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The Daily Pitch: VC

November 20, 2020

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

Today's Top Stories

Cannabis backers have high hopes for rebound from deal downturn

(Luke Dray/Getty Images)

After a downturn in deal activity, the cannabis industry suddenly has high hopes that a rebound is on the horizon following a string of wins by pot-legalization campaigns.

Industry backers say their fresh ballot victories come amid this year's surging sales, with stressed-out consumers in lockdown smoking more weed and gobbling up edibles infused with CBD-based ingredients.

But the venture-backed cannabis market has seen markedly lower fundraising activity in 2020, a stark reversal from the dealmaking frenzy that accompanied a legalization wave that began six years ago:

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You know about Silicon Valley. Now, the state of California wants to turn Lithium Valley into the next big thing. [Bloomberg]

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2006 Vintage Global Buyout Funds
	People
	Peter Thiel joins AbCellera board
	VC Deals
	Forter gets $125M at $1.3B+ valuation
	Medable lands $91M
	Sapphire leads $60M round for Verbit
	ZenBusiness collects $55M Series B
	Immunotherapy startup launches with $53M
	Portfolio Companies
	BuzzFeed to take over HuffPost in media merger
	Exits & IPOs
	Nasdaq strikes $2.75B financial fraud pact
	Lightning eMotors eyes SPAC merger
	Fundraising
	SR One closes first independent fund

The Daily Benchmark

2006 Vintage Global Buyout Funds

Median IRR

7.90%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

12.80%

1.47x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Accel-KKR Capital Partners II

HIG Capital Partners IV

Waterland Private Equity Fund III BV

*IRR: net of fees

119 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

People

Peter Thiel joins AbCellera board

Peter Thiel has joined the board of AbCellera, the provider of an antibody discovery platform designed to prevent and treat disease. Thiel had previously participated in a $105 million Series B for AbCellera that took place in May. Backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Vancouver, Canada-based startup has worked with Pfizer and Eli Lilly on antibody research. AbCellera may conduct an IPO as soon as December that would value it at several billion dollars, according to Bloomberg.

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VC Deals

Forter gets $125M at $1.3B+ valuation

Ecommerce fraud prevention startup Forter has raised $125 million at a valuation of more than $1.3 billion. The Series E was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Felix Capital, with Sequoia and other backers participating. Companies such as Nordstrom, Sephora, Priceline, Instacart and Adobe use Forter's automated platform. Based in New York, the company raised a $50 million round in 2018.

Additional Investors:

NewView Capital, Scale Venture Partners, March Capital Partners, Commerce Ventures

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View 32 competitors »

Medable lands $91M

Sapphire Ventures has led a $91 million Series C for Medable, the developer of a decentralized clinical trial platform intended to connect patients with healthcare researchers. Existing investors GSR Ventures, PPD and Streamlined Ventures also participated in the funding.

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Sapphire leads $60M round for Verbit

Verbit, the creator of an AI-based transcription and captioning platform, has pulled in $60 million. The Series C was led by Sapphire Ventures, with existing backers Vertex Ventures, Stripes, HV Ventures, ClalTech and new investor Vertex Growth also contributing to the financing. In January, the New York-based startup raised $31 million at a $126.8 million valuation, according to PitchBook data. Verbit's tech is used by the higher education, legal, media and enterprise sectors to create transcriptions and captions for live and recorded video and audio.

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ZenBusiness collects $55M Series B

ZenBusiness has raised $55 million in a round led by Cathay Innovation, with support from GreatPoint Ventures and Lerer Hippeau Ventures. The Austin-based company is a developer of digital products and tools that help entrepreneurs launch and manage micro businesses. ZenBusiness raised $15 million at a $55 million valuation in September 2019, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Breyer Capital, Omega Venture Partners, Greycroft, Interlock Partners, Mark VC, ATX Venture Partners

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Immunotherapy startup launches with $53M

Umoja Biopharma has raised $53 million in a Series A co-led by MPM Capital and Qiming Venture Partners. The Seattle-based pre-clinical-stage biotech company is developing cellular immunotherapies to treat cancer. Umoja was valued at $23 million after an $8 million seed investment from MPM and DCVC Bio in November 2019, according to PitchBook data.

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Portfolio Companies

BuzzFeed to take over HuffPost in media merger

BuzzFeed has agreed to purchase rival digital media company HuffPost from Verizon Media, with the unit of Verizon Communications taking a minority stake in BuzzFeed as part of the deal. Verizon subsidiary AOL acquired HuffPost for $315 million in 2011. The new transaction is all-stock, and Verizon Media will also make a cash investment in BuzzFeed, The Wall Street Journal reported. BuzzFeed has raised nearly $500 million in prior venture funding, according to PitchBook data.

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Exits & IPOs

Nasdaq strikes $2.75B financial fraud pact

Nasdaq has agreed to pay $2.75 billion in cash to acquire Verafin, the creator of a cloud-based platform that helps financial institutions detect, investigate and report financial fraud. The Canadian company was recapitalized last year in a C$515 million (about $394 million today) deal, with new equity financing coming from Spectrum Equity, Information Venture Partners and other backers.

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Lightning eMotors eyes SPAC merger

Lightning eMotors, a startup developing electrification solutions for commercial fleet vehicles, is discussing a merger with special-purpose acquisition company GigCapital3 that could value the company at between $700 million and $1 billion, according to Bloomberg. The SPAC is also trying to line up $100 million in financing to support the deal, the report said. Lightning eMotors, based in Loveland, Colo., raised $41 million in equity and debt last December in a round led by BP Ventures.

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Fundraising

SR One closes first independent fund

SR One, formerly the venture capital arm of pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, has closed its first independent fund on $500 million. The firm recently completed its spinoff from GSK, which is the largest investor in the oversubscribed fund. Based in Philadelphia, SR One will continue to seek out investments in biotech companies developing innovative medicines.

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View 130 investments »

Chart of the Day

"Funds sized under €100 million have only accounted for 16.4% of fund count in 2020, pacing noticeably lower than funds sized between €1 billion and €5 billion, which have contributed 22.4%. If this pace is maintained through the remainder of 2020, it will be the first time in over a decade such a difference between the counts of the two fund sizes has occurred."

Source: PitchBook's Q3 2020 European PE Breakdown