Blockchain startup Paxos hits $2.4B valuation

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The Daily Pitch: VC

April 30, 2021

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PayPal-backed Paxos hits $2.4B valuation

(Andriy Onufriyenko/Getty Images)

Blockchain startup Paxos has raised $300 million at a $2.4 billion valuation to grow its infrastructure platform for cryptocurrency payments. The haul comes less than five months after the startup raised $142 million.

Oak HC/FT led the Series D, with support from existing investors such as PayPal Ventures, Declaration Partners, Mithril Capital, Liberty City Ventures, Senator Investment Group and WestCap.

In addition to backing Paxos, PayPal is also among the New York-based company's prominent customers, which also include Credit Suisse, StoneX and Revolut. Users of PayPal subsidiary Venmo can buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies using Paxos' infrastructure.

Last week, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency gave Paxos preliminary conditional approval for a national trust bank charter. The company has said the charter will add another layer of regulation and make it easier to operate across state lines.

Related read: Crypto startups post record quarter as opportunities abound

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SPACS likely to adapt and remain a staple public pathway

A handful of downsized SPAC IPOs hinted at an oversaturation in the market toward the end of last year. However, with SPAC IPO activity continuing to explode so far in 2021, it seems that the blank-check boom is likely to adapt to any changes, and SPACS will remain a primary option for companies looking to go public.

PitchBook's latest analyst note explores robust sample sizes of SPAC data to gain a sense of factors adding to the strategy's momentum. Among the takeaways:

Direct incentives are a primary motivator for SPAC sponsors; the structure grants them 20% of the SPAC equity, and the sponsors need only invest 2% to 5% of IPO proceeds in at-risk capital.

DeSPAC deals still lag the pace of new SPAC IPOs, confirming that a multitude of SPACs are still actively looking for a target.

Widespread participation from SPAC sponsors in the accompanying PIPE deals has allowed them to have true skin in the game, signaling a long-term focus on improving the business they are taking public.

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A message from Bridge Bank

Analyzing life sciences VC activity's main hot spots

In Bridge Bank's latest Markets to Watch series, the surge in venture investment across life sciences in the key metro areas of the Bay Area, Boston and Southern California are analyzed in depth. Building on the steady technical advances of the 21st century so far, multiple segments of life sciences are now proffering significant breakthroughs, from the suddenly omnipresent mRNA-based therapies to CRISPR-derived tests. The space is thriving, in short, as the report finds, with key focus areas including:

Which metro has seen its rate of venture funding increase the most over the past decade
How liquidity surges are fueling reinvestment into those ecosystems
Trends in valuations and financing sizes and their implications

Read the full report now

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Bill on SPAC transparency proposed in Senate

A move is afoot in the Senate to bring some transparency to how sponsors of blank-check companies are paid.

Legislation proposed by Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) takes aim at the practice of executives and celebrities who are the "public face" for SPACs fundraising through IPOs and then seek a private company to target for acquisition.

Kennedy's proposal, dubbed the Sponsor Promote and Compensation Act, calls for "enhanced disclosures" of how such SPAC sponsors are paid during an IPO or before a reverse merger.

The bill also seeks to reveal any side payments to SPAC sponsors or private investors for participation in a reverse merger deal.

Adds Kennedy: "SPACs are becoming more and more popular, but the risks that can come with these companies aren’t clear to most everyday investors."

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Recommended Reads

A visual look at the state of small business recovery in the US. [Visual Capitalist]

The venture sector has long been defined by big wins on disruptive startups, mixed with many more losses. But in recent months, firms have been basking in an unusual surge of blockbuster profits. [The Wall Street Journal]

Guatemalan immigrant Lourdes Cerna is one of many workers in a lonely profession that's become indispensable during the pandemic. [The New Yorker]

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	Agrifood tech, defiant in face of pandemic, records breakout fundraising year
	VC Deals
	Forge Biologics picks up $120M for gene therapy development
	Cloud storage company Wasabi secures $112M
	Firstbase lands $13M in a16z-led round
	Exits & IPOs
	Allbirds makes preparations for IPO

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A message from Finistere

Agrifood tech, defiant in face of pandemic, records breakout fundraising year

As COVID-19 reshaped the world, the agrifood tech investment community reacted quickly to the extreme uncertainty. The result was a record-shattering investment sum of $22.3 billion committed to the space in aggregate in 2020—momentum that has carried into this year. The resilience of investment syndicates was a key factor in this outcome.

With its 2020 Agrifood Tech Investment Review, Finistere Ventures, a leading global agrifood technology and life sciences venture capital investor, provides a comprehensive assessment of global financing activity over the past year and breaks down important trends by region, subsector and stage for both agtech and foodtech ecosystems. This report also includes updated agtech and foodtech market maps and a preliminary look at investment activity in early 2021.

Click here to read the 2020 investment review

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VC Deals

Forge Biologics picks up $120M for gene therapy development

Forge Biologics has raised a $120 million Series B led by RA Capital Management. Based in Columbus, Ohio, the company focuses on gene therapy contract development and manufacturing. Forge raised a $40 million round in July 2020. The startup's lead program is a treatment for patients with Krabbe disease, a genetic disorder that destroys the protective coating of nerve cells in the brain and nervous system.

Additional Investors:

Drive Capital, Octagon Capital, Perceptive Advisors, Surveyor Capital, Xontogeny, Marshall Wace

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Cloud storage company Wasabi secures $112M

Wasabi has raised a $112 million Series C led by Fidelity Management & Research. Founded in 2017, the Boston-based company provides low-cost cloud storage services via data centers across Europe, Japan and the US. Wasabi was valued at $242 million in May, according to PitchBook data.

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Firstbase lands $13M in a16z-led round

Firstbase, a provider of infrastructure designed to help global teams work remotely, has raised a $13 million Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from B Capital Group and Alpaca VC. Based out of New York and Scotland, the company manages physical equipment, IT installations, maintenance and other related services for remote employees. David Ulevitch, general partner at a16z, has joined the company's board.

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Exits & IPOs

Allbirds makes preparations for IPO

Allbirds, which makes shoes and apparel out of sustainable materials, is having conversations with investment bankers in preparation for a public debut, The New York Times reported. The direct-to-consumer company was valued at $1.7 billion after closing a $100 million Series E last September, according to PitchBook data. Allbirds has raised over $200 million in private funding from investors including Lerer Hippeau, Slow Ventures, Rosecliff Ventures and Franklin Templeton.

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