PitchBook News - TikTok rival nears unicorn status

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The Daily Pitch: VC

August 6, 2020

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Today's Top Stories

TikTok rival Triller seeks funding at $1.25B valuation

(Tim Robberts/Getty Images)

Triller, the developer of a short-form video-sharing app, is in the midst of raising a $250 million funding round that could value the startup at $1.25 billion, according to reports. The Los Angeles-based TikTok rival has reportedly raised more than $30 million in venture capital funding over the five years since it launched.

Triller has made strides as its larger peers continue to undergo growing pains. Microsoft is in talks to acquire a large slice of TikTok amid a political firestorm. Instagram launched Reels this week—its answer to TikTok—after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg faced a recent congressional grilling over whether his company's habit of acquiring and imitating rivals was anticompetitive.

Meanwhile, Triller's popularity surged over the weekend, briefly making it the number one app in the world. The company also named TikTok star Josh Richards as its chief strategy officer, and sued TikTok for patent infringement. Triller has worked to set itself apart through partnerships with major music studios and an investor roster that includes artists like Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd and Snoop Dogg.

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Pandemic presents challenges, opportunities for private debt

Most publicly traded private equity firms marked down their credit portfolios by double digits during the first quarter of the year. And the worst could be yet to come, with the pandemic putting private debt funds on track for their poorest year of performance since the global financial crisis.

But that's not the whole picture. As outlined in PitchBook's H1 2020 Global Private Debt Report, sponsored by Tree Line Capital Partners, the coronavirus crisis has also inspired a wave of new distressed debt and special situations funds from investors eager to capitalize on new opportunities—led by Oaktree Capital Management and its plans for a record-breaking $15 billion vehicle. Among the report's other key takeaways:

Investors closed 53 private debt funds in H1 2020, compared to 160 for all of 2019
A slowdown in buyouts has also reduced deal opportunities for direct lending
The pandemic should continue to create distressed investing opportunities into 2021

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More coronavirus news: Continuing coverage from PitchBook

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A message from Masterworks

High-end art prices defy expectations despite pandemic

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Typically reserved for the ultra-wealthy, blue-chip art has outperformed the S&P by over 180% (with dividend reinvestment) since 2000, according to a study by Citibank in December 2019. Beyond that, they concluded that art shares a correlation factor of 0.13 to developed equities—the lowest among the 10 major asset classes.

Masterworks finally lets investors of all types directly invest in the $1.74 trillion high-end art market by securitizing multimillion-dollar works from some of the most successful artists according to historical data.*

To learn more about art as an asset class, sign up for an account today.

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Recommended Reads

Is TikTok a good acquisition target? It might depend on which of the app's assets are included in a deal. [The New York Times]

An interview with Ron Wyden, the 71-year-old senator and privacy hawk behind a proposed bill that could help send Mark Zuckerberg to prison. [Recode]

It is expensive to be poor in the US. Could blockchain technology help streamline the byzantine processes many Americans must navigate just to get by? [Harvard Business Review]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

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VC valuations

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People

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Funds

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2005 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds
	VC Deals
	ChargePoint picks up $127M
	Gene therapy startup collects $95M
	Bessemer leads $79M round for Rigetti
	Israeli diagnostics company secures $71M
	Edtech startup books $31M
	Portfolio Companies
	Microsoft could pay up to $30B for TikTok assets
	TouchBistro takes over TableUp
	Exits & IPOs
	BigCommerce soars in trading debut
	Rocket Companies cuts IPO target

The Daily Benchmark

2005 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds

Median IRR

4.73%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

6.48%

1.29x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Lexington Capital Partners VI

NB Secondary Opportunities Fund I

CSFB Strategic Partners III B

*IRR: net of fees

11 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

ChargePoint picks up $127M

ChargePoint, which offers a charging network for electric vehicles, has raised $127 million in new funding. Backed by investors including Chevron Technology Ventures and BMW i Ventures, the California-based company raised $240 million in 2018.

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Gene therapy startup collects $95M

Taysha Gene Therapies has closed its Series B on $95 million. Fidelity Management & Research led the round, with participation from BlackRock, GV, Invus, Casdin Capital, PBM Capital and several other investors. Based in Dallas, the startup is developing a treatment for monogenic central nervous system diseases. Taysha, which currently has 17 gene therapy products in its pipeline, was valued at $75 million earlier this year, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Franklin Templeton Investments, Octagon Capital, Perceptive Advisors, Sands Capital Ventures, ArrowMark Partners, Venrock, Nolan Capital

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Bessemer leads $79M round for Rigetti

Rigetti, a developer of quantum computing systems, has raised a $79 million Series C led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Founded in 2013 and based in Berkeley, Calif., the company was valued at $415 million in 2017, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Franklin Templeton Investments, Alumni Ventures Group, DCVC, EDBI, Morpheus Ventures, Northgate Capital

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Israeli diagnostics company secures $71M

Sight Diagnostics has raised a $71 million Series D from Koch Disruptive Technologies, Longliv Ventures and OurCrowd. Founded in 2011 and based in Tel Aviv, the company is the developer of a blood analyzer test designed to detect health conditions including cancer and sepsis.

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Edtech startup books $31M

Springboard has raised a $31 million Series B from investors including Telstra Ventures, SJF Ventures and Vulcan Capital. Founded in 2013, the San Francisco-based company operates a continuing education platform that offers tech programs in areas such as coding, data analytics and machine learning. Springboard was valued at $43.6 million in August 2019, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Reach Capital, 500 Startups, Blue Fog Capital, Costanoa Ventures, IFC, Learn Capital, Pearson Ventures

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View 34 competitors »

Portfolio Companies

Microsoft could pay up to $30B for TikTok assets

Microsoft is likely to acquire TikTok's operations in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in a deal that values the assets at between $10 billion and $30 billion, according to CNBC. The software giant reportedly plans to finalize talks in the next three weeks, and the transfer of TikTok's code from China would conclude within a year if the acquisition is successful.

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TouchBistro takes over TableUp

TouchBistro, the Canadian creator of a point-of-sale system for restaurants, has purchased TableUp, a Boston-based company that develops loyalty and marketing services for the restaurant industry. TouchBistro raised $158 million last year in a round led by OMERS Growth Equity, while TableUp reportedly raised $4 million in 2018 from Allied Minds.

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Exits & IPOs

BigCommerce soars in trading debut

BigCommerce stock surged over 200% in a Wednesday trading debut after the maker of ecommerce software raised $216.5 million in its IPO on the Nasdaq. The Austin-based company priced its IPO at $24 per share, above the $21 to $23 expected range, and its shares ended the trading day at $72.27. BigCommerce had raised prior venture capital from General Catalyst, Revolution Growth, GGV Capital and others.

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Rocket Companies cuts IPO target

Quicken Loans owner Rocket Companies has decreased the planned size of its IPO, now seeking to raise $2 billion instead of $3.3 billion, according to Bloomberg. The Detroit-based company, which also operates Rocket Mortgage, filed last week to sell 150 million shares in the offering at $20 to $22 each. It now reportedly plans to offer fewer shares at a price range of $18 to $20.

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Chart of the Day

"Numerous nontraditional investors have primary markets they operate in, and venture can be a secondary or tertiary strategy to put capital to work and diversify. ... Lack of demand due to COVID-19 has led to crashes in primary sectors for nontraditional investors across the globe. Therefore, these types of investors may be less inclined to invest directly or commit to a venture fund that locks capital away for several years if critical near-term cash requirements surface."

Source: PitchBook's Q1 2020 European VC Valuations Report