PitchBook News - Pet-focused VC on prowl for up to $300M

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The Daily Pitch: VC

October 24, 2024

Presented by SRS Acquiom

In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find:

M&A's recovery is hitting its stride—and PE is getting in on the action, according to our latest Global M&A Report

Vetted Capital aims to collar up to $300 million to back pet-focused startups

A trio of investment talent hailing from top firms has raised a $350 million VC fund

In Europe, PE-backed IPOs seem to be making a comeback

Today's Top Stories

Pet-focused Vetted Capital targets $150M+ first-time VC fund

(Stefan Cristian Cioata/Getty Images)

Demand for pet care has cooled from the pandemic-induced puppy frenzy. But at least one firm sees a value-hunting opportunity in the downturn.

Vetted Capital aims to raise between $150 million and $300 million for its first fund, according to marketing materials obtained by PitchBook. The firm has secured about $60 million in commitments from LPs.

GPs Charles Tapp and Aaron Wallace are banking that their backgrounds in pet food and veterinary care, as well as a resurgence in consumer pet spending, can boost their long-term returns.

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The Daily Benchmark:
2021 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds

Median IRR

21.00%

Top Quartile IRR

27.81%

0.12x

Median DPI

Select top performers

NB Secondary Opportunities Fund V

Capital Dynamics Global Secondaries VI

Banner Ridge Secondary Fund IV

*IRR: net of fees

29 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Autonomous vehicle startup Nimble, which develops warehouse robots, raised a $106 million Series C led by FedEx and Cedar Pine at a $1 billion valuation.

Redaptive, a startup specializing in energy system upgrades, raised $100 million from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Axios reported.

Mortgage servicing platform developer Valon raised a $100 million Series C led by WestCap.

Massachusetts-based Be Biopharma, which develops treatments for hemophilia, raised a $82 million round from investors including ARCH Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, RA Capital Management and more.

Infinitus, a startup developing a platform that uses AI for healthcare phone calls, raised a $51.5 million Series C led by Andreessen Horowitz.

BasiGo, a Kenyan provider of electric buses, raised $42 million in debt and equity from investors including Novastar Ventures, Moxxie Ventures and SBI Investment.

Tennr, a startup building technology to reduce wait times for healthcare specialists, raised a $37 million Series B led by Lightspeed.

Fintech startup Interface.ai, which develops a platform for customer automation, raised a $30 million round led by Avataar Venture Partners, $20 million in equity and $10 million in debt.

Genie AI, a London-based AI legal assistant, secured a $17.8 million Series A led by GV.

Sensei, a Lisbon-based developer of autonomous retail technology, closed a €15 million Series A from investors including BlueCrow Capital, Iberis Capital and Techstars.

Nasdaq-listed Lumos Pharma has been acquired by Double Point Ventures in a take-private deal.

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PE Deals

Podcast advertising companies Veritone One and Oxford Road have been acquired by PE firm Insignia Capital Group. The acquisition of Veritone One is priced up to $104 million, while the price tag on Oxford Road is yet to be disclosed.

Tupperware is selling its assets to a group of lenders including Alden Global Capital and Stonehill Institutional Partners for a total of $23.5 million in cash and more than $63 million in debt relief.

Pharmaceutical packaging company Legacy Pharma Solutions has been acquired by Nutra-Med, a portfolio company of PE firm GenNx360 Capital Partners.

Fuel storage and import company Philippine Coastal Storage and Pipeline, which supplies liquid fuel products to the Philippines, has been acquired by I Squared Capital.

Text-to-video specialist Elai has been acquired by K1 Investment Management's portfolio company peer Panopto.

Portfolio Companies

Egis, a France-based construction and engineering company owned by Tikehau Capital, is planning to spend $800 million on acquisitions in the US and Canada, Bloomberg reported.

Nasdaq-listed Lilium, which started as an aerospace startup based in Germany, could face insolvency without €50 million in government funding from the state of Bavaria.

Exits & IPOs

Paris-based generative AI startup LightOn has announced plans to list on the Euronext Growth stock exchange at a €50 million valuation.

Baillie Gifford and Norges Bank are among the investors in Horizon Robotics' $696 million Hong Kong IPO, Bloomberg reported.

Fundraising

Mumbai-based VC firm Avaana Capital raised $135 million at the close of its latest fund targeted at investments in climate and sustainability companies.

Corporate M&A

Spirit Airlines, which could potentially file for bankruptcy, has renewed merger talks with Frontier Airlines, The Wall Street Journal reports. Frontier is considering a new bid to acquire Spirit.

Chart of the Day

Source: VCs bet on data infrastructure to keep fueling AI

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PitchBook News - Pet-focused VC on prowl for up to $300M

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