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The Weekend Pitch

November 10, 2024

Presented by the U.S. National Science Foundation

(Drew Sanders/PitchBook News)

Private equity’s pursuit of retail investors is ramping up, with news just this week of US giant Blackstone’s plans to expand its private wealth business.

The firm is looking to enter at least two new European markets next year, Reuters reported, having established a presence in several countries including Italy and France. The business, which has offered retail investors access to areas such as PE and private credit since 2011, is currently worth around $250 billion—23% of Blackstone’s total assets.

Retail investors account for the majority of assets under management globally, and the World Economic Forum expects that share to surpass 61% by 2030—up from 52% in 2021. But only a small portion is allocated to alternative assets. PE has just 16% of the total, according to Bain & Company.

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

Besides Blackstone, several other firms have launched funds to capture a larger share of this wealth, including EQT and Apollo Global Management, who earlier this week announced that retail investors would be one of its three strategic growth drivers.

But while PE’s appetite for retail investor capital is strong, there are indicators that the enthusiasm may not be reciprocal.

Trivia

AI robotics startup Physical Intelligence raised a $400 million round led by Jeff Bezos, Thrive and Lux Capital this past week. The startup is currently developing robots that can perform what task?

A) Household chores
B) Coding
C) X-rays
D) Gymnastics

Find your answer at the bottom of The Weekend Pitch!

High VC valuations
mask still-slow growth

(alexsl/Getty Images)

The venture market's LP problem is as bad as ever.

Some $4 trillion in value is locked up in VC-backed companies in the US alone. The overinflated valuations set in 2020 and 2021 burned many companies' willingness to exit, and investors' holding value of those stakes is teetering, according to PitchBook's Q3 2024 US VC Valuations Report, sponsored by Morgan Stanley at Work.

read the report

Share:

VC boosts commercial
space launch industry

(Wong Yu Liang/Getty Images)

An increasingly lucrative opportunity has investors looking to the stars: startups operating in the commercial space launch industry. The need for satellites to support wider internet access and enhance geospatial monitoring is growing rapidly, and VC-backed companies are swooping in.

PitchBook’s latest Emerging Space Brief offers a full overview of the sector. From startups creating advanced propulsion systems and reusable components to companies assisting the next pioneering research missions, commercial space launch could take VCs where no one has gone before.

read the report

Share:

Quote/Unquote

(MF3d/Getty Images)

“I don’t think anyone wants to live in a world where all our digital lives are controlled by a handful of mega tech corporations that have full access to all our most intimate data. Applying decentralized systems, AI can be delivered in a way that’s more bottoms up, more grassroots, more user-centric.”

—Hoolie Tejwani, head of ventures at Coinbase. Read more about the increase in funding for decentralized AI startups here.

Stay tuned

Keep an eye out for these insights and research reports coming out this week:

2024 Global Fund Performance Report
Q3 2024 Crypto Report
Q3 2024 Infrastructure SaaS Report
Q3 2024 Supply Chain Tech Report
Q4 2024 Quant Perspectives: Private Equity
Q3 2024 Healthcare IT PE Update

Trivia

Answer: A

Physical Intelligence is currently creating an AI model for robots so that they can perform practical physical tasks in the real world, like folding laundry or clearing the table. Read more about Physical Intelligence’s latest funding round here.

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

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PitchBook News - Retail investors, PE wants you

Trivia

High VC valuations
mask still-slow growth

VC boosts commercial
space launch industry

Quote/Unquote

Stay tuned

Trivia

Sign up for our newsletter

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PitchBook News - Retail investors, PE wants you

Trivia

High VC valuations mask still-slow growth

VC boosts commercial space launch industry

Quote/Unquote

Stay tuned

Trivia

Sign up for our newsletter

Older messages

You Might Also Like

High VC valuations
mask still-slow growth

VC boosts commercial
space launch industry