PitchBook News - Biotechs launch with big backing

• Lucrative media rights deals have continued to favor live programming, making pro sports ownership resilient to market downturns that could result in a drop in ticket sales.


• Due to a lack of voting control and liquidity options, some buyers have received double-digit discounts when buying minority stakes in franchises, making the long-term possibilities for returns more compelling.


• Leagues have embraced the fast-growing sports betting market and more recently NFTs, adding another layer of revenue beyond the typical income streams they get from owning a team.

• Flare Therapeutics, which is developing precision medicine for cancer and other diseases, launched with $82 million in Series A funding led by Third Rock Ventures, with Boxer Capital, Nextech Invest, Casdin Capital, Invus Financial Advisors and Eventide Asset Management participating.


• Interline Therapeutics debuted with $92 million in financing from Foresite Capital and Arch Venture Partners. The San Francisco startup is focused on modifying communities of proteins in the body to fight disease.


• Both startups were incubated by their investors—Flare by Third Rock and Interline at Foresite Labs—as backers see an opportunity to target the market with purpose-built companies.

Limited partners have been pouring money into venture capital at record rates, but their excitement about the asset class has not extended to first-time managers. In fact, the number of inaugural funds has dropped sharply since 2018, according to PitchBook data.

Ironically, the decrease in first-time funds is largely due to venture capital's recent success, LPs say.

• Established managers are raising larger funds at a faster pace, taking up a bigger portion of LPs' VC allocation.


• The venture market's recent strong performance has resulted in some LPs suddenly finding themselves overallocated to the asset class.


• Despite these challenges, there's no shortage of new managers trying to raise their first fund.