PitchBook News - Foodtech startups adapt to a pandemic

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The Daily Pitch: VC

May 22, 2020

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Editor's Note

Our team will be taking a break over the holiday weekend, so no newsletter on Monday.

In the meantime, you can catch up on our featured content on News & Analysis.

Today's Top Stories

COVID-19 highlights opportunities and headwinds for foodtech

(Sompong Sriphet/EyeEm/Getty Images)

The pandemic had major impacts on the economy as a whole in Q1, but it didn't significantly affect deal activity in the foodtech space. However, in the coming quarters, consumers' changing access to food will likely shift investor behavior, accelerate certain trends and limit some business models.

Our latest installment of Emerging Tech Research dives into foodtech, exploring the quarter that was and the months to come. Key takeaways include:

Foodtech companies raised $5.3 billion in VC in Q1 2020, a 25.3% increase year-over-year

Late-stage VC valuations crashed, with median pre-money valuations down 76.6% YoY, but early-stage pre-money valuations surged 159.3%

VC deals and exits will likely decline in the coming quarters as foodtech investors struggle to value opportunities and redirect resources toward existing portfolio companies

The spike in food purchases and supply chain issues could drive new consumers to try plant-based meat and dairy products

If you have any questions or feedback about the research, we'd love to hear from you: analystresearch@pitchbook.com.

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More coronavirus news: Continuing coverage from PitchBook

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The most active investors, advisers and more of Q1

In the first three months of 2020, Blackstone and The Carlyle Group were two of only four private equity firms to complete at least 20 deals around the globe. In venture capital, Accel and Tiger Global both ranked among the four most active firms in late-stage deals.

PitchBook's Q1 Global League Tables have all the data on the investors, advisers and bankers that took part in the most deals during the quarter. For the first time, the report is entirely interactive, giving users the chance to slice and dice the numbers in dozens of different ways to drill down on the details that matter most:

take a look

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Ask PitchBook

Wondering how the pandemic is affecting your segment of the private markets? Looking for an explanation of which companies will benefit from government relief programs? Curious about what's driving a recent trend you've noticed?

Email us at ask@pitchbook.com, and the news team will choose a question and track down the answers you're seeking.

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Recommended Reads

As massive losses pile up on its balance sheet, drama continues to build behind the scenes at SoftBank. [Bloomberg]

TikTok's choice of a new CEO is a sign that the wildly popular app is attempting to bring its playbook from India into the US. [Protocol]

Pessimism about the economy's ability to recover from the pandemic continues to build, with a majority of Americans now expecting the hard times to last at least five years. [The New York Times]

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2009 Vintage Global Buyout Funds
	VC Deals
	Samsara cuts jobs, sees valuation dip with $400M round
	Magic Leap secures $350M, continues development of new headset
	Aspiration banks $135M
	States Title brings home $123M
	Mindstrong locks in $100M
	Nautilus Biotechnology brings in $76M
	Amplitude hits $1B+ valuation with latest round
	Rent the Runway seeks funds below last year's $1B valuation
	Exits
	Inari Medical ups IPO price range

The Daily Benchmark

2009 Vintage Global Buyout Funds

Median IRR

16.20%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

23.57%

1.73x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Sentinel Capital Partners IV

Vista Foundation Fund 1

K3

*IRR: net of fees

33 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Samsara cuts jobs, sees valuation dip with $400M round

Samsara, a developer of internet-of-things technology for manufacturing, transportation, logistics and other industries, has raised $400 million at a $5.4 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. The San Francisco-based company was valued at $6.3 billion after securing $300 million last September. Samsara also reportedly announced 300 layoffs, representing 18% of its staff, at a company town hall on Wednesday.

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Magic Leap secures $350M, continues development of new headset

Magic Leap has raised $350 million from new and existing investors, according to Business Insider. The news comes nearly a month after the virtual reality company slashed almost half of its staff. Magic Leap is reportedly also withdrawing the WARN notice—a notification required for mass layoffs—it sent to employees in late April, and is working on its next headset, Magic Leap 2. The business reached a valuation of $6.7 billion in April 2019, according to PitchBook data.

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Aspiration banks $135M

Aspiration has raised a $135 million Series C led by Alpha Edison, according to Fortune. Founded in 2013 and based near Los Angeles, the fintech company is the operator of a branchless banking and investment platform. Aspiration was valued at $337 million in 2017, according to a PitchBook estimate.

Additional Investors:

DNS Capital, Social Impact Finance, Sutter Rock Capital, UBS O'Connor, Radicle Impact

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States Title brings home $123M

San Francisco-based States Title has raised a $123 million Series C led by Greenspring Associates. Founded in 2016, the company is the developer of a platform designed to process residential real estate transactions. Horizons Ventures, Eminence Capital and HSCM Bermuda also participated in the funding.

Additional Investors:

Assurant Growth Investing, Fifth Wall, Foundation Capital, Lennar, Scor

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Mindstrong locks in $100M

Mental health startup Mindstrong has secured a $100 million Series C from backers including General Catalyst, Arch Venture Partners, Foresite Capital, 8VC, Optum Ventures and What If Ventures. Based in San Francisco, the startup is the developer of an app that provides remote patient monitoring and mental health symptom measurement. It was valued at $200 million after a $45 million round in 2018.

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Nautilus Biotechnology brings in $76M

Vulcan Capital has led a $76 million Series B round for Nautilus Biotechnology, which analyzes human proteins to improve the development of therapeutics and predictive medicine. Investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Madrona Venture Group and AME Cloud Ventures also participated in the funding.

Select Additional Investors:

Bezos Expeditions, Defy, Perceptive Advisors

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Amplitude hits $1B+ valuation with latest round

Amplitude has brought in a $50 million Series E led by GIC, valuing the company north of $1 billion. Based in San Francisco, Amplitude is the developer of a product intelligence platform designed to help businesses analyze customer experience. The startup raised an $80 million Series D in 2018 at an $850 million valuation, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Battery Ventures, Benchmark, IVP, Lead Edge Capital, Sequoia, Sorenson Capital

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Rent the Runway seeks funds below last year's $1B valuation

Rent the Runway is looking for at least $25 million in financing led by T. Rowe Price at a valuation of about $750 million, according to Bloomberg. That would be a significant cut to the $1 billion it was valued at after a $125 million round last year, according to PitchBook data. The fashion company's plans reportedly aren't final and may change.

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Exits

Inari Medical ups IPO price range

Inari Medical, a VC-backed developer of medical devices, has increased its IPO price range to $17 to $18 a share, up from the $14 to $16 originally announced. With the updated pricing, the California-based company intends to raise up to $132 million in its public debut.

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Chart of the Day

"[Middle market] SBOs had a fair showing in 2019, with gains of 11.0% YoY. These increases were partially due to PE firms often being the highest bidders for MM companies. ... The increase in SBOs has been able to temper the decline in corporate acquisitions. Corporate acquisition exit value has not surpassed its 2015 highs, though 2019's YoY drop of 37.7% was one of the largest on record."

Source: PitchBook's 2019 Annual US PE Middle Market Report