PitchBook News - Mapping nuclear fission's future

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The Daily Pitch: VC

October 30, 2024

Presented by SVB

Today's Top Stories

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Blackstone got another $22 billion for direct lending.

The firm's first semi-liquid US direct lending fund brings its AUM for the strategy to over $123 billion. LPs have demanded more exposure to private debt instruments as they continue to produce historically high returns.

Jessica Hamlin reports that direct lending comprised more than half of private debt funds raised this year. Full story

💳 Nigeria's Moniepoint snagged $110 million in Africa’s largest fintech deal this year. VC investment in African fintech has seen a steep decline year-over-year, despite long-term tailwinds. Moniepoint's CEO called the fundraising process "demanding."

⚛ Nuclear technology is evolving to meet new demands, from supplying power for data centers to enabling decarbonization. Our latest Emerging Space Brief highlights how next-generation fission reactors are putting nuclear energy back in the spotlight. Get the report.

Carbon tech's next big things: soil, seaweed and bioreactors

While the carbon-tech sector saw only a slight quarterly decline in funding in Q3, alarm bells are ringing over the more than 73% drop in total deal value year-over-year.

Despite the plunge—relative to Q3 2023's record haul and outsized rounds—startups using biological methods to remove carbon emissions are recapturing investors' attention, according to our latest Emerging Tech Research. Companies focusing on the use of phytoplankton and smarter soil saw total funding in that space rise $178 million.

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PE sells best assets first in exit value revival

(Dale Johnson/Getty Images)

Exit value has ticked up this year, as private equity firms largely traded their most valuable assets first. The value of PE exits for Q3 has grown by an estimated 50.5% year-over-year.

"Either people have to transact for a variety of reasons, or they have such a good asset, it's not worth holding on to," said Paul Aversano, head of the global transaction advisory group at consultant Alvarez & Marsal.

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Europe's PE dealmaking shows signs of recovery, but exits remain low

Our Q3 2024 European PE Breakdown, sponsored by Stax, shows the market is on track for significant yearly growth, with a projected 27.5% increase in deal value and 11.5% in deal count.

Improved market conditions, lower rates and substantial dry powder among sponsors are driving the trend, particularly in mega-deals and corporate divestitures, which now represent over 18% of deal value.

However, exit activity remains low, with a flat year-over-year value and a notable drop in count from 2021's highs. Fundraising has remained strong despite a weaker Q3, with a marked decline in growth/expansion funds, indicating a shift toward traditional buyout strategies.

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The Daily Benchmark:
2020 Vintage Global VC Funds

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11.50%

Top Quartile IRR

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0.00x

Median DPI

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Greenfield Partners Fund I

D3 Bio Healthcare Fund

Oregon Venture Fund 2020

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VC Deals

Crusoe, a data center startup, is raising a $500 million round from investors including Founders Fund and Felicis Ventures, the Financial Times reported.

Elon Musk's AI startup xAI is in talks to raise a new round that could value the company around $40 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Finova Capital, an Indian small business lender, received a $135 million Series E led by Avataar Venture Partners, Sofina and Madison India Capital.

Property management software startup DoorLoop raised a $100 million Series B led by JMI Equity.

Digital infrastructure startup GMI Cloud raised an $82 million Series A led by Headline Asia, comprising $67 million in debt and $15 million in equity.

Blacklane, a Berlin-based chauffeuring startup, raised €60 million from investors including Tasaru Mobility Investments.

Pathos AI, a biotech startup using AI in drug development, raised a $62 million Series C led by NEA.

Petfolk, which is building a network of veterinary urgent care clinics, raised a $36 million Series C led by Deerfield Management, Axios reported.

eSmart Systems, a Norwegian provider of AI-driven inspection and maintenance solutions for critical infrastructure, secured €30 million in a round led by TiLT Capital.

Field monitoring and communications company Andium raised a $21.7 million Series B led by Aramco Ventures, the corporate VC arm of Saudi Arabia-based Aramco.

Elevate, developer of a cloud-based platform for employee benefits, raised a $20 million round led by Fin Capital.

PE Deals

CVC Capital Partners invested in Superstruct Entertainment alongside KKR, following its recent acquisition of the live entertainment group.

French firm Ardian is in advanced talks to acquire Akuo Energy, a solar and wind farm developer, in a deal valued at around $2.5 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Kartesia agreed to support the management buyout of Goetzpartners, a Munich-based consultancy specializing in strategy, M&A and transformation.

Cornerstone Financing, a company developing an estate, insurance and investment planning platform, raised $285 million in aggregate financing from Aquiline Capital Partners and Nomura.

Workforce management platform developer Fingercheck, based in New York, raised a $115 million growth investment led by Edison Partners.

Music licensing company Duetti raised $114 million, including $34 million in equity led by Flexpoint Ford and an $80 million asset-backed securitization.

Thompson Street-backed Silverchair will acquire scholarly publishing software provider ScholarOne from Clarivate.

Exits & IPOs

US fuel pipeline operator Colonial Pipeline, which is backed by KKR, CDPQ and other private investors, is in talks to be sold in a deal that could value the company over $10 billion, Bloomberg reported.

BC Partners has sold its owning stake in GardaWorld back to the Canada-based security services company. The deal values GardaWorld around $9.7 billion.

Quris-AI, a company using AI in drug development, has acquired healthtech startup Nortis.

Irwin, a company developing a platform for investor relations and capital markets, has been acquired by publicly listed FactSet.

Fundraising

Houston-based Quantum Capital Group raised $10 billion in capital commitments across several funds: $5.25 billion for Quantum Energy Partners VIII, $2.8 billion for Quantum Capital Solutions II, and about $2 billion for other funds.

AlpInvest Partners, a subsidiary of The Carlyle Group, raised $1 billion in a collateralized fund obligation, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Chart of the Day

Source: As fintech frost bites, an a16z-backed neobank faces a down round

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PitchBook News - Mapping nuclear fission's future

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