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The Daily Pitch: VC

August 8, 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:

AI is inflating VC valuations, with the sector capturing nearly half of total deal value in Q2

SoftBank reports gains for its investment arms as it contends with trading volatility

Our latest Emerging Space Brief covers the ups and downs of VC-backed satellite repairs

Our Global Manager Performance Score League Tables rank top-performing fund families across PE and VC strategies

Today's Top Stories

Extended slowdown forces startups back to market

AI is artificially inflating valuation numbers across VC, with the sector capturing nearly 50% of total deal value in Q2. But flat and down rounds are at a decade high and valuation step-ups between rounds have softened, according to our Q2 2024 US VC Valuations Report, sponsored by Morgan Stanley at Work and Forge Global.

On the public markets side, price/sales ratios are stagnating, and recently listed SaaS and consumer tech stocks haven't performed as well as expected. So as more startups that last raised during the pandemic highs come back to market, investors shouldn't bet on seeing a windfall anytime soon.

read the report

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SoftBank still on the hunt for AI deals despite losses, market turmoil

(Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images)

SoftBank Group has reported significant gains for its investment arms as it contends with trading volatility.

The Japanese group is actively pursuing new deals as it continues its push into AI.

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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

8

VC valuations

1962

People

639

Companies

29

Funds

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The Daily Benchmark:
2018 Vintage Global Debt Funds

Median IRR

9.97%

Top Quartile IRR

11.90%

0.54x

Median DPI

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Oaktree Special Situations Fund II

PAG Enhanced Credit Fund II

Raith Real Estate Fund II

*IRR: net of fees

92 Funds in Benchmark »

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VC Deals

Idrx, a biopharma startup developing precision cancer treatment, raised a $120 million Series B led by RA Capital Management, Commodore Capital and Blackstone.

Opal, a San Francisco-based startup developing webcams and looking to expand into AI-powered devices, raised a $60 million Series B led by OpenAI's venture arm.

Octane, a New York-based fintech startup helping consumers finance recreational purchases, raised a $50 million Series E led by Valar Ventures.

Black Forest Labs, a German generative AI startup, has raised $31 million in a seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz.

Neon, a startup developing a cloud-native database service, raised $25 million from M12.

Anjuna, a Bay Area-based startup developing a confidential computing platform for infrastructure security, raised a $25 million Series B2 led by M Ventures, SineWave Ventures and AI Capital Partners.

Casavo, a Milan-based proptech scale-up, has raised €20 million in a Series D extension led by UniCredit. The company previously raised €10 million in 2022.

Andrena, a decentralized high-speed internet provider, raised an $18 million Series A led by Dragonfly, Axios reported.

Branch Energy, a Houston-based startup focused on providing clean and reliable energy to modernize Texas' power supply, raised a $10.8 million Series A led by Prelude Ventures.

Kindlife, a beauty and wellness platform in India, has raised $8 million from South Korea's JB-Dooeun TK Fund and Japan-based Mixi Global.

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PE Deals

KKR is eyeing an acquisition of Fuji Soft, a Japanese software developer, in a $4 billion take-private deal, Bloomberg reported. The offer price represents more than 20% premium to Fuji Soft's closing price yesterday.

OMERS Infrastructure acquired Grandi Stazioni Retail, the manager of commercial and advertising spaces in 14 of Italy's railway stations. It is OMERS' first investment in Italy.

EQT agreed to acquire a majority stake in Acronis, a cybersecurity platform based in Switzerland. Existing investors including CVC Capital Partners, Springcoast and BlackRock will remain as significant minority shareholders.

TechMet, an Irish critical minerals value chain investment company, has raised $180 million from the Qatar Investment Authority.

The cargo unit of Asiana Airlines is being sold to PE-backed South Korean cargo-only airline Air Incheon for 470 billion won (about $342 million).

Nasdaq-listed PetIQ, a company specializing in pet health, was acquired by PE firm Bansk Group in a take-private valuing the company at around $1.5 billion.

OMOA, a payments business operating in Africa, was sold to Tunisia-based SPE Capital by Adenia Partners.

Technopolis, a Finland-based company providing offices and co-working spaces, received a €120 million investment from NorthWall Capital.

Lonsdale Partners sold Infrata, a London-based infrastructure consultancy, to Inflexion-backed DSS+. The deal represents a 3.2x money multiple and an 81% IRR.

Exits & IPOs

Skuad, a Singapore-based HR tech startup focused on global talent acquisition, was acquired by Nasdaq-listed Payoneer for $61 million, TechCrunch reported.

GCash, a mobile payments company based in the Philippines, is still looking to move forward with an IPO following an investment from Mitsubishi UFJ.

Ecosio, a Vienna-based company focused on automated B2B communication, was acquired by Nasdaq-listed tax technology provider Vertex.

Fundraising

Crucible Capital, a new VC firm led by prominent blockchain industry voice Meltem Demirors, is looking to raise $75 million across its first two funds, according to SEC filings.

Blackstone has launched a new fund targeted at infrastructure investments, according to SEC filings.

Chart of the Day

Source: Q2 2024 Global M&A Report

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