PitchBook News - The post-pandemic future of AI & HR

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The Daily Pitch: VC

May 19, 2020

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

Today's Top Stories

Investors bet on HR automation as potential boon amid mass layoffs

(Dimitri Otis/Getty Images)

The pandemic has led to a seemingly unending wave of layoffs disrupting the labor market. VCs have taken note of industries that may aid the recovery, among them the use of artificial intelligence in HR.

With the potential for millions of job openings in the future, the crisis has posed unique opportunities for HR automation startups. It also brings distinct challenges:

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SoftBank reports $17.7B Vision Fund loss as it stares into 'valley of coronavirus'

(Carl Court/Getty Images)

SoftBank's Vision Fund has reported a loss of 1.9 trillion yen ($17.7 billion) for its last fiscal year, and posted declines in value on its Uber and WeWork investments.

Uber's share price drop was responsible for nearly $5.2 billion of the Vision Fund's losses. WeWork added some $4.6 billion, and another $7.5 billion was attributed to the rest of the portfolio. The Japanese conglomerate now values WeWork at $2.9 billion, down from $7.3 billion at the end of last year. SoftBank also recorded an annual operating income loss of more than 1.3 trillion yen.

During a shareholder presentation, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son described billion-dollar startups dropping into a metaphorical "valley of coronavirus." But he also signaled optimism that nascent technologies such as online meetings and food delivery will help lead the post-coronavirus recovery.

In separate news, Jack Ma, the co-founder of ecommerce giant Alibaba, is set to step down from SoftBank's board of directors next month. Alibaba was an early SoftBank investment and is currently its most valuable asset.

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How much is your job worth?

We've teamed up with J.Thelander Consulting to conduct the annual Thelander-PitchBook Investment Firm Compensation Survey, which covers base pay, actual bonus, target bonus and carried interest for more than 75 positions.

New information in this year's survey includes:

The amount of carry dollars at work across all active and recent funds

How your firm has been affected by the coronavirus, remote work and business travel

Additional job titles, including all levels of asset management

Participating in the survey will give you access to a free subset of the results on the Thelander platform, where you can customize compensation data by job title, firm type, AUM and location.

Take the survey

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Breaking down the UK & Ireland private markets pre- and post-pandemic

(Peter Summers/Getty Images)

Our inaugural UK & Ireland Private Capital Breakdown provides a detailed look at the region before and after the start of the coronavirus outbreak. The report examines pre-pandemic venture capital and private equity activity, and forecasts how they may evolve as the crisis ebbs. Key insights include:

PE deal flow is depressed, but opportunistic fund managers may be able to capitalize on take-privates, bolt-ons and minority-stake transactions

Specialists in multiple VC subsectors could see increased growth in the near term

For mature startups burning cash, swiftly demonstrating a sustainable capital management strategy is paramount

PE fundraising is likely to fall drastically as LPs focus on portfolio triage

read it now

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Recommended Reads

Harvard professors Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff say we might be experiencing a one-of-a-kind crisis. [Bloomberg]

Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens eruption. One couple is still feeling the aftershocks after all these years. [The Seattle Times]

As one of the few inhabitants of an abandoned railway stop in New Mexico, Debra Dawson has been social distancing for years. [Outside]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

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VC valuations

1208

People

316

Companies

12

Funds

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2012 Vintage Global Venture Funds with more than $250M
	VC Deals
	SQZ Biotech picks up $65M Series D
	Go1 banks $40M for workplace learning
	Exits
	Inari Medical sets IPO terms

The Daily Benchmark

2012 Vintage Global Venture Funds with more than $250M

Median IRR

18.07%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

23.20%

2.00x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Flagship Ventures Fund IV

Index Ventures VI

Lightspeed Venture Partners IX

*IRR: net of fees

11 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

SQZ Biotech picks up $65M Series D

SQZ Biotech, a developer of clinical-stage cell therapies for cancer and other diseases, has raised $65 million in a round led by Temasek. Other investors included GV and Illumina Ventures. The company raised $72 million in 2018 at a $182 million valuation, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

ND Capital, Polaris Partners, T1D Fund, The Invus Group

View round

View 7 competitors »

Go1 banks $40M for workplace learning

Go1 has secured a $40 million Series C co-led by Madrona Venture and Seek, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, M12 and Our Innovation Fund. The company is a provider of corporate training, courses and other learning resources for employees. Madrona managing director S. Somasegar will join Go1's board.

View round

View 77 competitors »

Exits

Inari Medical sets IPO terms

Inari Medical, a commercial-stage developer of medical devices that treat venous diseases, has established a price range of $14 to $16 apiece for its upcoming offering of around 7.3 million shares on the Nasdaq, according to an SEC filing. A midpoint pricing would raise nearly $110 million and give the company an initial market cap of about $691.2 million. Inari is backed by US Venture Partners (19.9% pre-IPO stake), Gilde Healthcare (19.6%) and Versant Ventures (14.8%), among others.

View details

View 29 competitors »

Chart of the Day

"[J]ust three-fourths of the fund's deals are classified by PitchBook as venture deals, and more than 70% of them are tagged at the late stage. Furthermore, the median age of companies backed by SoftBank in a VC deal have been six years old. While this falls below the median age of all late-stage deals, SoftBank's long-term horizon for these companies hints at holding times pushing these companies past the current median time to exit."

Source: PitchBook analyst note on SoftBank's Vision Fund