PitchBook News - From Run-DMC to VC

Read online | Don't want to receive these emails? Manage your subscription.

PitchBook

Log in

The Daily Pitch: VC

July 17, 2020

Like our newsletter? The data comes from the PitchBook Platform — our data software for VC, PE and M&A

Today's Top Stories

Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels walks into healthtech investing

Darryl McDaniels, pictured at Los Angeles Comic Con last October, has now added mental health tech investing to his resume.
(Paul Butterfield/Getty Images)

Behavioral health startup Uwill has raised $3.25 million in a seed round led by Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels.

The investment—McDaniels' first crack at tech investing—underlines the hip-hop icon and entrepreneur's advocacy for mental health.

We spoke to the "King of Rock" about his own mental health journey, anxiety during the pandemic, and why his first VC investment likely won't be his last:

Share:

Uber continues to diversify with acquisition, potential freight funding

Uber Freight could soon raise funding at a $4 billion valuation.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Mere days after agreeing to purchase Postmates for $2.65 billion in a bid to continue building out its delivery services, Uber is eyeing another pair of moves aimed at helping the company expand from its original ridehailing offering.

On Tuesday, Uber announced its acquisition of Routematch, a creator of software that public transit agencies use for ticketing, booking trips, managing data and more. The deal is the company's latest attempt to better integrate its offerings with public transit, coming about five months after the launch of a new feature called "Make My Train" that helps users schedule trips to the train station.

Separately, Uber is in talks with investors to raise $500 million for its freight division in a deal that could value the standalone subsidiary at about $4 billion, according to Bloomberg. Uber Freight operates similarly to the company's primary ridehailing service, aiming to connect shippers and carriers more efficiently than traditional methods.

Share:

Protect your portfolio from volatility

SPONSORED

History shows adding blue-chip art can boost portfolio stability. Data from Citi's Global Art Market Report 2019 finds art to be one of the least volatile asset classes, sharing a correlation factor of just 0.13 to public equities. Beyond that, contemporary art has outperformed the S&P by over 180% since 2000, according to industry benchmarks.

Although investing in art has been around for centuries—Sotheby's was once the oldest company listed on the NYSE—only the ultra-wealthy have been able to participate.

Modern investing platforms like Masterworks are finally democratizing the $1.7 trillion art market. By taking multimillion-dollar paintings public, they allow anyone to add art to their portfolio at a fraction of the cost. Skip the 25,000+ waitlist for being a PitchBook reader (disclaimer).

Sign up today

Share:

Qumulo becomes unicorn with $125M round

Qumulo has raised $125 million in a Series E led by BlackRock. Highland Capital Partners, Madrona Venture Group, Kleiner Perkins and Amity Ventures also participated in the funding, which values the provider of a cloud-based file data management platform at more than $1.2 billion.

Qumulo counts Shell, Hyundai and Progenity as clients. In March, the Seattle-based company began offering its software for free to medical and healthcare research organizations developing coronavirus eradication measures.

In 2018, Qumulo raised a $93 million Series D that valued it at $553 million, according to PitchBook data. It has now raised more than $350 million in total backing since its 2012 founding.

Share:

Weekly Recap

In case you missed it:

• The pandemic put live sports on pause in the US for the last several months. Now, as MLS, MLB and the NBA start to return, sports media is trying to make a comeback as well.

• Jyoti Bansal, co-founder of Harness and Unusual Ventures, is back in the game with the unveiling of a new app security company.

• Nonprofit StartOut has launched an economic impact index that's working to fill the data void when it comes to the unrealized potential of LGBTQ entrepreneurs.

San Francisco has accounted for nearly 80% of total US funding for LGBTQ entrepreneurs over the last 20 years.
(xavierarnau/Getty Images)

• As newly laid-off workers navigate job listings, many companies are increasingly facing pressure to be up front with their workplace diversity statistics.

• Online brokerage platform creator Robinhood has extended its Series F amid surging popularity for its services.

• Electric vehicle maker Rivian has landed another mega-round of funding on its journey to 2021 commercialization.

Share:

Recommended Reads

Looking for a fake energy drink can equipped with a microphone? A bugged $1 bill with 16 gigabytes of audio storage? For law enforcement, a company called Advanced Covert Technology is a one-stop espionage shop. [Vice]

Homebuyers in China are fueling a $52 trillion property boom that, by some measures, is already a bigger bubble than the US housing market in the 2000s. [The Wall Street Journal]

In Stockton, Calif., an experiment in universal basic income is generating results that could push the once-fringe idea even further into the mainstream. [The New Yorker]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

7

VC valuations

1268

People

336

Companies

15

Funds

See what our data software can do

Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2009 Vintage Global Real Assets Funds
	VC Deals
	Coatue leads $100M round for Vedantu
	Bolt picks up $50M Series C
	Openpath raises $36M
	Portfolio Companies
	Airbnb revives IPO plans
	DoorDash expands into wellness with Walgreens partnership
	Exits
	Relay Therapeutics stock pops in trading debut
	Tink acquires Instantor in Swedish fintech tie-up
	Fundraising
	CRV lands $600M

The Daily Benchmark

2009 Vintage Global Real Assets Funds

Median IRR

8.63%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

12.42%

1.32x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

EnCap Flatrock Midstream Fund I

Lubert-Adler Fund VI A

AEW Senior Housing Investors

*IRR: net of fees

37 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Coatue leads $100M round for Vedantu

Indian edtech startup Vedantu has raised $100 million in a Series D led by Coatue, with support from existing backers. The funding values Vedantu at $600 million, making it the second most valuable edtech business in India. Founded in 2014 and based in Bengaluru, Vedantu offers interactive individual and group classes for K-12 students.

View round

View 36 competitors »

Bolt picks up $50M Series C

WestCap has led a $50 million round for Bolt, the developer of a checkout platform for digital retailers. Existing investors Activant Capital, Tribe Capital, Glynn Capital and Human Capital also participated in the funding. The San Francisco-based company partners with ecommerce and payments providers such as Stripe, BigCommerce and Braintree.

View round

View 24 competitors »

Openpath raises $36M

Security startup Openpath has landed a $36 million Series C led by Greycroft. The Culver City, Calif.-based company plans to use the funding to amp up development of its access control systems for buildings. Other backers in the round include Okta Ventures, LPC Ventures, Allegion Ventures and Sentre.

View round

View 3 competitors »

Portfolio Companies

Airbnb revives IPO plans

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky told employees Wednesday that the company has resumed its plans to go public, according to The New York Times. Chesky indicated that gross bookings had rebounded from lows experienced amid the pandemic, but was noncommittal about whether the initial public offering would happen this year, the report said. The home rental company also reportedly announced that its head of experiences, Catherine Powell, will become its global head of hosting after homes unit president Greg Greeley departs.

View details

View 22 competitors »

Share:

DoorDash expands into wellness with Walgreens partnership

Food delivery company DoorDash has partnered with Walgreens to offer on-demand delivery of more than 2,300 convenience, health and wellness products in Chicago, Atlanta and Denver. By the end of the summer, the companies hope to expand the service to markets in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Minneapolis, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Sacramento and Seattle. Backed by investors including Durable Capital Partners, Sequoia and SoftBank, DoorDash was valued at $16 billion when it raised $400 million last month, according to PitchBook data.

View details

View 33 competitors »

Exits

Relay Therapeutics stock pops in trading debut

Relay Therapeutics stock jumped more than 75% in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq after the cancer therapy company raised $400 million in its IPO by offering 20 million shares at $20 apiece. The Cambridge, Mass.-based business originally set a price range of $16 to $18 per share and later raised it to $18 to $19 apiece. Shares of Relay closed Thursday trading at $35.05, valuing the company at more than $3 billion.

View details

View 42 competitors »

Tink acquires Instantor in Swedish fintech tie-up

Tink, the Stockholm-based provider of an open-banking platform, has bought fintech startup Instantor from Fintech Ventures Fund. The target company, also based in Stockholm, is a provider of consumer data that helps banks and other fintech companies in Europe make credit decisions. Tink is backed by investors including Insight Partners, Heartcore Capital and PayPal Ventures.

View details

View 28 competitors »

Fundraising

CRV lands $600M

CRV has closed its 18th flagship fund on $600 million, according to TechCrunch, matching the size of its previous vehicle, which closed in 2018. Founded 50 years ago, the firm targets companies in sectors including consumer, enterprise and biotech.

View details

View 378 investments »

Chart of the Day

"Exit activity has demonstrated a significant drop at the start of the year, and we envisage this decrease will continue for the rest of 2020. Market uncertainty surrounding VC-backed exits in 2019 appears insignificant compared to the turmoil now facing economies globally. We believe exits concerning UK & Ireland startups, along with the rest of Europe, will be put on hold for the foreseeable future."

Source: PitchBook's 2020 UK & Ireland Private Capital Breakdown