PitchBook News - Our VC predictions for 2021

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The Daily Pitch: VC

December 14, 2020

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Today's Top Stories

Pharma fundings, SPACs and our other VC predictions for 2021

The ongoing rollout of COVID-19 vaccines will help shape VC in 2021. (Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

After 2020 turned into a year nobody saw coming, trying to predict what will unfold in the next 12 months of VC dealmaking might seem like an ambitious errand. Luckily, it's one for which our analyst team is well equipped.

The rollout of vaccines and the future of the pandemic will have obvious influence on what's to come. So too will the presence of a new administration in the White House, with the potential for major changes to policies on taxes, immigration and trade. What will it all mean? Here are a few of our best guesses for what's ahead in 2021:

After a record-breaking 2020, biotech and pharma VC deal activity will again top $20 billion

Fewer than 30% of the SPACs that went public in 2020 will close an acquisition in 2021

The Bay Area will fall below a 20% share of US deal count for the first time

see all our VC predictions

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Private debt rides out crisis despite fears of loose deal terms

(Oscar Wong/Getty Images)

Amid the unprecedented economic emergency caused by the coronavirus, many private debt managers are facing their first real test since the global financial crisis. The frothy market and loose lending habits that preceded 2020 have fueled fears that some aren't prepared for a downturn—and a wave of defaults could be imminent.

Yet while there have been casualties, the industry has shown resilience, and many direct lenders have fared better than anticipated. This is especially true for those who targeted specific sectors and strategies:

Recommended Reads

As a teenager, Taihei Kobayashi spent two winters sleeping on the streets of Tokyo. Now, he's the CEO of a billion-dollar tech startup. [Bloomberg]

In the early days of the pandemic, life in the small town of Mitchell, S.D., went along pretty much as it always has. Then people started dying. [The Washington Post]

Some of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world have very different opinions about the industry's future. The same is true for oil and gas investors. [The Wall Street Journal]

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2015 Vintage Global Venture Funds with more than $250M
	People
	Benchmark adds general partner
	VC Deals
	Squire picks up $59M Series C
	Orbex lands $24M to fund rocket launch
	Exits & IPOs
	Roblox, Affirm pause IPO plans
	AbCellera soars nearly 200% in market debut
	Lidar maker Innoviz to merge with SPAC
	Lightning eMotors to go public via SPAC merger

The Daily Benchmark

2015 Vintage Global Venture Funds with more than $250M

Median IRR

16.01%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

18.60%

1.50x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Summit Partners Venture Capital Fund IV

Trinity Ventures XII

OrbiMed Private Investments VI

*IRR: net of fees

21 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

People

Benchmark adds general partner

Miles Grimshaw has signed on with Benchmark as a general partner. The 29-year-old investor placed early bets on Airtable, Segment and Benchling, and was previously a general partner at Thrive Capital.

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VC Deals

Squire picks up $59M Series C

Squire has raised $59 million in a round led by Iconiq Capital, with participation from investors including Tiger Global and Trinity Ventures. The New York-based company develops barbershop management software designed to help barbers operate their businesses with cashless transactions. In June, Squire raised a $34 million Series B at an $85 million valuation, according to PitchBook data.

Select Additional Investors:

CRV, SoftBank

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View 2 competitors »

Orbex lands $24M to fund rocket launch

Octopus Ventures and BGF have led a $24 million investment in UK-based space launch company Orbex. The capital will go toward funding the first launch of the environmentally sustainable Orbex Prime rocket, which is expected in 2022.

Existing Investors:

Elecnor, Heartcore Capital, High-Tech Gründerfonds

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Exits & IPOs

Roblox, Affirm pause IPO plans

Roblox and Affirm, two high-valued tech companies that were poised to go public soon, are putting off their planned IPOs in light of the bullish debuts last week by Airbnb and DoorDash. Roblox, an online videogame company, and Affirm, a consumer lending platform that was valued last year at $2.9 billion, had been expected to join an end-of-year IPO stampede. But both companies are now looking to get back on track early next year, The Wall Street Journal reported. Affirm's reasons for postponing were unclear. As for Roblox, the decision allows the company time to adjust its deal's pricing and other matters in line with the intense investor appetite that has greeted new issues coming to market, the Journal reported. Roblox has raised more than $335 million, most recently at a $4 billion valuation in February, according to PitchBook.

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AbCellera soars nearly 200% in market debut

Stock in AbCellera, the biotech company co-developing a COVID-19 antibody treatment with Eli Lilly, surged some 195% on its first day of trading on the Nasdaq. The company's closing stock price on Friday was $58.90 per share. It raised $483 million after pricing its shares at $20 apiece. AbCellera's investors include Peter Thiel, DCVC Bio and Viking Global.

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View 44 competitors »

Lidar maker Innoviz to merge with SPAC

Innoviz Technologies plans to go public by merging with special-purpose acquisition company Collective Growth. The deal gives Innoviz a total of $350 million in gross proceeds, including a $200 million PIPE investment led by Antara Capital, with support from Magna International, Phoenix Insurance and others. Innoviz is working with BMW to bring its light detection and ranging technology for autonomous vehicles to market. The startup's existing investors include China Merchants Capital, SoftBank and Samsung.

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Lightning eMotors to go public via SPAC merger

Electric vehicle maker Lightning eMotors has agreed to merge with GigCapital3, a blank-check company. The Loveland, Colo.-based startup is developing battery- and fuel cell-powered vans, buses and trucks. Lightning eMotors will be valued at around $823 million in the deal, which includes a $125 million PIPE investment from existing investor BP Technology Ventures and others.

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View 14 competitors »