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The Daily Pitch: VC

July 19, 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:

Explore PE performance with our latest benchmarking tool

Our Q2 valuations data for public companies in the agtech and gaming sectors

First-time manager Providence collects $45.5 million for its debut junior capital fund

Today's Top Stories

Gaming M&A slows as regulation looms

Online gambling stocks are flying high above all other gaming categories. With average returns of 29%, it was one of only three categories that did not post negative average returns. Its success may benefit the esports sector, which has grown rail-thin in recent years.

Gaming exits via IPO or M&A are both unlikely outlets for pressure. There are few potential IPO candidates, and large public incumbents are hesitant to tap their strong cash balances as regulations tighten.

Our Q2 2024 Gaming Public Comp Sheet and Valuation Guide tracks performance, valuations, and market caps for key publicly traded companies.

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Benchmark PE performance with our latest dashboard

Our new buyout replication portfolio dashboard captures the fundamental characteristics of PE investing within a portfolio of public stocks—including sector selection, leverage and security selection.

LPs can use the dashboard to benchmark buyout funds—in a way that better captures their risk-and-return profile than when using standard indexes, such as the S&P 500 or Russell 2000. An analysis using public market equivalents reveals that buyout funds launched in 2014 through 2017 performed mainly in line with the buyout replication portfolio.

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A message from PitchBook Data

2024 advertising opportunities with PitchBook

Clients trust PitchBook Media for top-tier ad placements in our seven specialized newsletters that connect with 2.1 million highly engaged PE and VC professionals. Backed by our robust global market data, we craft custom research reports and amplify clients' existing thought leadership through partnerships on PitchBook's asset class reports or native sponsored content columns.

Explore our Media Kit for more information or email us at mediasales@pitchbook.com.

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Poor performance hounds agtech stocks, unicorns

Animal biotech stocks were the only agtech segment with stock price appreciation in Q2, with prices rising an average of 5%. As our global unicorn index notched 7% gains this year, agtech unicorns have declined 1% in comparison. Meanwhile, investor enthusiasm may grow for animal agriculture, and median gross profit margins for the segment are expected to rise in 2024.

Our Q2 2024 Agtech Public Comp Sheet and Valuation Guide tracks performance, valuations, and market caps for key publicly traded companies.

see the data

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Venture deals for female founders fall to pre-2021 levels

Halfway through 2024, funding for startups founded by women is down sharply compared to recent years, our female founders dashboard shows.

Startups with at least one female founder garnered $15.4 billion across 1,487 deals through the first six months of 2024. This is the lowest amount of capital raised in H1 since 2020.

While the share of US VC capital going to female-only founded companies remains relatively stable, the share for startups with both male and female founders fell from 26% to 14.8% year-over-year, largely due to unusually large rounds from female-co founded OpenAI and Anthropic.

Notable deals so far this year include a $1 billion Series F for Scale AI, co-founded by Lucy Guo, and a $259 Series C for biopharmaceutical company Alumis, founded by June Lee.

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Lower-mid-market investor Providence raising maiden fund

(David Malan/Getty Images)

Providence Investment Partners, a Dallas-based boutique firm, is in the market to raise a fund to provide junior capital to lower-middle-market companies in Texas and the US Southwest, according to a March regulatory filing and a person familiar with the fundraising.

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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

13

VC valuations

2519

People

699

Companies

28

Funds

See what our data software can do

The Daily Benchmark:
2020 Vintage Global Debt Funds

Median IRR

13.71%

Top Quartile IRR

18.67%

0.67x

Median DPI

Select top performers

Onex Senior Loan Opportunity Fund I

Jive Distressed Fund III

Paceline Equity Partners Opportunity Fund I

*IRR: net of fees

82 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Nearfield Instruments, a developer of metrology and inspection solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, raised €135 million in a Series C led by Walden Catalyst and Temasek.

Pindrop, an Atlanta-based deepfake detection startup, raised $100 million in debt financing from Hercules Capital.

Ctera raised $80 million from PSG Equity. The New York-based company offers a cloud data management platform.

Truvian Health, a San Diego-based blood testing startup, raised $74 million in a round co-led by Wittington Ventures and Great Point Ventures.

Peak Energy raised a $55 million Series A led by Xora Innovation, an investing platform of Temasek. The Denver-based company specializes in energy storage.

Grover, a Berlin-based rental company offering consumer electronics, raised €50 million in a round that included public-private investor Cool Japan Fund.

Quatt, an Amsterdam-based startup specializing in smart heat pumps, raised €25 million in a round led by Blue Earth Capital.

Newme, a fast-fashion retailer based in India, raised $18 million in Series A led by Accel, according to reports.

Integra Therapeutics, a Spanish biotech startup developing gene-writing tools intended to make advanced therapies safer and more effective, will receive a €2.5 grant and up to €8 million in equity from the European Innovation Council's accelerator program.

Landfolk, a Danish vacation rentals startup, raised €10.3 million from EIFO, Seed Capital and Heartland.

Don't miss our upcoming webinar

2024 has sparked VC optimism, with improvement in deal values and startup valuations. Although European VC hasn't gained significant momentum, resilient dealmaking across various industries, along with a better fundraising environment, signals a potential turning point. However, liquidity pressures persist and continue to affect sentiment.

Industry experts and PitchBook analysts will share findings from our European Venture Report, sponsored by J.P. Morgan, shedding light on developments that should be on every investor's radar.

Exits show negligible signs of recovery due to tepid public listing markets.

Fundraising is in line with 2023 as smaller, emerging vehicles take a share of closes.

Register now to secure your spot.

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PE Deals

Apax Partners and Bain Capital are among the separate bidders for Switzerland-based software company SoftwareOne, Reuters reported.

UK firm Inflexion has invested in FDM, a UK provider of European telecoms market data. The investment is being made via Inflexion's Enterprise Fund V.

Zurich-listed financial software group Temenos is looking at selling its fund management unit Multifonds, Reuters reported. Montagu Private Equity is among the potential suitors.

Advent International and PAI Partners are among the first-round bidders for French drugmaker Sanofi's consumer health division, Bloomberg reported.

Amsterdam-based Karmijn Kapitaal has invested in UniKidz, a chain of childcare facilities operating across the Netherlands.

Asterion Industrial Partners and Nextalia are among potential suitors for BT Italia, the struggling Italian unit of UK telecom company BT, Bloomberg reported.

UK investor Mobeus has sold The Boundary, a marketing software provider for the global real estate industry, to Kester Capital.

Jacobs Holding has agreed to buy Ilerna, a Spanish vocational training provider, from Skill & You, a portfolio company of IK Partners.

New-York based Snowhawk has agreed to acquire a majority stake in SecureVision, a provider of connectivity services for the hospitality industry.

Cloverleaf Infrastructure, a developer of digital infrastructure sites, received capital from NGP and Sandbrook Capital totaling over $300 million as it seeks to transition to a sustainable electricity system.

Platinum Equity has invested in Motors & Armatures, a distributor of HVAC and refrigeration supplies and equipment.

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Exits & IPOs

Samsung Electronics has agreed to acquire Oxford Semantic Technologies, an AI technology startup based in the UK that it previous backed via its VC unit alongside Innovate UK and Oxford University Innovation.

Ardent Health has raised $192 million for its public listing on the NYSE. The hospital operator was previously acquired by Equity Group Investments and Ventas in 2015.

Hyatt Hotels is in advanced talks to buy the Platform Capital Management-backed Standard Hotels brand, a luxury hotels operator, Bloomberg reported.

Payroll provider Deel has acquired Hofy, a London-based startup that manages office equipment for remote hires.

AI-enabled security technology company Garda World Security, which is backed by Investissement Québec, has acquired Crisis24.

Fundraising

Los Angeles-based middle-market PE firm Kingswood Capital Management has closed its Opportunities Fund III with $1.5 billion.

Altimeter Capital Management, the VC firm founded by Brad Gerstner, has raised $552.7 million for its seventh flagship fund, according to regulatory filings. The vehicle has a target of $750 million.

Investors

The Teacher Retirement System of Texas, the state's largest public pension fund, is reallocating $10 billion out of private equity investments, reducing its target allocation from 14% to 12%, pension officials said at a board meeting yesterday.

Chart of the Day

Source: June 2024 Global Markets Snapshot

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PitchBook News - Pressure mounts for gaming exits

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