PitchBook News - The Bay Area's role in the future of VC

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The Daily Pitch: VC

February 26, 2021

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Today's Top Stories

Why the Bay Area is still central to the future of VC

(Piriya Photography/Getty Images)

In recent years, the US venture industry has grown tremendously outside of the Bay Area—a shift accelerated by the pandemic. As weeks of working from home turned into months, questions grew about whether the sky-high prices of Silicon Valley were worth it, especially as cities like Austin and Miami stepped up to lure startups, employees and investors.

But growth in emerging markets isn't a sign of the Bay Area's decline, PitchBook analysts write in our latest research note. Despite an increasing flow of capital to other aspiring tech hubs, the region remains as central to the future of VC as ever:

LPs strongly favor Bay Area fundraising, which has topped $151 billion since the start of 2016—more than the rest of the US combined.

More than 40% of US VC deal value in the past five years has gone to Bay Area-based companies.

Silicon Valley produces the largest cohort of entrepreneurs in the country.

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Foresite Capital's ambitions swell with mammoth healthcare fund

Foresite managing director Michael Rome co-leads the firm's therapeutics investing division. (Courtesy of Foresite Capital)

Foresite Capital has raised $969 million for its latest fund, an achievement that puts it in an elite league of life sciences investors.

The firm thinks the coronavirus will "fundamentally change" healthcare and has been an active backer of companies developing COVID-19 testing and treatment.

Foresite recently joined the SPAC craze, taking Gemini Therapeutics public through its blank-check company earlier this month.

At the same time, the San Francisco firm has grown its early-stage efforts through an in-house incubator headed by Verily co-founder Vikram Bajaj.

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Clubhouse might be the next big thing in social media. But first, the company has some problems to solve. [The New York Times]

Breaking down some of the leading players from Europe in the worldwide race to make large-scale carbon capture technology a reality. [Sifted]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

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VC valuations

1446

People

351

Companies

39

Funds

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2013 Vintage Global Venture Funds
	VC Deals
	BetterUp doubles valuation with new round
	Terminus picks up $90M Series C
	Otter.ai books $50M for transcription tech
	Medication management startup collects $30M
	Armorblox secures $30M
	Exits & IPOs
	Coinbase to go public in Nasdaq direct listing
	3D printer Markforged set for SPAC combination
	Fundraising
	Bessemer lands $3.3B across two new funds
	Lightbank closes $180M vehicle

The Daily Benchmark

2013 Vintage Global Venture Funds

Median IRR

20.93%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

29.90%

1.58x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Foresite Capital Fund I

Maven Ventures Growth Labs Fund I

OrbiMed Private Investments V

*IRR: net of fees

39 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

BetterUp doubles valuation with new round

BetterUp, the developer of a mobile-based professional coaching platform, has raised $125 million. Led by Iconiq Growth, the funding values the startup at $1.73 billion. That's more than double the $710 million valuation the company had in 2019, according to PitchBook data. Returning investors like Lightspeed and new investors such as Salesforce Ventures and Mubadala joined the round.

Additional Investors:

Threshold Ventures, Plus Capital, Sapphire Ventures

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View 23 competitors »

Terminus picks up $90M Series C

Terminus has raised $90 million in a round led by Great Hill Partners, with participation from Atlanta Ventures, Edison Partners and Hallett Capital. The Atlanta-based company offers a marketing platform to help customers such as DHL and TripActions analyze data and manage customer experience.

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View 137 competitors »

Otter.ai books $50M for transcription tech

Otter.ai, a developer of team collaboration tools that transcribe conversations in real time, has raised a $50 million Series B led by Spectrum Equity. Existing investors including Horizons Ventures, Draper Associates, GGV Capital and Draper Dragon also participated in the funding. Otter.ai, which offers integrations with Zoom and Google Meet, recorded revenue growth of more than 800% during 2020. The Los Altos, Calif.-based company has named Kurt Apen as chief marketing officer.

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View 18 competitors »

Medication management startup collects $30M

Medisafe has raised a $30 million Series C co-led by Sanofi Ventures and Alive Israel HealthTech Fund. Octopus Ventures, Triventures, Qualcomm Ventures and others also participated. Founded in 2012, the Boston-based company is the creator of a medication management platform that helps patients connect with healthcare providers and track the course of their treatment.

Additional Investors:

Leumi Partners, Triventures, 7wire Ventures, Menorah Mivtachim, OurCrowd, lool Ventures, Pitango HealthTech

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View 33 competitors »

Armorblox secures $30M

Cybersecurity startup Armorblox has raised $30 million in a round led by Next47, with participation from investors including Unusual Ventures, Polaris Partners and General Catalyst. The company is the provider of an email security platform intended to help organizations detect risks and manage targeted email attacks. Armorblox raised a $16.5 million Series A in 2019.

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View 39 competitors »

Exits & IPOs

Coinbase to go public in Nasdaq direct listing

Coinbase has filed to go public on the Nasdaq via a direct listing. The cryptocurrency company revealed in its SEC filing that it doubled revenue last year and posted a profit. Coinbase had net revenue of $1.14 billion in 2020, up from $483 million the year before; it reported net income of $322.3 million last year after posting a loss of $30.4 million in 2019.

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View 80 competitors »

3D printer Markforged set for SPAC combination

Markforged, the provider of an industrial 3D printing platform for industries such as aerospace, healthcare and defense, has agreed to merge with One, a SPAC led by Eventbrite co-founder Kevin Hartz and sponsored by A-star. The combined company is expected to be worth $2.1 billion and receive up to $425 million in gross proceeds from the deal. Founded in 2013, Markforged was valued at $820 million in 2019, according to PitchBook data. The company has raised funding from backers such as M12, Matrix Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners.

View details

View 14 competitors »

Fundraising

Bessemer lands $3.3B across two new funds

Bessemer Venture Partners has brought in $3.3 billion for its latest funds. The vehicles are the firm's 11th flagship fund and its second opportunity fund. Bessemer also welcomed former Amazon executive Jeff Blackburn to its team and named four others as partners.

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View 772 investments »

Lightbank closes $180M vehicle

Lightbank, a Chicago-based VC firm, has secured $180 million for its second early-stage venture fund. That brings the firm's total assets under management to $360 million. Lightbank has backed startups like Benzinga, Udemy and Contently, and will use the new fund to invest in sectors including internet, software and climate tech.

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View 127 investments »

Chart of the Day

"Deals sized over €25 million have largely propelled the astonishing growth in European deal value over the last decade, steadily gaining share of total annual deal value. They represented a record 61.8%, or €26.5 billion, of capital invested in 2020."

Source: PitchBook's 2020 Annual European Venture Report