PitchBook News - GE Ventures sells off 11 startup stakes

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The Daily Pitch: VC

July 31, 2020

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Today's Top Stories

Demand for digital innovation will drive growth in enterprise healthtech

Venture investment in the enterprise health & wellness tech industry slowed last quarter amid economic headwinds created by the pandemic. Yet as the era of patient-driven care propels demand for digital health technologies, the future remains bright.

Our newest installment of Emerging Tech Research breaks down the enterprise side of health & wellness tech into four categories, explores core drivers of startup success, and includes market maps and long-term forecasts. Key takeaways include:

The enterprise health & wellness tech industry is projected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2025

VC investment in the space totaled $1.9 billion in the first half of 2020, down 30% year-over-year, but the decline is expected to be temporary

The coronavirus outbreak is likely to drive significant investment in companies focused on fighting future outbreaks

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More coronavirus news: Continuing coverage from PitchBook

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GE Ventures offloads 11 portfolio company investments

40 North Ventures has acquired investments in 11 companies from the portfolio of GE Ventures, the VC arm of General Electric. The deal includes companies such as workforce productivity specialists Catalant and Upskill, electric bus manufacturer Proterra, and Nexar, which uses AI to detect driving hazards.

The news comes roughly a year after reports surfaced that GE Ventures was looking to sell off investments in more than 100 startups as part of an effort to help its parent company reduce a debt burden of $110 billion.

Based in Campbell, Calif., 40 North invests in companies throughout the early and growth stages. The firm launched a $200 million fund in October to focus on investments in the cleantech sector, according to the Venture Capital Journal.

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Our top 10 articles of July

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RedBird Capital teams with Billy Beane on sports SPAC

Hard-hit sports world finds new fans: private equity firms

11 big things: Ackman, Airbnb and the blank-check bonanza

Farmers seek help from startups after food supply chain disruption

Run-DMC's Darryl McDaniels walks into healthtech investing

Not all VC investors are being slowed down by the pandemic

Carried interest could be at risk as UK reviews capital gains tax

Palantir is seeking nearly $1B ahead of IPO

Data privacy startups see demand spike as California enforces law

Carlyle co-CEO Glenn Youngkin to retire, leaving reins to Kewsong Lee

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Recommended Reads

The ongoing SPAC surge is generating hundreds of millions of dollars in fees for some of Wall Street's biggest banks. [Bloomberg]

A $2 billion buyout and a recent LP commitment are causing students at the University of California to raise questions about the privacy of their own educational data. [Salon]

Can guaranteed income help Americans escape poverty? Ciara McDonald, a single mother of three in Mississippi, offers one test case. [Marie Claire]

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2016 Vintage Global Debt Funds
	VC Deals
	German used-car platform Auto1 secures new funds
	Sema4 hits unicorn valuation
	Omega Therapeutics snags $85M for genomic medicine
	Eargo picks up $71M
	Exits & IPOs
	Affirm eyes IPO at $10B valuation
	Li Auto shares soar after $1.1B IPO
	Porch plans for merger with SPAC
	Vital Farms prices IPO above revised range
	Partnerize buys PE-backed marketing company Pepperjam
	ZenBusiness nabs fintech startup Joust

The Daily Benchmark

2016 Vintage Global Debt Funds

Median IRR

8.40%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

11.30%

1.13x

Median TVPI

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NB Private Debt Fund II

PAG Enhanced Credit Fund

Inveready Venture Finance II

*IRR: net of fees

45 Funds in Benchmark »

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VC Deals

German used-car platform Auto1 secures new funds

German online used-car platform Auto1 has raised €255 million (about $303 million) in a convertible notes funding round led by Farallon Capital Management and The Baupost Group. The company intends to use the capital to grow its Autohero retail business. Auto1 could reportedly weigh an initial public offering to raise more capital in the future. The Berlin-based company said its 2019 revenue grew 21% to €3.5 billion from €2.9 billion in 2018.

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Sema4 hits unicorn valuation

Sema4 has raised $121 million in a Series C led by BlackRock, with participation from investors including Deerfield Management and Moore Strategic Ventures. The new funding, which comes after the company raised $120 million for its Series B last year, values Sema4 north of $1 billion. Based in Connecticut, the startup is the developer of a health data intelligence platform that helps physicians improve patient diagnosis, treatment and disease prevention.

Additional Investors:

Connecticut Innovations, Decheng, Oak HC/FT, Section 32, Blackstone

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Omega Therapeutics snags $85M for genomic medicine

Massachusetts-based Omega Therapeutics has raised $85 million in new financing. Founded in 2017, the preclinical-stage genomic medicine startup focuses on treating cancer, inflammation, and autoimmune, metabolic and rare genetic diseases without changing patients' nucleic acid sequences. The new round will help fund Omega's first in-human clinical trials.

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Eargo picks up $71M

Gilde Healthcare and Longitude Capital have co-led a $71 million Series E for Eargo, a developer of rechargeable hearing aids. The San Jose-based company was valued at more than $231 million with a $51 million round in 2018, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, Nan Fung Life Sciences, NEA

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Exits & IPOs

Affirm eyes IPO at $10B valuation

Fintech company Affirm is working with Goldman Sachs on an initial public offering that could value it at up to $10 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. Affirm, the developer of an online lending platform, could also reportedly sell itself to a special-purpose acquisition company. The San Francisco-based company was valued at $2.9 billion with a funding round in April 2019. Its backers include Andreessen Horowitz, Baillie Gifford and Battery Ventures.

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Li Auto shares soar after $1.1B IPO

Li Auto's stock shot up 43% Thursday, ending the company's trading debut on the Nasdaq at $16.46 apiece. The Beijing-based electric vehicle maker raised $1.1 billion in its IPO after pricing 95 million American depositary shares at $11.50 apiece. Li Auto had initially marketed the shares at between $8 and $10 each.

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Porch plans for merger with SPAC

Porch, the Seattle-based provider of a home services platform, is approaching a merger with special-purpose acquisition company PropTech Acquisition, according to Bloomberg. The deal could reportedly be worth over $500 million, including debt. PropTech is also looking to raise $150 million as part of the deal, the report said. Porch's backers include Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya, Battery Ventures and Lowe's.

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Vital Farms prices IPO above revised range

Vital Farms has priced its initial public offering at $22 per share, above the revised range of $19 to $21 apiece. The company offered more than 7.8 million shares, raising about $171.9 million. Based in Austin, Vital Farms is a provider of ethically produced eggs and butter. It will begin trading on the Nasdaq today.

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Partnerize buys PE-backed marketing company Pepperjam

Partnerize, a provider of AI-based partnership management solutions, has bought Pepperjam, the creator of a cloud-based marketing lifecycle platform that helps users with recruitment, tracking, payments and other tasks. Partnerize reportedly raised $50 million at a $240 million valuation from Accel-KKR in January and bought web compliance company BrandVerity in April. Pepperjam was previously backed by firms including Banneker Partners and Permira.

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ZenBusiness nabs fintech startup Joust

ZenBusiness has purchased Joust, the provider of a banking platform for freelancers, contractors and self-employed workers. Joust will rebrand as ZenBusiness Money and launch this fall as part of ZenBusiness' business formation platform. The Austin-based company launched in 2017 and reached a valuation of $14 million with a seed round in 2019.

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Chart of the Day

"The quantity of first-time rounds has declined steadily since 2014 and is pacing to be the lowest annual total since 2009. Although dealmaking has been solid in H1 2020, we believe fewer first-time deals are closing due to a long-term shift in investment strategies, and this trend could be amplified by the effects of COVID-19."

Source: PitchBook's Q2 2020 European Venture Report