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The Daily Pitch: VC

February 19, 2021

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

Today's Top Stories

Intel Capital interim chief wins the job

Intel Capital's changing of the guard has come to a close after a transition of more than seven months, culminating in the selection of interim chief Anthony Lin as head of chipmaking giant Intel's corporate venture arm.

Lin's elevation to the post also comes as former Intel veteran Pat Gelsinger takes the reins as CEO of the company, returning to Intel after a stint leading software provider VMware.

Lin, an Intel veteran since 2008, was tapped to fill the role last August following the departure of Wendell Brooks. Lin previously held dealmaking roles in Intel's M&A operations.

An Intel spokeswoman declined to comment on whether there were external candidates for the position.

In a letter to portfolio companies, Lin said Intel Capital deployed financing of over $735 million in 2020 and was lead investor on two-thirds of the venture rounds.

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Democrats in Congress again propose end to carried interest tax break

Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr., right, is making another go at ending the carried interest tax break for US fund managers.
(Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

It's been more than 10 years since then-President Barack Obama first proposed ending the carried interest tax break, a provision that allows top earners from private equity and hedge funds to pay a smaller percentage in federal income tax than other Americans.

With Democrats now in control of both chambers of Congress and the presidency, legislation to close the loophole and increase the tax burden for investment managers is back on the agenda.

Earlier this week, a group in the US House of Representatives introduced a bill that would tax profits made by investment fund managers as ordinary income, or as high as 37%, rather than as capital gains, which are taxed at 15% to 20%.

The American Investment Council, a lobbying group for the private equity industry, has slammed the bill, saying it would be the "worst time" to overturn provisions in the 2017 tax law.

A recent analysis from the Congressional Budget Office said closing the loophole could raise $14 billion over the next decade.

Recommended Reads

The pandemic has created an unprecedented boom in Amazon's business. It has also sparked an unprecedented amount of labor unrest amid the company's quickly growing workforce. [The New York Times]

At West Point, future US Army officers are grappling with the very complicated question of how the military should deploy AI-powered killer robots in the years to come. [The Washington Post]

In recent weeks, it's been impossible to escape news about GameStop. In a year or two, it might be impossible to escape movies about GameStop. [Vulture]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2016 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds
	Partner Perspectives
	Breaking down cross-border M&A in IT
	VC Deals
	Professional Fighters League picks up $65M
	Eden Health secures $60M
	Goal management startup scoops up $50M
	Recogni reels in $48.9M for autonomous vehicle tech
	Math tutoring app developer raises $23M
	Exits & IPOs
	Supersonic plane designer Aerion in talks about SPAC merger
	Satellite data startup BlackSky to merge with SPAC
	CrowdStrike, VCs strike $400M deal for Humio
	Fundraising
	Gates Foundation-backed Adjuvant collects $300M for impact fund
	Advent Life Sciences rounds up $215M from LPs

The Daily Benchmark

2016 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds

Median IRR

16.90%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

25.70%

1.29x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Industry Ventures Special Opportunities Fund III

Industry Ventures Secondary VIII

Greenspring Secondaries Fund II

*IRR: net of fees

22 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

Partner Perspectives

Breaking down cross-border M&A in IT

Throughout 2020, few sectors accelerated growth like tech. While the COVID-19 pandemic hindered M&A in some sectors, it triggered activity in others, both cross-sector and cross-border. Velocity Global's brand-new report, The Cross-border M&A Monitor: Technology Sector, draws on PitchBook datasets to analyze the key elements that defined M&A trends across the industry, including:

Shifts in equity/debt usage and their implications
The growing importance of PE firms in cross-border dealmaking
What a decline in cross-border carveouts over the past two years portends

Read it now

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VC Deals

Professional Fighters League picks up $65M

Mixed martial arts organization Professional Fighters League has raised $65 million in a funding round co-led by Ares Capital, Elysian Park Ventures and Knighthead Capital. The New York-based company plans to launch its 2021 season in April, a year after it cancelled the 2020 season due to the pandemic. PFL has raised $175 million to date and was valued at $240 million in 2019, according to PitchBook data.

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Eden Health secures $60M

Eden Health, the developer of a healthtech platform providing primary care, behavioral health services and other related offerings to employees, has raised a $60 million Series C led by Insight Partners. The New York-based company raised $25 million at an $85 million valuation in August, according to PitchBook data.

Select Additional Investors:

Amigos Health, Aspect Ventures, Company Ventures, Flare Capital Partners, Max Ventures

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Goal management startup scoops up $50M

Ally.io has raised a $50 million Series C led by Greenoaks Capital, with participation from investors including Tiger Global and Madrona Venture Group. Based in Seattle, the company is a developer of business execution software designed to help companies such as Remitly and TripAdvisor track and manage goals. In 2019, Ally.io raised $15 million at a $90 million valuation, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Accel, Addition, Founders' Co-op, Vulcan Capital

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Recogni reels in $48.9M for autonomous vehicle tech

Recogni has raised a $48.9 million Series B led by WRVI Capital, with participation from investors including Toyota AI Ventures and BMW i Ventures. The San Jose-based company is a developer of AI-based visual perception and cognition technology for autonomous vehicles. Recogni was valued at $55 million with a $25 million round in 2019, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Continental Tyre Group, DNS Capital, Fluxunit - OSRAM Ventures, GreatPoint Ventures, Mayfield Fund, Robert Bosch Venture Capital

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Math tutoring app developer raises $23M

Photomath has raised a $23 million Series B led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from GSV Ventures, Learn Capital, Cherubic Ventures and Goodwater Capital. The company's tutoring app scans and solves written or printed math problems, providing users with step-by-step explanations. Based in San Mateo, Calif., Photomath was valued at $26 million in 2018, according to PitchBook data.

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Exits & IPOs

Supersonic plane designer Aerion in talks about SPAC merger

Aerion is in talks to merge with blank-check company Altitude Acquisition in a deal that could value it at up to $3 billion, Bloomberg reported. Reno, Nev.-based Aerion previously received backing from Boeing and Space Florida. Aerion and Boeing inked a partnership in 2019 to develop a supersonic business jet dubbed the AS2.

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Satellite data startup BlackSky to merge with SPAC

BlackSky has struck a deal to go public by combining with Osprey Technology Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company. The merger is expected to give BlackSky $450 million in new funding, with $180 million coming from a PIPE investment backed by Tiger Global, Mithril Capital, Hedosophia and Senator Investment Group. BlackSky operates a network of Earth observation satellites and is one of several space companies—including Virgin Galactic, Momentus and Astra—that have agreed to go public via SPAC.

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CrowdStrike, VCs strike $400M deal for Humio

CrowdStrike has agreed to pay $400 million for Humio, a provider of cloud log management and observability technology. The San Francisco-based company raised a $20 million Series B last year led by Dell Technologies Capital, with participation from Accel, bringing its total venture funding to more than $30 million.

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Fundraising

Gates Foundation-backed Adjuvant collects $300M for impact fund

Adjuvant Capital has raised $300 million for its debut impact investing vehicle, which will back companies targeting global health challenges. The VC fund received commitments from major foundations including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Dalio Philanthropies and the Ford Foundation, as well as pharmaceutical giants such as Merck and Novartis. Adjuvant has invested in 14 companies to date, including molecular diagnostics specialist ChromaCode and vaccine startups Yisheng Biopharma and Codagenix.

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Advent Life Sciences rounds up $215M from LPs

The UK's Advent Life Sciences has raised $215 million across two funds. One is the firm's third namesake life sciences venture fund, while the other, called the Advent-Harrington Impact Fund, will work along with the Harrington Discovery Institute to invest in companies trying to turn drug discoveries into novel treatments. Both vehicles will target deals at the seed stage, Series A and beyond.

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View 51 investments »

Chart of the Day

"Healthcare, a customary haven during downturns, also experienced heightened M&A activity last year. During 2020, €123.2 billion worth of M&A transactions closed in the sector—its second highest reading in over a decade. In fact, healthcare was the only industry to achieve annual gains in M&A value from 2019, and healthcare services contributed the bulk of M&A volume in 2020."

Source: PitchBook's 2020 Annual European M&A Report