PitchBook News - First-time fundings slump in 2020

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The Daily Pitch: VC

October 16, 2020

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

Today's Top Stories

First financings' share of total VC deal value keeps on shrinking

(Micheile Henderson/Unsplash)

First-time equity investments in startups continued to decline this year, with the capital in Q3 representing 5.5% of the total VC deal value, according to PitchBook data.

We broke down the data and spoke with venture investors and startup founders to explore what's driving the downward trajectory:

Recommended Reads

Industry experts are seeing a new trend emerge in corporate real estate: Out with the skyscraper, in with the groundscraper. [The New York Times]

As a SPAC craze envelops the electric vehicle space, a founder named Robert Bollinger is facing a question: To merge, or not to merge? [Bloomberg]

Clear's business is largely intertwined with airports. But despite a plunge in air travel—and thanks in part to its touchless technology—the company is beginning to bounce back. [OneZero]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

12

VC valuations

1333

People

379

Companies

30

Funds

See what our data software can do

Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2018 Vintage Global Real Assets Funds
	People
	GV promotes first Black woman to partner
	VC Deals
	Proterra collects $200M
	98point6 gets $118M for Series E
	Payments company Fivestars lands $52.5M
	Alfred brings home $42M
	Whisper secures $35M Series B
	Portfolio Companies
	Robinhood probe finds 2,000 accounts possibly hacked
	Fundraising
	Khosla Ventures readies latest funds
	True Ventures lands $840M for two new funds
	Openview picks up $450M for sixth fund

The Daily Benchmark

2018 Vintage Global Real Assets Funds

Median IRR

4.70%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

11.70%

1.03x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Rockland Power Partners III

Starwood Global Opportunities Fund XI

Kayne Private Energy Income Fund II

*IRR: net of fees

119 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

People

GV promotes first Black woman to partner

Terri Burns has become GV's first Black female partner after being elevated to the role. Burns joined the Alphabet venture capital arm three years ago as a principal and is now the firm's youngest partner ever. This year, she led two early-stage consumer investments in HAGS, a yearbook app powered through Snapchat, and also invested in another company that's still to be announced.

View details

View 506 investments »

VC Deals

Proterra collects $200M

Proterra has raised $200 million in a round led by Cowen Sustainable Advisors, with participation from Soros Fund Management, Generation Investment Management and Broadscale Group. Founded in 2004, the company produces electric vehicles.

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View 11 competitors »

98point6 gets $118M for Series E

98point6, which operates a platform for chat-based consultations with physicians, has raised $118 million in a round co-led by L Catterton and Activant Capital. Founded in 2015, the Seattle-based healthcare company raised a $50 million Series C in 2018 at a $170 million valuation, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investor:

Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division

View round

View 38 competitors »

Payments company Fivestars lands $52.5M

Fivestars has raised $52.5 million in equity and debt to grow its payments processing and marketing platform. Salt Partners led the Series D round, with participation from Lightspeed, DCM Ventures, Menlo Ventures and HarbourVest Partners. The San Francisco-based startup primarily caters to small, locally owned businesses.

View details

View 21 competitors »

Alfred brings home $42M

Alfred has raised a $42 million Series C from Spark Capital, NEA, Greystar and 166 2nd, the family office of WeWork founder Adam Neumann. The New York-based company is the developer of an on-demand concierge and building management platform that serves more than 100,000 homes across the US.

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View 10 competitors »

Whisper secures $35M Series B

Medical device startup Whisper has raised a $35 million Series B led by Quiet Capital, with participation from Sequoia, First Round Capital and IVP. The San Francisco-based company offers a hearing aid system with upgradeable software; it has raised $53 million to date.

View details

View similar company »

Portfolio Companies

Robinhood probe finds 2,000 accounts possibly hacked

Nearly 2,000 Robinhood accounts were compromised in a recent hacking attack, according to Bloomberg. Last week, cybercriminals reportedly breached user accounts on the online trading platform, potentially gaining access through personal email accounts. The company sent push notifications to users this week, urging them to set up two-factor authentication on their accounts, the report said.

View details

View 20 competitors »

Fundraising

Khosla Ventures readies latest funds

Khosla Ventures has set a $1.1 billion target for its seventh flagship fund and a $400 million target for a new seed vehicle, according to SEC filings. The Menlo Park-based firm pursues investments in sectors including financial services, healthcare, sustainable energy and robotics.

View fund

View 505 investments »

True Ventures lands $840M for two new funds

True Ventures has closed two new vehicles with $840 million in total commitments, including its seventh early-stage fund with $465 million and a $375 million select fund for follow-on financings. Based in the Silicon Valley, True Ventures has more than $2.8 billion in assets under management and typically backs early-stage tech companies.

View fund

View 305 investments »

Openview picks up $450M for sixth fund

Openview Venture Partners has closed its sixth fund on a hard cap of $450 million. The Boston-based firm tends to invest in business software companies, with a portfolio that includes Calendly, Highspot and Expensify; it manages $1.5 billion in capital.

View fund

View 65 investments »

Chart of the Day

"[A total of] 223 deals $100 million and above have closed through the first nine months of 2020, putting the year on pace to set a new record for VC mega-deal count, and to potentially match one VC mega-deal for every business day in the year. This move toward larger deals has been in motion for the past five years, but the advent of the pandemic has accelerated this trend as uncertainty and a desire to support stronger portfolio companies likely drove a flight to quality for investors."

Source: Q3 2020 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor