Investors discuss VC's dearth of diversity

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The Daily Pitch: VC

November 13, 2020

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Today's Top Stories

From talk to action: Investors weigh in on ways to increase diversity in VC

(Our panelists, from left: Angela Matheny, Barry Eggers, Cynthia Muller, Lisa Lambert)

For years, venture capitalists have faced mounting pressure to diversify their portfolio companies and investment teams with people of color and women.

PitchBook News hosted a panel discussion with representatives from various areas of the private markets on the evolving role that investors play in addressing diversity and equality issues:

Recommended Reads

Last week, Ant Group shut down an IPO in China that likely would have been the biggest public debut of all time. The order to do so seems to have come from the highest office in the land. [The Wall Street Journal]

California's Proposition 22 easily passed last week in a major win for gig companies such as Uber and Lyft. But the fight over the ballot measure is far from over. [The New York Times]

For many of the world's great cities, the 20th century was one of urban sprawl and suburbanization. There's growing reason to think leaders will reverse that trend in the decades to come. [Bloomberg]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

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VC valuations

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People

334

Companies

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Funds

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2016 Vintage Global Venture Funds with less than $250M
	People
	Revolution's Ron Klain named Biden chief of staff
	Former Dropbox CFO lands new role at IVP
	M13 adds Anna Barber as partner
	VC Deals
	Menlo Security banks $100M Series E
	Kate Farms brings in $51M
	Video communications startup snags $30M
	Solv secures $27M for healthcare
	Portfolio Companies
	Vista to take control of Pipedrive in $1.5B deal
	Exits & IPOs
	Better.com plans public debut
	Fundraising
	Intrinsic Capital tops $100M for cannabis-focused fund

The Daily Benchmark

2016 Vintage Global Venture Funds with less than $250M

Median IRR

20.95%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

31.96%

1.45x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Joy Capital I

Mayfield Select

Social Leverage Capital Fund II

*IRR: net of fees

37 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

People

Revolution's Ron Klain named Biden chief of staff

Ron Klain, the general counsel at Steve Case's venture firm, Revolution, has been named President-elect Joe Biden's chief of staff. A longtime confidant, Klain also served as chief of staff when Biden was vice president and as an aide during his Senate tenure in the 1980s. During the Obama administration, Klain led the US response to the Ebola virus outbreak.

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Former Dropbox CFO lands new role at IVP

Former Dropbox CFO Ajay Vashee has joined VC firm IVP as a general partner. Vashee spent almost a decade at Dropbox before leaving the company in August. Prior to that, Vashee was a senior associate at NEA, where he invested in venture and growth-stage enterprise, consumer and energy companies. Based in Menlo Park, IVP makes late-stage investments in tech and media startups.

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M13 adds Anna Barber as partner

Venture capital firm M13 has hired Anna Barber as a partner and head of its venture studio, Launchpad. Barber, who will be based in Los Angeles, was most recently a managing director at Techstars LA. Started last year, Launchpad has spun out wellness company Rae and partnered with P&G Ventures to launch companies including skincare startup Bodewell and Kindra, which makes menopause products.

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View 124 investments »

VC Deals

Menlo Security banks $100M Series E

Menlo Security has raised $100 million in a round led by Vista Equity Partners, valuing the company at $800 million. Based in Mountain View, Calif., Menlo Security is the developer of a cloud-based cybersecurity platform designed to prevent malware threats from the web, documents and email. In July 2019, the startup raised $75 million at a valuation of $575 million, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

JP Morgan Asset Management, Neuberger Berman, General Catalyst

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Kate Farms brings in $51M

Kate Farms has raised a $51 million Series B led by Goldman Sachs, with participation from Kaiser Permanente Ventures and existing investors. The Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company produces plant-based nutrition shakes, as well as formulas for patients with chronic illnesses.

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Video communications startup snags $30M

Livestorm has raised a $30 million Series B co-led by Aglaé Ventures and Bpifrance Digital Venture. Raise Ventures and IdInvest also participated. The Paris-based company is the developer of a video communications platform used by more than 3,500 companies, such as Shopify and Sephora, to host online events.

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Solv secures $27M for healthcare

Solv, the developer of a networking platform designed to connect patients with healthcare providers, has raised $27 million in a Series B+ round led by Acrew Capital. The San Francisco-based company enables patients to schedule virtual appointments and discover local COVID-19 testing sites.

Additional Investors:

Greylock Partners, Benchmark, Light Street Capital, MultiCare Health System

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Portfolio Companies

Vista to take control of Pipedrive in $1.5B deal

Vista Equity Partners has agreed to buy a majority stake in Pipedrive, a developer of customer relationship management software for the sales industry, with TechCrunch reporting the deal values the New York-based startup at about $1.5 billion. Existing Pipedrive backers Bessemer Venture Partners, Insight Partners, Atomico, DTCP and Rembrandt Venture Partners will all retain minority stakes in the business. Pipedrive was valued at $500 million with its most recent venture round in 2018, according to PitchBook data.

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View 61 competitors »

Exits & IPOs

Better.com plans public debut

Digital mortgage lender Better.com is planning to file confidentially for a public debut as early as January, according to Bloomberg. The company, which reportedly expects its net revenue to exceed $800 million in 2020, is hoping for an IPO valuation of more than $4 billion. Backed by investors including L Catterton, American Express Ventures and Ally Ventures, Better.com was reportedly valued at $4 billion after a $200 million round earlier this week.

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Fundraising

Intrinsic Capital tops $100M for cannabis-focused fund

Intrinsic Capital Partners has closed a new growth equity fund on $102 million, with plans to invest the capital in life sciences and tech companies operating in the legal cannabis and hemp industries. The Pennsylvania-based firm has already committed about $65 million from the fund across four investments.

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