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Instacart leads string of grocery delivery deals
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| Netherlands-based Crisp will use its fresh funding in part to grow its producer network. (Courtesy of Crisp) |
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Instacart's newly announced $265 million funding round capped a flurry of deals amid growing investor vigor and consumer demand in the grocery delivery space.
- The financing values Instacart at $39 billion, more than double the $17.7 billion it was worth after picking up a $200 million round in October. Existing investors in the Bay Area company, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia and Fidelity Management & Research, led the new round.
- Czech company Rohlik has raised €190 million (around $230 million) in funding led by Partech. The startup offers grocery delivery services throughout the Czech Republic, Hungary and Austria, and plans to expand globally.
- Fresh produce-focused online supermarket Crisp has raised €30 million in a round led by Target Global. The Dutch startup, which also offers delivery, will use the funds to grow its network of producers and expand its electric vehicle fleet.
- Target Global also led a $52 million seed investment in Berlin-based Flink, TechCrunch reported. The grocery delivery company operates dark stores across Germany and is expanding into the Netherlands and France, the report said.
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Why supply chain tech is delivering for VCs
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Recent and upcoming public debuts from supply chain specialists such as E2open, Berkshire Grey and TuSimple have cast a spotlight on VC investment in the sector, while demand for tech that digitizes and automates supply chain processes and workflows has increased. In particular, enterprise supply chain software and warehousing technology have emerged as hot spots, attracting record venture backing in 2020.
Our latest installment of Emerging Tech Research explores why VCs are focusing on such investments, and what the future could hold for the sector. Among the takeaways:
- Supply chain tech companies based in North America and Europe hauled in $4.1 billion worth of VC funding during Q4, a 43.4% increase in deal value year-over-year.
- Downstream logistics drove VC deal activity in the sector as investors made large bets on middle- and last-mile technologies.
- Startups that focus on supply chain risk management and visibility are gaining traction as the pandemic expands the need for data analytics and real-time monitoring services.
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A message from ON Partners
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Where is your organization in its diversity journey?
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As part of its commitment to increasing diversity on leadership teams, top-20 retained executive search firm ON Partners engaged its community of executive influencers in a survey to define and understand what key diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives are taking place in their organizations.
Some executives have launched DEI councils, others have created training and executive mentoring programs, and still many others have yet to take real action or feel their barriers lie in the "frozen middle."
ON wants to know about your diversity journey. See initial survey results and add your organization's DEI actions and insights here. |
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SoftBank-backed Greensill in exclusive rescue talks
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Greensill Capital has confirmed it is in exclusive talks with a major global financial institution to sell large parts of its business and its assets under management, with a view to concluding a deal this week.
- Athene Holding, which is backed by Apollo Global Management, is nearing an agreement to buy the struggling lender's operating business, Bloomberg reported. The deal was earlier said to have a price tag of around $100 million.
- News of the negotiations came shortly after Switzerland's GAM Holding became the second asset manager to freeze investment funds connected to Greensill, which provides supply chain financing. The first was Credit Suisse, which The Wall Street Journal reported Monday had suspended $10 billion in financing.
- Greensill raised $800 million from SoftBank's Vision Fund in 2019 at a $3.5 billion valuation. SoftBank substantially wrote down its $1.5 billion stake in the company at the end of last year and was considering dropping the valuation to near zero, according to the Bloomberg report.
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PE powerhouses focus on fee earnings, perpetual capital
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| (Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images) |
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A private equity firm's earnings come from two primary routes: Management fees, where LPs pay a set fee based on the size of their investment, and performance fees, where firms take a cut of their investment returns. Lately, the five largest publicly traded PE firms have been more focused than ever on the former as a way to boost their overall earnings.
A recent research note from our analysts examined the latest earnings reports from Apollo Global Management, Ares Management, Blackstone, The Carlyle Group and KKR to see how all five managed to grow their fee-related earnings in 2020 on a year-over-year basis. Some key takeaways:
- Perpetual capital vehicles have become a popular tool for helping firms boost their AUM and collect more management fees.
- Large insurance transactions have proven particularly useful, with Apollo and KKR leading the way.
- Pandemic uncertainty contributed to a healthy fundraising year, as many LPs focused on existing relationships.
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A look at how the world's largest asset managers are finally taking ESG investing seriously. [Institutional Investor]
After several kids in a small Pennsylvania town developed a rare form of cancer, it led parents to start wondering if it could be more than a coincidence. [The New Yorker]
Worldwide spending on commercial travel might not recover entirely until 2025, according to some estimates. But the return to business travel in particular may be even slower. [Bloomberg] |
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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:
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15
VC valuations
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1576
People
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426
Companies
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27
Funds
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2016 Vintage European PE Funds
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Cryptocurrency tax software startup raises $100M
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Beam Dental cleans up with $80M Series E
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Accel leads new round for Jakarta-based Xendit
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| Xendit has raised a $64.6 million Series B led by Accel. The Jakarta-based company is the developer of a fintech platform designed to help businesses across Southeast Asia process payments via direct deposits, credit cards, e-wallets and more. Xendit has raised more than $80 million in total funding. |
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Fluid Truck picks up $63M
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Pet tech startup Fuzzy collars $18M
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| Fuzzy has raised an $18 million Series B led by Greycroft, Crunchbase reported. Founded in 2016 and based in San Francisco, the company offers a subscription-based telemedicine platform for pet owners. |
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Uber spins out Postmates robot delivery unit into new startup
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| Uber has spun out the robotic delivery unit of Postmates into a startup named Serve Robotics. The new company raised its first round of funding led by VC firm Neo, with Uber and other investors participating. Uber bought Postmates last year in an all-stock deal worth $2.65 billion. |
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Oscar increases IPO price range
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| Health insurance company Oscar has raised the target price range of its IPO to between $36 and $38 per share, up from $32 to $34 apiece. The new midpoint price would give Oscar a fully diluted valuation of around $9.4 billion. New York-based Oscar was valued at $3.2 billion in 2018, according to a PitchBook estimate. Alphabet is Oscar's largest outside backer with 18.1% of Class A shares, followed by Founders Fund (16.2%). Co-founder Joshua Kushner's Thrive Capital owns 32.9 million Class B shares, which will give the firm 75.9% of the voting power after the IPO. |
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SoftBank-backed Compass files for IPO
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| Real estate tech company Compass has revealed it is filing for an initial public offering. In 2020, the company's revenue grew 56% to $3.7 billion year-over-year, and losses shrank from $388 million to $270 million. Compass has benefitted from a hot home market and demand among real estate agents for digital services to manage their businesses virtually. SoftBank is the company's largest institutional backer, with 34.8% of Class A shares. |
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Marketing software provider SEMrush files to go public
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| SEMrush has filed with the SEC for an IPO on the NYSE. Founded in 2008, the Boston-based provider of digital marketing software posted a $7 million net loss on $124.9 million in revenue last year. The company has raised funding from investors including Greycroft and Siguler Guff. |
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Epic Games buys Mediatonic, Fortitude Games parent
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| Epic Games has acquired Tonic Games Group, the British parent of "Fall Guys" creator Mediatonic, Fortitude Games, and publishing label The Irregular Corporation. Mediatonic, which has received prior funding from Synova Capital and Frog Capital, was valued at £31.9 million (about $45 million) in 2019, according to a PitchBook estimate. Epic Games, the creator of "Fortnite," was valued at $17.3 billion after raising $1.78 billion last August. |
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QOMPLX to merge with SPAC
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| Risk analytics startup QOMPLX has agreed to go public through a combination with Tailwind Acquisition, a blank-check company. The deal values the combined entity at $1.4 billion and is expected to provide QOMPLX with $280 million in cash. Virginia-based QOMPLX previously received funding from Cannae Holdings, Motive Partners and others. |
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NightDragon launches $300M SPAC with stakeholder structure
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| Venture capital firm NightDragon has raised $300 million for a blank-check company that will target the cybersecurity sector. NightDragon Acquisition has adopted a structure called "stakeholder-centered aligned listed equity," which ties the SPAC sponsor's compensation to the performance of the target company it will acquire. The blank-check company's chairman is David DeWalt, the former CEO of cybersecurity companies FireEye and McAfee. |
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Real estate title startup plans SPAC combination
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| Doma, a residential real estate startup formerly known as States Title, has agreed to merge with a blank-check company. The deal is expected to value the combined entity at about $3 billion. Last May, the startup was valued at $623 million, according to PitchBook data. Doma has raised funding from Fifth Wall, Bloomberg Beta and homebuilding company Lennar. |
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