PitchBook News - Aurora to go public at $13B via SPAC

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The Daily Pitch: VC

July 16, 2021

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Today's Top Stories

Autonomous vehicle specialist Aurora to go public at $13B via SPAC

(Courtesy of Aurora)

Aurora, a self-driving vehicle company, has agreed to go public via a merger with Reinvent Technology Partners Y, a SPAC led by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Zynga founder Mark Pincus, at an implied valuation of $13 billion.

Aurora is expected to raise $2 billion from the deal, including cash held in Reinvent's trust and a $1 billion PIPE coming from Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research, T. Rowe Price, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and others.

Since its founding in 2017, Aurora has raised $1.22 billion in private capital, including a $400 million investment from Uber, which was paired with Aurora's acquisition of Uber's self-driving vehicle unit in exchange for giving the ridehailing giant a stake in Aurora.

Reinvent Technology has formed three blank-check companies. The first two have announced mergers with air taxi specialist Joby Aviation and Hippo, an insurtech company.

Aurora's merger with Reinvent's third SPAC stands out because Hoffman has a prior relationship with the autonomous vehicle company. He joined Aurora's board in 2018, when Greylock Partners, where he is a partner, invested in the company's $90 million Series A.

This is one of the first SPAC deals where an investor is involved on both sides of the transaction, which is allowed by regulators under certain conditions.

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Lab-grown protein is cultivating investor interest

(lukpedclub/Getty Images)

The success of alternative meat products developed by companies like Beyond Meat, as well as early regulatory approval, has helped drive a wave of investment in the cultivated protein industry.

Despite this enthusiasm, the industry remains nascent and largely pre-revenue, with several growth challenges ahead, including the need for clear regulatory frameworks, more commercially viable products and scalable technologies.

PitchBook's latest analyst note offers an in-depth look at how cultivated meat is made and recent factors influencing startup opportunities in the emerging industry. Key takeaways include:

VC deal count in cultivated protein startups nearly tripled in 2018, coinciding with the announcements of commercialization timelines by providers like Eat Just and Mosa Meat. Deal activity and funding have steadily climbed from $25 million invested in one deal during 2012 to nearly $303 million invested across 33 deals in 2020.

The lack of a path to regulatory approval is a significant commercialization roadblock. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration and the US Department of Agriculture appear to be early in the process of setting up regulatory frameworks.

Combining cultivated and plant-based proteins into a hybrid product is increasingly being pursued as a solution to reduce cost and scale and improve taste and texture.

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A message from Altvia

Digital is coming for private equity and venture capital

Digital is coming for private equity and venture capital, the same way it's coming for every industry on the planet.

We sat down with thought leaders from across the industry to discuss the current state of private equity/venture capital, the potential digital transformation presents and what the winners/future landscape might look like.

In this webinar, you'll take away a clear sense of macro trends in digital transformation and actionable ideas to implement at your firm to establish a more modern, tech-driven operating model.

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Revolut worth $33B as European valuations continue to soar

(Courtesy of Revolut)

Revolut has become the UK's most valuable VC-backed company, as a boom in dealmaking drives a surge in late-stage valuations across Europe.

The challenger bank raised $800 million for its Series E, led by SoftBank and Tiger Global, and is now worth $33 billion—six times the $5.5 billion valuation it reached last year.

Europe's venture-backed companies have seen their funding options expand of late, with foreign and nontraditional investors being increasingly willing to provide more capital.

The spike in both deal size and count is pushing valuations to record heights—and fueling major growth for the continent's fintech giants.

Recommended Reads

Around 100 million female migrant workers sustain economies around the world via the remittances they send to family in their home countries. So why are they being abandoned by the money-transfer industry? [Fortune]

Some thought the pandemic would make the tech industry flee San Francisco and the Silicon Valley. But many workers who swore off the Bay Area are coming back. [The New York Times]

From community solar panels to green steel, here's what life in Europe could look like by 2035. [Bloomberg]

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Quick Takes


	Partner Perspectives
	Consolidation and disruption in construction pave the way for new business niches
	The Daily Benchmark
	2015 Vintage Global Venture Funds with more than $250M
	People
	Initialized Capital adds Parul Singh as partner
	VC Deals
	D1 Capital leads $260M round for Imperative Care
	Auvik Networks banks $250M
	Shape Therapeutics picks up $112M
	OpenStore lands $30M Series A

Partner Perspectives

Consolidation and disruption in construction pave the way for new business niches

Throughout the 2010s, ongoing consolidation across architecture, construction and engineering occurred in tandem with a surge in venture investment across related technologies. Introhive's latest industry-focused market review details how these intertwining trends have accelerated competition across these spaces, resulting in significant investment by firms in order to stay ahead of the technical innovation curve. Key highlights include:

Sources of differentiation for construction firms as technical standards become more widespread
How the ripple effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have underscored ongoing secular trends
Key implications of consolidation and primary technical innovations being brought to market by disruptors

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The Daily Benchmark

2015 Vintage Global Venture Funds with more than $250M

Median IRR

24.86%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

31.03%

1.67x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

OrbiMed Private Investments VI

G Squared III

NEA 15 Opportunity Fund

*IRR: net of fees

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People

Initialized Capital adds Parul Singh as partner

Parul Singh has signed on as a partner at Initialized Capital, the VC firm started by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and former Y Combinator partner Garry Tan. Singh will focus on healthtech, SaaS and analytics in her new role. She was formerly a principal at seed-stage firm Founder Collective. San Francisco-based Initialized, which raised $230 million for its fifth fund last year, has also added Livingston Miller as general counsel. He previously held the same title at WeWork.

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VC Deals

D1 Capital leads $260M round for Imperative Care

Imperative Care, a developer of technology for treating strokes, has raised $260 million in a round led by D1 Capital. The company plans to use the funding in part to commercialize products for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease. Imperative Care was valued at $250 million in 2019, according to PitchBook data.

Select Additional Investors:

Ally Bridge Group, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Delos Capital Partners, Rock Springs Capital

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Auvik Networks banks $250M

Auvik Networks has secured a $250 million investment from Great Hill Partners. Based in Waterloo, Canada, Auvik provides network management software that helps IT teams automate tasks and protect devices. The company is also backed by investors including Celtic House Venture Partners.

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Shape Therapeutics picks up $112M

Shape Therapeutics has raised $112 million in a Series B co-led by Decheng Capital and Breton Capital. The Seattle-based company is a developer of RNA targeting, editing and replacement technologies intended to treat neurodegenerative disorders and rare genetic diseases. Shape Therapeutics was valued at $135.5 million in 2019, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Mission BioCapital, NEA, Willett Advisors

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OpenStore lands $30M Series A

OpenStore has raised $30 million at a roughly $250 million valuation in a round led by Khosla Ventures, with support from General Catalyst, Founders Fund and Atomic, Axios reported. The Miami-based company makes quick offers to buy small ecommerce businesses.

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