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PitchBook News - Will Middle East VC cash stop flowing?

Plus: PE giants take aim at rivals, assessing the health of healthcare segments, retail fintech's big-deal resurgence & more
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The Weekend Pitch
September 1, 2024
The Daily Pitch is powered by PitchBook’s industry-defining research and best-in-class data
(Mara Potter/PitchBook News)
Today, the global venture capital ecosystem is more reliant than ever on free-flowing Middle Eastern money, but what happens when one of the region’s biggest sovereign wealth funds tightens the taps?

I'm Leah Hodgson, and this is The Weekend Pitch. You can reach me at leah.hodgson@pitchbook.com or on X @LeahFHodgson.

Public Investment Fund—Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion sovereign investment vehicle—is now prioritizing domestic projects, the Financial Times reported this month. Up until this shift, the Kingdom's fund had been on a decade-long global investment spree—under the direction of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman—and VCs have been a major beneficiary.

In recent times, PIF has been leading the charge among many Middle Eastern investors, such as those in the UAE, who have turned to VC as falling oil production and languishing prices have diminished their traditional sources of wealth.

This has come either through huge fund commitments, such as PIF's promise in 2016 to invest up to $45 billion into SoftBank’s Vision Fund, or via direct investments. PIF has backed companies like Uber and augmented reality company Magic Leap, as well as making numerous investments via its VC arm Sanabil.

Given how entrenched PIF, and indeed the broader region, are in the global VC market, any retreat by the fund will be deeply felt—particularly if other oil-rich countries facing similar headwinds follow suit.
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Trivia
Startups in enterprise SaaS are making headway in integrating generative AI into their offerings and feeling the effects: Q2 2024 saw deal count and value explode, even excluding mega-deals like that of xAI. Across 713 deals, how much capital was raised in the vertical during Q2 2024?

A) $17.9 billion
B) $11.4 billion
C) $27.1 billion
D) $21.9 billion

Find your answer at the bottom of The Weekend Pitch!
 

Private equity giants
take aim at other GPs
(J Studios/Getty Images)
Among the seven largest US-listed alternative managers, a new era is being ushered in as GPs increasingly target other GPs—with such deal counts up 84% in 2024 and on track to set an all-time record.

In the thick of the hunt was Blue Owl, which completed its acquisition of Kuvare Asset Management in early July, effectively adding $20 billion in AUM.

Along with the increase of GP mergers, our Q2 2024 Public PE and GP Deal Roundup covers the recent rise in fundraising.
 

An H1 checkup for
healthcare funds
(Utah778/Getty Images)
Our H1 2024 Healthcare Funds Report offers a guide to nearly 500 healthcare and life sciences specialist managers across PE and VC, providing a window into their performance.

PE healthcare specialists are outraising the broader asset class, with bigger fundraises and more frequent above-target closes. But VC healthcare and life sciences fundraising declined as a proportion of overall venture fundraising.

As allocators continue to reevaluate their alternatives mix, PitchBook lead healthcare analyst Rebecca Springer breaks down capital formation in the sector.
 

Large deals drive
retail fintech's surge
(Twenty47studio/Getty Images)
VC funding for the retail fintech industry rebounded in Q2, driven in part by large fundraising rounds for credit and banking startups. Overall deal value hit $4.5 billion, an over 270% increase from the first quarter of 2024.

Our latest Emerging Tech Research covers what's behind the shift in investor enthusiasm for the sector, which has lagged for several quarters. Senior analyst Rudy Yang also highlights new opportunities in cross-border remittances, the transferring of money between people in different countries.
 

Quote/Unquote
"We see a billion-dollar-plus marketplace that is just unloved and not tapped at this moment."

—Alphonse Lordo, an entertainment banker who recently joined Content Partners, talking to PitchBook News' Madeline Shi about the firm's new strategy to provide loans to the entertainment industry.
 

Stay tuned
Keep an eye out for these insights and research reports coming out this week:
  • Q2 2024 Germany Snapshot
  • August 2024 Global Markets Snapshot
  • 2024 UK Private Capital Breakdown
  • Q2 2024 Insurtech Report
  • Analyst Note: Crypto Funds Report
 

Trivia
Answer: D)

In Q2 2024, $21.9 billion was generated across 713 deals in enterprise SaaS, a sharp bounceback for the sector. You can read more about what's driving new activity and interest in our Q2 2024 Enterprise SaaS Report.

This edition of The Weekend Pitch was written by Leah Hodgson and Jacob Robbins. It was edited by Andrew Woodman and Ron Prichard.

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