Female angel investors slower to open pockets

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The Daily Pitch: VC

March 13, 2025

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💊 Major rounds for obesity treatments and GLP-1 therapeutics are reshaping the biopharma VC investment landscape, our latest report on the space shows. The broader market has matured with fewer, larger deals concentrated in mature modalities such as advanced small molecules and biologics. Get the report

📉 Last year was a quiet one for US female angel investors, with only 311 of them participating in priced venture rounds, according to new PitchBook data. That's a significant decrease from 2023 and below pre-pandemic levels, suggesting that now is a particularly tough market for both startups and individuals. Read more

Plus...
• Southeast Asia's private markets are hit by an exit lag
• PE keeps up AI funding momentum

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PE funding for AI stays strong after record 2024

(Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images)

The AI and machine learning market in Europe has seen nearly $3.2 billion in funding this year, already making it the third-highest quarter for the space so far.

Though traditionally seen as a niche industry for VC investors, the sector is gaining traction in PE and deal sizes are growing.

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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

16

VC valuations

2975

People

690

Companies

53

Funds

See what our data software can do

The Daily Benchmark:
2014 Vintage Global PE funds

Median IRR

17.30%

Top Quartile IRR

25.13%

1.26x

Median DPI

Select top performers

Consonance Private Equity Fund

Third Century Investment Associates

White Wolf Capital Investment Partners II

*IRR: net of fees

122 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Dexterity, a startup building AI-powered industrial robots, raised a $95 million round from investors including Lightspeed and Sumitomo at a $1.65 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported.

Mesh, a startup operating a global crypto payments network, raised an $82 million Series B led by Paradigm.

San Francisco-based Ditto, which offers a platform for developers to synchronize data across devices, secured an $82 million Series B led by Top Tier Capital Partners and Acrew Capital at a $462 million valuation.

Cybersecurity startup Pentera raised a $60 million Series D led by Evolution Equity Partners.

Scimplify, an Indian specialty chemicals company, raised a $40 million Series B led by Accel and Bertelsmann India Investments.

Drug discovery startup Vivace Therapeutics, which focuses on cancer treatments, secured a $35 million Series D led by RA Capital Management.

Thorizon, an Amsterdam-based developer of molten salt reactor technology, raised €20 million, consisting of a €16 million Series A led by Invest-NL and a €4 million grant from the Dutch province of Noord-Brabant.

Atlant 3D, which offers an atomic-scale manufacturing platform, secured a $15 million Series A+ led by West Hill Capital.

PE Deals

The games unit of Niantic, owner of Pokémon Go, has been acquired by Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund-backed Scopely in a $3.5 billion deal.

Drug and cosmetics packaging specialist Gerresheimer, based in Germany, is in talks to be acquired by Warburg Pincus and KKR, Bloomberg reported. The company currently has a market value of around €2.74 billion.

Abu Dhabi-backed investor MGX acquired a minority stake in global crypto exchange Binance for $2 billion.

I Squared Capital and Macquarie are among the bidders for a stake in Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison's fiber business, valued at $1 billion, Reuters reported.

Maven Capital led the management buyout of Elite KL, a UK-based HVAC systems maker.

Audax Private Equity and Lovell Minnick Partners invested in payments technology specialist Fortis.

Portfolio Companies

Battery maker Northvolt has filed for bankruptcy in Sweden. The company is backed by investors including Baillie Gifford, Goldman Sachs and Volkswagen.

Exits

Insilico Medicine, a Boston-based AI drug specialist, is considering an IPO in Hong Kong after a funding round at a $1 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported.

Dubai Aerospace Enterprise is exploring the sale of its 80% stake in aircraft maintenance provider Joramco, Bloomberg reported.

Latvia-based airline Air Baltic is considering a London IPO in Q2 2025 that could raise up to €300 million, Bloomberg reported.

Fundraising

North Carolina-based PE firm Capitala Group raised $1 billion for its latest fund focused on lower-middle-market companies.

NextEnergy Capital closed NextPower UK ESG on £733 million, beating its original £500 million target.

Bessemer Venture Partners launched its second India-focused VC fund with a $350 million target.

Fusion Fund closed Fusion Fund IV on $190 million.

National Grid Partners will invest $100 million in AI startups focused on energy innovations.

Chart of the Day

Source: Europe’s share of regional IPOs hits decade low

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