Election draws record donations from VCs

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The Daily Pitch: VC

November 2, 2020

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Today's Top Stories

Venture capital favors a Joe Biden victory with record 2020 election donations

During the 2020 election cycle, some 79% of VC contributions went to Democratic organizations and candidates like Joe Biden, the Center for Responsive Politics found. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Largely clustered in areas like New York City and Silicon Valley, the venture capital industry was already leaning liberal. And as evidenced by the 2020 election cycle, it's moving further left: More than three-quarters of VC's record $69.7 million in political donations this cycle went to Democratic candidates and causes, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

What's behind the shift? Industry insiders point to growing frustration with President Trump's immigration actions and hope for Joe Biden's investment plans:

Recommended Reads

It's election week. Here's why private equity dealmakers will be watching particularly closely. [Bloomberg]

For most office workers, the daily commute has disappeared. Many are using that extra time to keep their noses to the grindstone just a little bit longer. [The Wall Street Journal]

LVMH and Tiffany have reached a $15.8 billion truce. For anyone familiar with the history of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, the drama that preceded last week's deal came as little surprise. [The New York Times]

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2010 Vintage Global Venture Funds
	VC Deals
	Polestar discusses $500M round
	Conductor collects $150M, eyes US IPO
	Kandji raises $21M Series A
	Portfolio Companies
	Credit Karma could sell tax prep unit to Square
	Juul's valuation continues to sink
	Exits & IPOs
	Lufax raises nearly $2.4B in NYSE debut
	Nestlé completes $1.5B meal delivery deal
	Ipsy buys rival BoxyCharm, merging beauty box services
	Vista's Granicus adds on Calytera

The Daily Benchmark

2010 Vintage Global Venture Funds

Median IRR

11.32%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

25.46%

1.83x

Median TVPI

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IA Ventures Fund I

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33 Funds in Benchmark »

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VC Deals

Polestar discusses $500M round

Electric vehicle maker Polestar is in talks to raise $500 million from investors at a $6 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg. The Swedish startup is owned by Volvo and Chinese auto company Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. Its first fully electric vehicle, which began production earlier this year in China, has run into production issues that resulted in a pair of recalls.

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Conductor collects $150M, eyes US IPO

Brazil's Conductor has taken in $150 million led by Viking Global Investors, with Sunley House Capital also participating, according to reports. The payments operator is also reportedly considering a US IPO as it seeks to grow its business in Latin America, where it has 30 million active users. Conductor has received prior backing from Visa Ventures and Riverwood Capital.

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Kandji raises $21M Series A

Kandji, the creator of an Apple device management platform for businesses, has secured $21 million in a Series A led by Greycroft. Also participating in the deal were Okta Ventures, B Capital and First Round Capital.

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Portfolio Companies

Credit Karma could sell tax prep unit to Square

Credit Karma is negotiating a potential sale of its tax preparation business to Square, according to The Wall Street Journal. A deal could reportedly quell antitrust concerns over Credit Karma's pending sale to Intuit, the maker of TurboTax, a $7.1 billion tie-up announced in February. Credit Karma's current backers include CapitalG, Silver Lake and Tiger Global.

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Juul's valuation continues to sink

Juul has reportedly cut its internal valuation to $10 billion, down from $13 billion earlier this year, and major backer Altria has slashed its valuation of the e-cigarette maker to less than $5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The tobacco company bought 35% of Juul two years ago for $12.8 billion, a stake it is now said to value at $1.6 billion. That initial investment from Altria, which makes Marlboro cigarettes, valued Juul at a reported $38 billion.

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Exits & IPOs

Lufax raises nearly $2.4B in NYSE debut

Chinese fintech company Lufax began trading on the NYSE after raising $2.36 billion in its IPO. The Shanghai-based business sold 175 million American depositary shares at $13.50 apiece, the top of its expected range; it closed its first day trading down nearly 5%. Lufax had received prior backing from Primavera Capital, LionRock Capital and Arbor Ventures.

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Nestlé completes $1.5B meal delivery deal

Nestlé has acquired meal delivery startup Freshly in a deal that values the New York-based company at $950 million, with the potential for $550 million in additional payment based on future milestones. Freshly has raised about $140 million in venture funding since its founding in 2015, according to PitchBook data, with early backers including Highland Capital Partners and White Star Capital.

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Ipsy buys rival BoxyCharm, merging beauty box services

Ipsy has bought competitor BoxyCharm, a deal that merges two of the largest global beauty subscription services. The brands will continue to operate as separate entities under a new umbrella organization, BFA Industries. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2013, BoxyCharm was bought by private equity firm KarpReilly in 2016.

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Vista's Granicus adds on Calytera

Granicus, a developer of tech aimed at boosting civic engagement, has acquired Calytera from BuildGroup, a VC investor focused on software companies. Calytera is an Austin-based company building permitting, compliance and licensing software. Vista Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in Granicus from K1 Investment Management in 2016.

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