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Mayhem in Washington sparks widespread condemnation
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Police in riot gear confront protesters at the Capitol.
(Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images) |
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Stunning scenes from Washington of mobs breaching the Capitol—along with President Trump's own reaction to the events—sparked condemnation and anger across the business and tech world. Among the more notable developments and comments:
- Facebook and YouTube, citing rules about inciting violence, removed Trump's mixed-message video statement in which he simultaneously urged protesters to go home and praised them as "special."
- Twitter locked Trump's account for 12 hours because of what it called "repeated and severe violations" and also took down three of his tweets.
- Guy Rosen, Facebook's vice president of integrity, wrote in a tweet: "This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump's video. We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence."
- Venture capitalist Hunter Walk of Homebrew railed against Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, calling on colleagues in the tech ecosystem to shun Kushner. "Don't be putting Jared Kushner on cap tables when this is all said and done," Walk tweeted.
- Mark Suster, managing partner of Upfront Ventures, chimed in on Twitter: "If you normalize his behavior of past four years it's on you. I for one will not do business with anything he's involved with. He's an enabler of somebody willing to end democracy in America. Never forget that."
- Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff: "Our leaders must call for peace and unity now. There is no room for violence in our democracy."
- National Association of Manufacturers president and CEO Jay Timmons called the mob attacks an act of "sedition and should be treated as such," according to a statement. "Vice President Pence, who was evacuated from the Capitol, should seriously consider working with the Cabinet to invoke the 25th Amendment to preserve democracy."
- BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in a statement that he condemned "in the strongest possible terms" the violence at the Capitol. "This is an assault on our nation, our democracy, and the will of the American people."
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Petco, Poshmark set IPO terms to join early wave of 2021 listings
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| (Courtesy of Petco) |
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Pet supplies retailer Petco and online fashion marketplace Poshmark have set price ranges for their upcoming IPOs, joining Affirm in a busy start to the year's IPO calendar.
Poshmark could raise more than $257 million after selling a planned 6.6 million shares for $35 to $39 apiece. At the midpoint price, the company would be valued at more than $3 billion on a fully diluted basis. Its last private valuation was $625 million in 2017, according to PitchBook data.
The Bay Area company turned profitable in the first nine months of 2020, after increasing its year-over-year revenue 28% to $192.8 million. Venture capital firm Mayfield is the company's largest outside investor, with 26.5% of Poshmark's shares, followed by Menlo Ventures (15.8%) and Inventus Capital (10.4%).
Petco aims to raise as much as $816 million in its sale of 48 million shares. It expects to sell them for $14 to $17 apiece, which would value the company at $4.68 billion at the midpoint price. The company posted sales of $3.5 billion in the 39-week period ending Oct. 31, a 9% increase from the same period in 2019.
CVC Capital Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board will control 81.3% of the company's voting power. They bought the retailer in 2016 for $4.6 billion. |
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A message from SS&C Intralinks
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How consolidation & innovation is powering financial services M&A
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Q4 was one for the record books, with the Dow breaking 30,000 and the S&P 500 hitting record highs. Will the same levers driving up the Street also lift financial services M&A?
Download our new market brief, Financial Services M&A: Consolidation & Innovation, for a view of the current M&A market and the impacts of key developments on financial services, such as:
- The US elections and COVID-19 vaccines
- Pandemic-driven consolidations
- An influx of capital from institutional investors
- Intense competition and record valuations
And more. Get these and other insights in our new market brief. Download it now.
Intralinks INsights
CLEAR ADVANTAGE |
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Former Goldman Sachs head to lead climate fund at TPG
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| Henry Paulson is heading to private equity after a long career in finance and a short stint in government. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) |
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Henry Paulson, a former US Treasury Secretary under President George W. Bush, has agreed to lead a new private equity fund at TPG Capital that will focus on fighting climate change while also meeting the firm's usual standard for returns, The New York Times reported.
Dubbed TPG Rise Climate, the fund marks a return to the financial world for Paulson, who left his role as CEO at Goldman Sachs in 2006 to join the Bush administration, eventually helping navigate the US out of the financial crisis. Paulson left office in 2009 and subsequently founded the Paulson Institute, a nonprofit that focuses on improving US-China relations and initiatives fighting climate change, among other goals. Paulson, 74, was reportedly recruited by U2 singer Bono to lead the new TPG fund.
The climate vehicle is TPG's latest move toward a do-good approach to investing, following The Rise Fund, a $2 billion impact investing vehicle co-led by Bono that aims to make investments that work for the greater societal good while providing solid returns. A second Rise Fund had raised nearly $2.2 billion toward a reported $2.5 billion target as of Oct. 21, according to an SEC filing. |
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EU fund makes first investments to boost VC funding
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| (Santiago Urquijo/Getty Images) |
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A European Union fund aimed at filling a gap in venture funding on the continent has made its first investments, injecting €178 million (around $219 million) into 42 companies.
The European Innovation Council Fund, which was set up in June, plans to back a further 117 startups, investing between €500,000 and €15 million per company in exchange for a stake of up to 25%. French medical device company CorWave was the vehicle's first investment, securing €15 million.
Europe's venture market is still a fraction of the size of the VC ecosystem in either the US or Asia. In 2020, startups in the EU (excluding the UK) raised a total of €22.2 billion, according to PitchBook data, compared with €138 billion in the US and €74.3 billion in Asia.
Individual European countries have also set up state funds to boost VC activity in their respective markets. In November, Germany announced a new €10 billion fund to back German startups over the next 10 years, with a view to attracting an additional €20 billion in private investments. France has created several programs, including a €10 billion innovation fund in 2018 for deep tech startups and a €400 million vehicle to back companies in the defense sector. |
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Where will your firm rank in PitchBook's Global League Tables?
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More than 25,000 firms coordinate with us in order to ensure the deals they accomplish appear in the PitchBook Platform. Where will your firm end up?
Reach out to connect@pitchbook.com to get your deals properly credited, so you may feature in our industry, region and deal type rankings. |
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In their quest to schedule COVID-19 vaccine appointments as quickly as possible, some counties in Florida are turning to an unlikely company. [Recode]
In 2020, Mukesh Ambani raised billions in funding for subsidiaries of his Reliance Industries conglomerate. Now, he's squaring off with furious farmers in his home nation of India. [The Wall Street Journal]
With more and more major tech companies embracing a shift toward remote work, the golden age of the Silicon Valley cafeteria may be over. [Bloomberg] |
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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:
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18
VC valuations
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1391
People
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Companies
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21
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2017 Vintage Global Venture Funds
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Roblox sees value jump to $29.5B, plans direct listing
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| Gaming platform operator Roblox has raised $520 million and announced plans to go public via a direct listing. Altimeter Capital and Dragoneer led the company's Series H, with The Investment Group of Santa Barbara, Warner Music and other current backers also investing. The latest funding values the company at $29.5 billion. Last February, Roblox was worth $4 billion after raising a $150 million Series G, according to PitchBook data. Late last year, the company had filed for an IPO, but reportedly postponed its public debut after DoorDash and Airbnb experienced share-price jumps on their first trading days. |
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Hinge Health valued at $3B with latest round
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| Telemedicine startup Hinge Health has raised a $300 million Series D at a $3 billion valuation. The round was led by Coatue Management and Tiger Global, with support from Atomico, Insight Partners and others. San Francisco-based Hinge operates a platform for virtual physical therapy and health coaching, with a focus on treatments for back and joint pain. The company is aiming to go public in 2022, Reuters reported. Hinge was valued at $405 million after a $91.5 million round in April, according to PitchBook data. |
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Indian wholesale marketplace Udaan secures $280M
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Senti Bio collects $105M Series B
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| Senti Bio has raised $105 million in a round led by Bayer, with participation from investors including Matrix Partners China, NEA and 8VC. Founded in 2016, the company is developing gene circuit technology intended to improve treatments for immunological, cardiovascular and genetic diseases, among other disorders. |
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Owl Rock leads unicorn round for SalesLoft
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| SalesLoft has raised $100 million in a round led by Owl Rock Capital, valuing the startup at $1.1 billion. The Atlanta-based company is the creator of a sales engagement platform that helps customers including Shopify, LinkedIn and Slack manage digital sales operations. In 2019, SalesLoft raised $70 million at a $555 million valuation, according to PitchBook data. |
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Starburst hits $1.2B valuation in a16z-led financing
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| Pax8 has raised $96 million in a round co-led by Catalyst Investors and Sageview Capital. The company is the developer of a distribution application that helps IT professionals buy, sell and manage cloud products. Pax8 was valued at $62.3 million when it raised $13.3 million in 2019, according to PitchBook data. |
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Hologic to buy cancer testing startup for $230M
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| Hologic has agreed to purchase Biotheranostics, a provider of molecular diagnostic tests for breast and metastatic cancers, for around $230 million. Founded in 2008, Biotheranostics has received prior funding from investors including SDL Ventures and HealthQuest Capital. The startup spun out from French biotech company BioMérieux in 2016. Hologic is a medical tech company focused on women's health. |
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Hootsuite buys digital customer service startup
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"While the industrial and manufacturing sectors are a large driver of GDP in the DACH region, PE dealmaking through 2020 has been concentrated in sectors less exposed to cyclicality and COVID-19, including IT, which is experiencing strong structural growth. We believe this trend will only amplify. IT accounted for 26.9% of all closed PE deals YTD, putting the sector on pace for an annual record."
Source: PitchBook's 2020 DACH Private Capital Breakdown |
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