PitchBook News - The decentralized future of finance

Read online | Don't want to receive these emails? Manage your subscription.

PitchBook

Log in

The Daily Pitch: VC

August 30, 2021

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

In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find:

A primer on the growing industry of decentralized finance—and its potential for true disruption.

Andreessen Horowitz has launched a $400 million seed fund, as the firm embraces seed-stage investing anew.

Today's Top Stories

How decentralization could disrupt—and democratize—the future of finance

(imaginima/Getty Images)

"Disrupt finance" has been the watchword of many fintech startups in the past decade. Yet even the most innovative of the bunch still rely heavily on traditional financial infrastructure, limiting their ability to be truly disruptive.

Decentralized finance, on the other hand, poses a far more systemic threat. DeFi runs on public, open-source and permissionless blockchains, eliminating the intermediaries that legacy financial services rely on. Our latest analyst note provides a rundown of the DeFi space, its principles and its possibilities. The note includes:

A market map of the DeFi ecosystem, covering segments such as lending, DEXs and derivatives.

A breakdown of DeFi blockchain platforms, products and projects.

Data on the record-breaking venture investment in DeFi—and why our analysts believe it has reached an inflection point.

read it now

Share:

A16z embraces seed deals—again

(jesadaphorn/Getty Images)

Andreessen Horowitz has raised a new $400 million seed fund, signaling a renewed focus on the earliest stages of company creation.

The Silicon Valley leader was once a far more aggressive seed investor, putting early bets on the likes of Instagram and Slack.

But in late 2013, a16z pumped the brakes on its seed strategy. The rationale: avoiding conflicts of interest between competing startups.

The seed investing landscape looks far different today, with super-sized deals of $25 million or more becoming commonplace.

Recommended Reads

Why the University of Nebraska Foundation is scrapping hedge funds in favor of real assets and private equity. [Institutional Investor]

As the new managing partner of Salesforce Ventures, Alex Kayyal wants the investor to move away from its reputation as one of the best corporate venture capital firms. [Protocol]

Banks and hedge funds with money to spend are now looking to Reddit for investment advice. [The Wall Street Journal]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

1

VC valuations

66

People

8

Companies

See what our data software can do

Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2016 Vintage Non-US PE Funds
	VC Deals
	Disqo nabs $85M
	Zeal picks up $13M
	Exits & IPOs
	Rivian confidentially files for IPO
	Toast files to go public
	Fundraising
	A-Star Partners targets $250M debut fund

The Daily Benchmark

2016 Vintage Non-US PE Funds

Median IRR

18.44%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

24.75%

1.40x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Bridgepoint Development Capital III

Ufenau V German Asset Light

Apax IX

*IRR: net of fees

50 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

PitchBook Webinar: Private fund strategies, manager style

Join our upcoming webinar on Sept. 1 to hear PitchBook analysts discuss private fund strategies through the lens of manager style. Using the PitchBook Private Manager Style framework, we will explore how to assess qualitative characteristics of private market managers.

Key topics include:

Understanding the broad levers private market managers use to build portfolios and how this has changed over time.

Understanding how a manager's exposures fit within an existing private markets portfolio.

Ensuring a manager's actual investment history is consistent with its stated strategy.

How to quickly compare managers.

Sign up today

Share:

VC Deals

Disqo nabs $85M

Disqo has raised an $85 million Series B led by Sageview Capital, with participation from March Capital, Valuestream Ventures, Alpha Edison and Bonfire Ventures. Founded in 2015, the Los Angeles-based company is the developer of a consumer insights platform. Disqo was valued at $160 million in March 2020, according to PitchBook Data.

View round

View similar company »

Zeal picks up $13M

Zeal has raised a $13 million Series A led by Spark Capital. The Bay Area-based company is the developer of API-based infrastructure intended to help employers build custom payroll products for W2 employees and contractors.

Select Additional Investor:

Commerce Ventures

View round

View similar company »

Exits & IPOs

Rivian confidentially files for IPO

Amazon-backed Rivian has registered confidentially for an IPO. The electric truck company is seeking a valuation of roughly $80 billion and plans to go public in late November, Bloomberg reported. The Orange County, Calif.-based business was valued at $27.6 billion earlier this year, according to a PitchBook estimate.

View details

View 26 competitors »

Toast files to go public

Restaurant software maker Toast has filed for an IPO on the New York Stock Exchange. The company recorded $703.7 million in revenue for the first six months of 2021, more than double the same period last year. Its leading investors include Tiger Global with 12.78% of Class B shares and Bessemer Venture Partners with 12.48%. Boston-based Toast was valued at $4.9 billion last year, according to PitchBook data.

View details

View 32 competitors »

Fundraising

A-Star Partners targets $250M debut fund

Kevin Hartz, an early investor in PayPal and Airbnb, former Coatue partner Bennett Siegel, and Gautam Gupta, a former finance executive at Opendoor and Uber, are raising a $250 million venture fund, the Information reported. The firm, called A-Star Partners, has already invested in a number of companies and plans to focus on consumer and fintech startups from seed to late stage. Limited partners in the fund include Thomas Laffont, co-founder of Coatue, as well as Peter Thiel and Max Levchin.

View fund

View 1 investments »

Chart of the Day

"An abundance of both digital and physical infrastructures, collaborative co-working spaces, accelerators, incubators, angel networks, and events have helped market the Baltic region and lure VC operators and investors. Visa programs are an additional resource all three nations have utilized to invite individuals outside the Baltic region to start businesses or relocate."

Source: PitchBook's Q2 2021 European Venture Report