Pandemic puts VC spotlight on life sciences

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The Daily Pitch: VC

October 14, 2020

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Today's Top Stories

Vaccine hunt drives ongoing VC demand for life sciences and commercial lab space

(MirageC/Getty Images)

As companies such as Moderna and Novavax search for a COVID-19 vaccine, VC interest in the life sciences space has never been higher: Venture capitalists invested more than $15 billion in the sector during the first half of 2020, on pace for the highest annual total on record.

But the intrigue was building long before the onset of a pandemic—and the growth of many well-funded companies in the industry over the past several years has generated skyrocketing demand for lab space. Our latest analyst note investigates these twin trends, offering a look at how increasing investment in biotech and pharmaceuticals is shaking up the world of commercial real estate:

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2009 Vintage Global Funds-of-Funds
	VC Deals
	VC-backed COVID-19 test provider lands $481M in US funding
	Alkira raises $54M Series B
	Astroscale lands $51M
	Armory nabs $40M for cloud SaaS platform
	Apiiro emerges from stealth with $35M
	Exits & IPOs
	Ant's IPO delayed by regulatory probe
	Advent Technologies to merge with SPAC
	Fundraising
	Insight eyes $875M for preferred equity strategy
	Canaan secures $800M for 12th fund
	Investors
	BLCK VC helps launch education initiative for Black entrepreneurs

The Daily Benchmark

2009 Vintage Global Funds-of-Funds

Median IRR

13.54%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

16.04%

1.77x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Mesirow Capital Partners Fund X

Bay Hills Emerging Partners II

Storebrand International Private Equity IX

*IRR: net of fees

42 Funds in Benchmark »

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VC Deals

VC-backed COVID-19 test provider lands $481M in US funding

Cue Health, the maker of a rapid molecular test that detects coronavirus, has received $481 million in funding from the US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Defense. With the funding, San Diego-based Cue plans to boost the production of its tests to 100,000 per day by March 2021. The startup will also provide 6 million tests and 30,000 instruments to the government as part of the partnership, Reuters reported. Cue was valued at $450 million in June when it raised $100 million from investors including Decheng Capital, Foresite Capital and Johnson & Johnson Innovation.

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Alkira raises $54M Series B

Cloud networking startup Alkira has picked up $54 million in a Series B led by Koch Disruptive Technologies. Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, GV and others also participated in the round. Founded in 2018, the San Jose-based startup helps enterprises build and deploy global hybrid or multi-cloud networks. Alkira has added KDT managing director Jason Illian to its board of directors.

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Astroscale lands $51M

Astroscale, which is developing solutions to remove space debris, has scooped up a $51 million Series E led by aStart. Other investors in the round include Hulic, I-Net, Shimizu and Sparx Space Frontier Fund. The Tokyo-based company has raised $191 million in funding since it was founded in 2013.

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Armory nabs $40M for cloud SaaS platform

Software company Armory has secured $40 million in a Series C led by B Capital. Marc Benioff and Lead Edge Capital also joined the round, along with existing investors. Armory has commercialized Spinnaker, an open source multi-cloud continuous delivery platform developed by Netflix and Google. The San Mateo, Calif.-based startup has raised $82 million to date.

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Apiiro emerges from stealth with $35M

Apiiro, a provider of software that scans code for security issues, has come out of stealth with a $35 million round led by Greylock Partners and Kleiner Perkins. The Israeli company's clients include two large banks in the US and companies in the gaming, healthcare, and software development sectors. Co-founders Idan Plotnik and Yonatan Eldar were previously executives at cloud security startup Aorato, which Microsoft bought for $200 million in 2014.

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Exits & IPOs

Ant's IPO delayed by regulatory probe

Chinese regulators are probing Ant Group's upcoming IPO over a possible conflict of interest, according to Reuters. The inquiry holds up approval for the Chinese fintech company's hotly anticipated offering, which could raise $35 billion. The probe reportedly centers on Ant-owned payment platform Alipay, which retail investors must use in order to invest in five mutual funds participating in the IPO.

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Advent Technologies to merge with SPAC

Advent Technologies has agreed to combine with AMCI Acquisition, a special-purpose acquisition company. Advent shareholders plan to roll all of their equity into the combined company. The deal values the Cambridge, Mass.-based fuel cell-maker at $358 million and is expected to close in Q4 or early 2021.

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Fundraising

Insight eyes $875M for preferred equity strategy

Insight Partners is seeking to raise $875 million for a debut opportunities fund targeting convertible preferred equity deals, a bid to capitalize on market disruption caused by the pandemic, according to The Wall Street Journal. The New York-based firm closed its latest flagship fund on $9.5 billion in April.

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Canaan secures $800M for 12th fund

Canaan Partners has raised $800 million for its 12th early-stage venture fund, which will target healthcare and tech companies. The San Francisco-based firm was an early backer of companies including Instacart and The RealReal and has recently expanded into frontier, consumer and security investments. The venture firm also raised $800 million for its previous fund in 2017.

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Investors

BLCK VC helps launch education initiative for Black entrepreneurs

BLCK VC, Salesforce Ventures, Operator Collective and UC Berkeley Haas School of Business have partnered to form the Black Venture Institute, an organization that aims to educate and provide a community for Black entrepreneurs who want to become angel and venture investors. Bill Gurley of Benchmark, Ron Conway of SV Angel, Monique Woodard of Cake Ventures, Charles Hudson of Precursor Ventures and others have signed on to help with the effort. The institute plans to graduate at least 300 fellows in three years.

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