frenetic level of competition has prompted founders and investors to move upstream in the AI ecosystem, as detailed in Microsoft for Startups' latest report: AI in the Early-Stage Venture Ecosystem. The report maps out key trends defining early-stage dealmaking against macro context, including:

What financing metrics at the early stage reveal for valuations and deal sizes
Where business opportunities lie in budding regulations and increasingly costly technical hurdles
The role of corporate and nontraditional players for deals and partnerships

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Creatio defies SaaS slump with $200M unicorn raise

(fotograzia/Getty Images)

Creatio, a no-code software development startup, has raised $200 million in new funding at a $1.2 billion valuation, defying a slowdown in the greater SaaS space. Sapphire Ventures led the round.

Founder and CEO Katherine Kostereva talked to PitchBook about the company's growth rate and profitability, and how it is ramping up AI investment.

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As online privacy debates reignite, k-ID raises $45M for kids safety

(Carlos Ruben Hernandez Blasco/Getty Images)

For the third time in nine months, kids gaming safety and privacy startup k-ID has raised a new funding round—this time co-led by Lightspeed and Andreessen Horowitz.

The $45 million Series A comes as the debate surrounding kids safety has reignited, following the US surgeon general announcing a push for warning labels on social media platforms.

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GPs turn to partial exits in a quest for liquidity

(Chris Jongkind/Getty Images)

In recent weeks, some PE managers have added partial exits to their toolbelts as they try to meet distribution obligations while keeping some skin in the game, even as they hope for stronger market conditions in the near future.

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Europe's sluggish private markets recovery offers few surprises

As we reach the halfway point of 2024, our early predictions of a muted recovery for European private capital are largely being borne out.

Our 2024 European Private Capital Outlook: Midyear Update reveals that across the market, both deal and exit activity are down amid tough market conditions. As expected, mega-deals have suffered, accounting for just over 20% of deal value—versus an average of 32% from 2013 to 2022.

Liquidity issues also persist, with the region's PE investment/exits ratio tracking higher. Fundraising continues to be increasingly concentrated. So far this year, the three biggest European funds have accounted for over 61% of all European PE capital raised.

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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

17

VC valuations

2284

People

718

Companies

29

Funds

See what our data software can do

The Daily Benchmark:
2020 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds

Median IRR

22.32%

Top Quartile IRR

31.25%

0.13x

Median DPI

Select top performers

PA Secondary Fund VI

Auda Secondary Fund V

Pantheon Private Debt PCO II

*IRR: net of fees

20 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Getir, a Turkish grocery delivery company, secured a $250 million investment led by Mubadala as part of a restructuring.

EvolutionaryScale, which develops AI models for use in biotech and drug discovery, raised a $142 million round led by Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross and Lux Capital.

Etched, a startup developing computer chips to train and deploy AI models, raised a $120 million Series A led by Primary Venture Partners and Positive Sum Ventures.

SkyCell, a Swiss developer of smart shipping containers for use in pharmaceutical supply chains, closed a $116 million Series D from investors including Tybourne Capital Management and CC Industries.

Emergence, which is developing generative AI agents that automate certain work tasks, raised $97.2 million from Learn Capital, TechCrunch reported.

Neustark, a Swiss carbon removal startup, raised $69 million in a round led by Decarbonization Partners.

Prewave, a Vienna-based supply chain risk and sustainability monitoring specialist, completed a €63 million Series B led by Hedosophia.

TechWolf, a Belgian skills intelligence company, raised a $42.75 million Series B led by Felix Capital.

LiveEO, a Berlin-based provider of Earth observation technologies, raised a €25 million Series B led by NordicNinja and DeepTech & Climate Fonds.

Zyod, an Indian fashion manufacturing specialist, secured an $18 million Series A led by RTP Global.

PE Deals

Sharecare, a Nasdaq-listed digital health company, will be acquired by PE firm Altaris in a deal worth about $518 million.

Coronado Global Resources, an Australian coal supplier, has terminated plans for a sale to Czech investor Sev.en Global Investments.

Sanofi's consumer health division could be bought by Advent International or PAI Partners, Bloomberg reported.

Stripes Beauty, a cosmetics company founded by actress Naomi Watts, will be acquired by L Catterton.

London-based Perwyn has acquired Atec Group, a UK insurance distribution company, from Kester Capital.

Exits & IPOs

Clario, which develops software to help facilitate and advance clinical drug trials, has filed for IPO targeting a valuation of about $10 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Rho Motion, a research and analysis specialist for electric vehicle charging and infrastructure, has been acquired by UK-based competitor Benchmark Mineral Intelligence.

The Woodland Financial Group, which offers insurance services to individuals and small businesses, has filed for IPO on the Nasdaq.

Grail, a Bay Area-based developer of tests that detect cancer early, has begun trading on the Nasdaq after its spin out from Illumina.

Canada's Trader, which operates a digital automotive marketplace, may be sold by PE firm Thoma Bravo in a deal valuing Trader at around $2.9 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Fundraising

KKR is targeting $20 billion for its latest North American PE fund, Reuters reported.

HIG Capital has raised $1.3 billion for its latest fund targeting mid-market infrastructure businesses, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Blackstone is planning to double the size of its European private credit fund, the Financial Times reported. The fund, called ECRED, has raised €1 billion from wealthy investors.

Austin-based PE firm Elsewhere Partners has raised $285 million for its third fund, which targets small software companies, The Wall Street Journal reported.

MiddleGame Ventures, a Luxembourg-based fintech-focused VC firm, has held a €52 million first close for its third early-stage fund. The vehicle has a target of €150 million.

Investors

Private markets asset manager HarbourVest Partners is opening a new office in Zurich. The office will be headed by Simon Jennings and will help the firm address demand from private wealth clients.

Chart of the Day

Source: Meet the 10 most active investors in generative AI

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Connexa Capital closes $20M debut VC fund

Older messages

Charting the path forward for LPs

Revisiting our 2024 VC predictions

Why seed investors leave comfy VC firms

Do you care about ESG?

Charting a European VC healthcare ecosystem

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