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The Daily Pitch: VC

September 28, 2020

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

Today's Top Stories

Corporate VC firms buck 'tourist' reputation with pandemic dealmaking

(gruizza/Getty Images)

As the economy faltered, tourist investors opted for a staycation.

Corporate venture capital firms—a class of nontraditional investors often labeled "tourists"—have participated in more than a quarter of all venture capital deals this year, outpacing a recent high set in 2018.

CVC leaders attribute much of this activity to the particulars of the current economic downturn, which has largely spared their tech-heavy portfolios, and the maturation of corporate venture capital as a whole:

Recommended Reads

On July 15, Twitter was hit with its biggest hack yet. Here's the inside story of what came next. [Wired]

The fact that "disruption" is a Silicon Valley cliché has since become its own Silicon Valley cliché. But what does tech's favorite buzzword really mean? [The Guardian]

First, the confluence of finance and social media gave us FinTwit. Now, there's FinTok. [Institutional Investor]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2017 Vintage Global Debt Funds
	Webinar Promo
	PitchBook Webinar: The ins and outs of fund terms and fees
	People
	Head of Comcast Ventures retires
	VC Deals
	Colombian delivery startup Rappi banks $300M+
	Tencent leads $65M round in Chinese fitness startup
	Mosa Meat picks up $55M
	Palladio secures $20M for kidney treatments
	Exits & IPOs
	Epic Games snaps up 'kidtech' startup SuperAwesome
	Spectrio buys digital signage company Industry Weapon
	Fundraising
	Alexis Ohanian's 776 VC fund targets $150M

The Daily Benchmark

2017 Vintage Global Debt Funds

Median IRR

9.30%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

13.09%

1.09x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Castlelake Aviation III

Hamilton Lane Strategic Opportunities Fund 2017

Stellex Capital Partners

*IRR: net of fees

62 Funds in Benchmark »

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Webinar Promo

PitchBook Webinar: The ins and outs of fund terms and fees

Join us Sept. 30 for a conversation around fund terms and fees—a topic that's always relevant and always shifting. During the discussion, PitchBook analysts will explore:

How and why fund terms and fees are constantly changing around their edges

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People

Head of Comcast Ventures retires

Amy Banse has announced her retirement as head of Comcast Ventures after nearly three decades with Comcast and its venture arm. Banse will remain on through the end of 2021 as a senior adviser. She spent the past 10 years as the head of Comcast Ventures, growing its portfolio to over 100 companies. Michael Cavanagh, Comcast's chief financial officer, will now oversee Comcast Ventures.

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VC Deals

Colombian delivery startup Rappi banks $300M+

Rappi, a Colombian delivery app provider backed by SoftBank's Vision Fund, has reportedly raised over $300 million. The startup had sought to raise up to $350 million in the funding round, according to an SEC filing. That document showed the company pulled in $155.9 million from 77 investors. Rappi's other backers include Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia and DST Global; it is reportedly valued at about $3.5 billion.

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Tencent leads $65M round in Chinese fitness startup

Fiture has raised a $65 million Series A led by Tencent, with participation from Sequoia China and others, according to Deal Street Asia. Based in China, Fiture is developing a mirror-like workout screen that offers interactive classes and customized training programs.

Additional Investors:

Bertelsmann Asia Investments, C Ventures, Cathay Capital, BA Capital (China), CPE Capital, All-Stars Investment

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Mosa Meat picks up $55M

Mosa Meat, which is developing cell-cultured beef products, has raised $55 million in Series B financing led by Blue Horizon Ventures. Bell Food Group and M Ventures also participated in the funding. The Netherlands-based company plans to use the new capital in part to expand its pilot production facility.

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Palladio secures $20M for kidney treatments

Palladio Biosciences, a startup developing treatments for kidney diseases, has landed a $20 million Series B. The round was led by Samsara Biocapital, with participation from Medicxi, Osage University Partners and new investor Roche. The financing will be used to fund Palladio's first Phase III clinical trial for its lead drug candidate, lixivaptan.

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Exits & IPOs

Epic Games snaps up 'kidtech' startup SuperAwesome

VC-backed Epic Games has acquired SuperAwesome, which offers a platform for game developers to include child-safety tools in their products. The London-based company's products are used by over 300 brands, including Lego and Hasbro. It raised more than $17 million in a round led by Microsoft's M12 earlier this year.

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Spectrio buys digital signage company Industry Weapon

Marketing company Spectrio has purchased Industry Weapon, a digital signage company based in Pittsburgh. The deal will add to Spectrio's suite of digital tools. Industry Weapon had raised funds from Pittsburgh Equity Partners, according to PitchBook data.

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Fundraising

Alexis Ohanian's 776 VC fund targets $150M

Alexis Ohanian is aiming to raise $150 million for his new venture capital fund, called 776, according to an SEC filing. Ohanian left Initialized Capital, the venture capital firm he co-founded, in June. A few weeks after that, he stepped down from the board at Reddit, which he also co-founded, after protests erupted following the death of George Floyd.

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