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Bay Area tech companies flock to public market
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| (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) |
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In what may have been a landmark day on Monday, the market experienced a flurry of filings for public listings by several Bay Area tech companies with multibillion-dollar valuations.
Workplace productivity software company Asana and Snowflake, the cloud data platform valued at $12.4 billion in February, led the pack, followed by software companies JFrog and Unity Software.
The public market momentum may continue as Palantir's long-awaited direct listing could reportedly come today: |
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Early-stage VC valuations outstrip expectations in the US
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Early-stage valuations in the US increased steadily and significantly throughout the past decade, a result of the venture industry's long-running boom in the wake of the global financial crisis. When the coronavirus began to sweep the world earlier this year, sending financial markets into chaos, many VCs expected that era of valuation growth was at its end.
So far, though, the numbers tell a different story. Our Q2 2020 US VC Valuations Report examines the resilience of early-stage valuations during the first half of the year and several other key storylines in the space, including:
- The average pre-money valuation for late-stage deals through Q2 was double the full-year figure for 2019
- Nontraditional investors took part in nearly 95% of all VC mega-deals in H1
- VC-backed IPO valuations have reverted to the mean after skyrocketing in 2019
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On the podcast: Dishing on private debt
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Private debt fundraising figures have plunged so far in 2020, with limited partners increasingly looking to invest their billions in other strategies. And there have been plenty of alternatives during the coronavirus crisis.
On the latest episode of "In Visible Capital," PitchBook analyst Dylan Cox returns to the program to discuss these alternative investment avenues, the reasons for the private debt dropoff and other highlights from PitchBook's H1 Global Private Debt Report. Topics include:
- Why LP interest has shifted from direct lending funds to distressed debt and opportunity funds
- Apollo Global Management's decision to change its latest flagship buyout fund to a distressed debt vehicle
- How Cox uses proxies to evaluate the performance of the credit market
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Lidar startup Luminar to go public in $3.4B SPAC merger
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| (Image courtesy of Luminar) |
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Luminar has agreed to a merger with blank-check company Gores Metropoulos, continuing a streak of such deals for companies in the automotive tech space.
The agreement includes a $170 million direct investment led by Alec Gores, founder and CEO of private equity firm Gores Group, as well as Peter Thiel, Volvo Cars Tech Fund and others. Gores Metropoulos will invest an additional $400 million and the combined company will have an initial market value of around $3.4 billion and be listed on the Nasdaq.
Luminar's light imaging detection and ranging system, which uses lasers to help direct vehicles, will be sold as a subscription service to automakers and is expected to equip Volvo vehicles beginning in 2022. Operating in California, Florida and Colorado, Luminar has raised private backing from investors including Thiel, Volvo, Canvas Ventures and G2VP. Last year, venture capitalists invested a record $1.3 billion in companies developing lidar technology.
Blank-check companies have recently been the on-ramp of choice for makers of electric and autonomous vehicle tech to enter the public markets. In March, Nikola's deal with a SPAC gave it an enterprise valuation of about $3.3 billion, and Fisker was worth $2.9 billion after a reverse merger with an Apollo Global Management-backed SPAC in July. Hyliion, Lordstown Motors, Velodyne Lidar and Canoo have also struck SPAC deals in the last several months. |
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The coronavirus pandemic has hammered America's shopping malls, many of which were already in tough financial straits. For hedge fund pros like Catie McKee and Carl Icahn, betting on their demise has turned into a highly profitable move. [The New York Times]
The best con men know how to tell a good story. And in the long history of insurance fraud, few have crafted a tale better than that of a Texan named Theodore Robert Wright III. [Texas Monthly]
When the value of a stock skyrockets, how do you know if it's a permanent boom or a short-term bubble? It's a question that's flummoxed investors for hundreds of years. Just ask Isaac Newton. [The Atlantic] |
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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:
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4
VC valuations
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1293
People
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337
Companies
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15
Funds
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2008 Vintage Global Venture Funds with more than $250M
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PitchBook Webinar: The evolution of GP stakes investing during COVID-19
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Join PitchBook analysts for a discussion on how GP stakes investors are responding to the current market environment as well as what opportunities and pitfalls the pandemic has introduced to the competitive landscape.
The webinar will be held Aug. 27 at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. Topics will include sourcing GP stakes opportunities, understanding the strategy's evolving market segments and ensuring LP/GP alignment.
Register here |
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Connect Biopharma nabs $115M Series C
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| Dataiku has raised a $100 million Series D led by Stripes, with participation from investors including Tiger Global and Battery Ventures. Founded in 2013, New York-based Dataiku is the developer of an enterprise AI and machine learning platform that helps companies including Sephora, Unilever and Santander manage business operations and data. |
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Motiv Power drives off with $15M
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| Motiv Power Systems, a developer of electric chassis for medium-duty trucks and buses, has raised $15 million from GMAG Holdings. The round consists of convertible notes that are expected to be converted into a Series C round. Founded in 2009 and based in the Bay Area, the company raised $60 million in 2019 at a $90 million valuation, according to PitchBook data. |
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Arm abandons spinoff plans with SoftBank
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| British chipmaker Arm has called off plans to spin two of its units off to SoftBank, opting instead to keep the divisions under its own corporate umbrella, according to reports. Arm announced plans in July to transfer its internet-of-things platform and data units to SoftBank, which paid $32 billion to acquire Arm in 2016. The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this summer that SoftBank was considering a potential sale or IPO for the company. |
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Sequoia, General Atlantic angle for TikTok
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| Sequoia and General Atlantic are looking to join Oracle's potential bid for TikTok's US operations, which would help the Chinese video app creator meet the Trump administration's demands that a US buyer take ownership of the company, according to The Wall Street Journal. The two firms, which already own stakes in TikTok parent ByteDance, are "key drivers" behind a possible bid by Oracle, the report said. The offer would be an alternative to one being mounted by Microsoft. President Trump has given TikTok a Sept. 15 deadline to complete a deal or be banned in the US, but reports emerged Monday that TikTok had sued the US government over the order. |
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DoorDash may go public in Q4
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| Food and grocery delivery company DoorDash is planning to move forward with a public listing in November or December, according to Bloomberg. The company will reportedly make its debut through a traditional IPO rather than a direct listing. The news comes after DoorDash confidentially filed for an IPO in February. It was valued at $16 billion after raising $400 million from Durable Capital Partners, Fidelity Investments and others in June. |
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Amwell files for IPO, snags $100M from Google Cloud
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| Telemedicine startup Amwell has filed to go public on the NYSE and arranged a concurrent $100 million private placement from Google Cloud. Amwell will move some of its telehealth video traffic to Google Cloud as part of a partnership. The company didn't say how many shares it would sell in the IPO or at what price range. Amwell's revenue rose 77% year-over-year in the first six months of 2020, as the pandemic drove demand for virtual health visits. The company's net losses jumped 173% to $113 million during the same period. |
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Sumo Logic prepares for VC-backed debut
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| Data analytics company Sumo Logic has filed for an IPO on the Nasdaq. The Bay Area-based business has raised almost $350 million in venture backing, reaching a valuation of nearly $1.2 billion last year, according to PitchBook data. Its backers include Greylock Partners (22.6% pre-IPO stake), Sapphire Ventures (7.1%) and Accel (6.8%). |
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Dialysis care specialist Outset plans offering
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| Outset Medical, the San Jose-based developer of a novel system for dialysis care, has filed for an IPO on the Nasdaq. Outset has raised prior backing from Warburg Pincus (28.2% pre-IPO stake), Fidelity Management & Research (15%), D1 Capital Partners (12.1%) and others, reaching a $725 million valuation with a funding round this February, according to PitchBook data. The company logged $18.9 million in revenue and a net loss of $47.2 million in the first six months of the year. |
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Smartsheet set to scoop up Brandfolder for $155M
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| Collaboration software provider Smartsheet has agreed to purchase Brandfolder, the creator of a digital content and brand management platform, for $155 million in cash and stock. Based in Denver, Brandfolder has raised previous private funding from backers including Right Side Capital Management and Techstars; it was valued at $32.5 million in 2018, according to PitchBook data. |
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Goldman Sachs weighs $2B venture fund
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| Goldman Sachs is thinking of raising a $2 billion venture and growth vehicle, according to Bloomberg. The bank is reportedly looking to start fundraising early next year, with some of its high-net-worth clients as limited partners. The fund would aim to make investments of between $30 million and $200 million, according to the report. |
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New firm eyes first healthcare fund
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| JSL Health Capital has set a $30 million fundraising goal for its inaugural venture capital fund, according to an SEC filing. The Virginia-based firm is led by Alex Turkeltaub, who co-founded and previously worked as CEO at Roam Analytics, the VC-backed creator of a healthcare analytics platform. |
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