Klarna hits $31B valuation with mega-round

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The Daily Pitch: VC

March 2, 2021

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

Today's Top Stories

How US VC valuations stood up to pandemic volatility

Both early- and late-stage valuations in the US reached new heights in Q4 2020, a strong end to a volatile year that once seemed destined to be defined by uncertainty. The median late-stage figure hit $120 million last quarter, surpassing $100 million for the first time, and the early stage continued its steady growth to set a record quarterly median of $35 million.

Our 2020 Annual US VC Valuations Report examines how record dry powder, a flight to quality and a market rally all fueled the surge. Key takeaways include:

Participation from nontraditional investors helped keep valuations elevated—especially at the upper quartile.

Prices for companies going public rose 39%, putting median valuations at a new high of $510 million.

Valuations declined at only the angel and seed stages as investors sought higher returns from riskier investments.

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Klarna hits $31B valuation with mega-round

(Courtesy of Klarna)

Swedish fintech company Klarna has raised $1 billion at a $31 billion valuation, cementing its position as the most valuable VC-backed company in Europe, according to PitchBook data.

The new price tag is nearly triple the $10.65 billion valuation Karna received in September after raising $650 million. The latest round drew both new and existing investors, but Klarna didn't name names. Previous backers include Sequoia, Silver Lake, Dragoneer and Macy's.

Last year, Klarna's revenue grew 40% year-over-year to $1 billion. It has 90 million customers and expects the US to be its largest market by the end of 2021, Bloomberg reported.

Stockholm-based Klarna is known for its buy-now, pay-later service and operates a shopping app that collects deals from various retailers. Affirm, another payment-installments company, went public in January and currently commands a market capitalization of nearly $24 billion.

Klarna pledged to donate 1% of the funding to a sustainability initiative that will launch in April.

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A message from PACT

Philly's VC ecosystem concluded a turbulent 2020 on a resilient note

At $1.8 billion invested across 221 venture financings for the year, Philly's VC and emerging tech ecosystem concluded a turbulent 2020 on a resilient note, helping to push the average disclosed round value to $8.1 million. Moreover, the region's companies generated more liquidity for investors on an annual basis than ever before: $3.7 billion in aggregate value across 19 exits.

In the 2020 Philadelphia Venture Report, PACT uncovers the underlying drivers of the robust Philly ecosystem, exploring datasets ranging from VC activity by sector to the sustained rise in the participation of outside investors.

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Analyzing where first-time PE funds outperform—and fall behind—their peers

(Richard Drury/Getty Images)

The prevailing narrative for first-time private equity funds is one of overperformance, at least when compared to those from more established managers.

But the real story is more nuanced, and heavily dependent on the metrics you choose, PitchBook analysts write our latest research note:

New data suggests that there's little outperformance but first-time funds have had IRRs of over the 25% mark more frequently than other funds.

Sharply declining activity for first-time PE fundraising in 2020 looks worse than it is.

An expanding playbook is helping emerging managers navigate a notoriously difficult fundraising process.

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Recommended Reads

COVID-19 has devastated farm country. Now, an effort is bringing the vaccine directly to the immigrant workforce in California fields. [The New York Times]

Young workers want to destigmatize disclosing mental-health struggles in the workplace. And they're turning to TikTok to do so. [BBC]

Does it seem like you're receiving more robocalls lately than usual? You're not alone. [Fortune]

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2010 Vintage Global Debt Funds
	People
	Tech Square Ventures adds GP
	VC Deals
	Loggi locks in $204M
	FogPharma picks up $107M Series C
	Tenaya Therapeutics secures $106M
	Axonius brings in $100M
	Exits & IPOs
	Spire Global to go public in SPAC deal
	SoftBank-backed Coupang sets IPO terms
	Fundraising
	Silicon Road Ventures closes $31M fund

The Daily Benchmark

2010 Vintage Global Debt Funds

Median IRR

11.95%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

13.32%

1.39x

Median TVPI

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Lone Star Fund VIII

PIMCO BRAVO Fund

AnaCap Debt Opportunities

*IRR: net of fees

30 Funds in Benchmark »

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People

Tech Square Ventures adds GP

Tech Square Ventures, an early-stage VC firm based in Atlanta, has welcomed Vasant Kamath as a general partner. Kamath was previously a director with Primus Capital, a technology- and healthcare-focused private equity firm.

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VC Deals

Loggi locks in $204M

Delivery startup Loggi has raised 1.15 billion Brazilian reals (around $204 million) at a valuation of nearly $2 billion in a round led by CapSur Capital, with support from Verde Asset Management and others, Bloomberg reported. About 75% of existing investors, which include SoftBank and Microsoft, joined the current round, the report said. Loggi competes with fellow SoftBank-backed on-demand delivery company Rappi, which is based in Colombia.

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FogPharma picks up $107M Series C

FogPharma has raised $107 million in a round led by VenBio Partners. Based in the Boston area, the company is a developer of precision medicines designed to target cancer-causing proteins. Founded in 2016, the company was valued at $173.2 million in January, according to PitchBook data.

Select Additional Investors:

Cormorant Asset Management, Casdin Capital, GV, Blue Pool Capital

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Tenaya Therapeutics secures $106M

Tenaya Therapeutics has raised a $106 million Series C led by RTW Investments. The Bay Area company is developing therapies to address cardiovascular disease, with a focus on gene therapy, cellular regeneration and precision medicine. Tenaya raised $92 million at a $210 million valuation in 2019, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Casdin Capital, GV, The Column Group, T. Rowe Price, RA Capital Management, Fidelity Management & Research

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Axonius brings in $100M

Axonius, the provider of a cybersecurity asset management platform, has raised $100 million in a round led by Stripes. The funding values the company at more than $1 billion. Axonius was valued at $302.6 million in March 2020, according to PitchBook data.

Select Additional Investors:

Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, OpenView Venture Partners

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Exits & IPOs

Spire Global to go public in SPAC deal

Satellite data startup Spire Global has agreed to merge with a blank-check company, NavSight Holdings. The deal values the combined company at $1.6 billion and provides Spire with $475 million in cash. Tiger Global led a $245 million PIPE round, along with BlackRock, Hedosophia, Bloom Tree Partners and Barry Sternlicht's JAWS. Spire operates a network of more than 100 small satellites and provides data to industries such as airlines and shipping. The San Francisco-based company was valued at $345 million in 2017, according to PitchBook data; it has been backed by RRE Ventures, Promus Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures.

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SoftBank-backed Coupang sets IPO terms

Ecommerce company Coupang plans to raise as much as $3.6 billion in its IPO after selling 120 million shares at between $27 and $30 per share. At the midpoint price, the South Korean company would be valued at more than $51 billion on a fully diluted basis. SoftBank owns 35% of the company's pre-IPO shares, followed by Greenoaks Capital Partners (17.7%) and Maverick Holdings (6.8%). Coupang was reportedly valued at $9 billion in 2018.

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Fundraising

Silicon Road Ventures closes $31M fund

Atlanta-based firm Silicon Road Ventures has closed its debut fund on $31 million. Founded in 2019, the firm focuses on seed and Series A investments across the ecommerce, fintech and supply chain sectors, among others.

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