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The Daily Pitch: VC

October 21, 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:

Our Q3 European Venture Report, tracking the record-setting year in the region's VC ecosystem.

Around two years after its failed IPO, WeWork has gone public on the NYSE via a SPAC deal.

Today's Top Stories

€74B in capital invested, €115B in exits: European VC's record year

VC investment in Europe totaled €24 billion in Q3, the second-highest quarterly figure in history. What's more, the three largest quarters for European VC deal value have been the three completed quarters of 2021, as the continent's venture ecosystem rewrites its record books.

Our Q3 European Venture Report tracks the trends that are shaping an unprecedented year in VC, as the early pandemic-driven uncertainty has been replaced by investor confidence and promising growth.

Late-stage rounds dominate dealmaking, accounting for nearly 74% of the quarter's total deal value of €73.7 billion.

Annual exit value surpassed €115 billion through Q3, already an annual record and nearly five times the amount reached in 2020.

Fundraising is slightly below record pace but still on a path to reach €20 billion in aggregate by year's end.

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WeDidIt! WeWork starts trading on the NYSE

Roughly two years after its failed IPO, WeWork will make its public market debut today through a blank-check merger with BowX Acquisition Corp. The company will trade on the NYSE under the ticker WE.

The deal values WeWork at $9 billion—less than what it was worth in 2015 and a precipitous drop from the $47 billion peak it reportedly reached in 2019. The deal value implies an earnings multiple that is closer to legacy workspace operators like IWG than to real estate tech companies such as Airbnb or Sonder.

WeWork stands to take in around $1.3 billion from the blank-check merger and accompanying PIPE. Also part of that figure: a $150 million investment from Cushman & Wakefield to backstop shareholder redemptions, the Financial Times reported.

The listing comes after stockholders of the SPAC, BowX Acquisition, greenlighted the deal earlier this week. Shares of BowX have been trading below its $10-per-share IPO price in recent days.

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Sofinnova adds $549M to Europe's hope for a record VC fundraising year

(Yulia Reznikov/Getty Images)

This week, life sciences investor Sofinnova Partners closed one of the largest early-stage healthcare vehicles ever raised in Europe, as the region stays on pace to surpass last year's fundraising total.

European VC vehicles are on track to reach €20 billion as fund sizes continue to swell—but annual fund count is poised for its lowest level since 2013.

Recommended Reads

A surge in real estate occupancy by tech companies shows how Manhattan is being remade in the aftermath of the pandemic. [Forbes]

Andreessen Horowitz has grown its investment staff by 170% in the last four years. What does that mean for the Silicon Valley firm's returns? [The Information]

A Lebanon storage facility contains tens of thousands of saved and cataloged seeds. It may also hold a precious resource for a changing climate. [The New Yorker]

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2016 Vintage European Funds-of-Funds
	VC Deals
	Commsor eyes $450M valuation in funding round
	Flock Freight secures $215M Series D
	ShouTi lands $100M Series B
	SkyHive hauls in $40M
	Modern Age collects $27M Series A
	Hex Technologies raises $16M

The Daily Benchmark

2016 Vintage European Funds-of-Funds

Median IRR

16.03%

Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate

17.90%

1.29x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

SwanCap Opportunities Fund III

Avadis Private Equity Monde XII

Euro-PE Select Opportunities

*IRR: net of fees

9 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Commsor eyes $450M valuation in funding round

Commsor, an audience engagement analytics platform developer, is raising $50 million in a funding round being led by Atomico, The Information reported. New York-based Commsor is seeking a valuation of $450 million post-money, almost three times what it was valued at in a Series A deal earlier this year, according to PitchBook data.

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Flock Freight secures $215M Series D

Flock Freight has raised $215 million at a more than $1 billion valuation in a round led by SoftBank's Vision Fund 2. The company offers a shared truckload service intended to eliminate the need for freight hubs and cut carbon emissions. Flock Freight was valued at $463.5 million in November, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Eden Global Partners, GCP, GV, SignalFire, Susquehanna Private Capital

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ShouTi lands $100M Series B

ShouTi has raised a $100 million Series B led by BVF Partners. The company, which has headquarters in San Francisco and Shanghai, is developing small molecule therapeutics to treat chronic diseases, including cardiovascular, metabolic and pulmonary conditions.

Select Additional Investors:

Casdin Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Eight Roads, F-Prime Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, Qiming Venture Partners

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SkyHive hauls in $40M

SkyHive has raised a $40 million Series B led by Eldridge. Founded in 2017, the company offers a workforce intelligence platform intended to help enterprise customers and government organizations monitor performance and reskill employees.

Additional Investors:

Accenture Ventures, AllegisCyber, Partnership Fund for New York City, Workday Ventures

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Modern Age collects $27M Series A

Modern Age has raised $27 million in a round led by Oak HC/FT, with support from GV and Juxtapose. The company provides digital tools and in-person treatments to help individuals understand and manage all aspects of aging, including bone mass, metabolism, nutrition and mental health.

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Hex Technologies raises $16M

Hex Technologies has raised a $16 million Series A led by Redpoint Ventures. Based in the Bay Area, the company offers a collaborative workspace intended to help team members analyze data and share their insights as visualizations and interactive applications.

Select Additional Investors:

Amplify Partners, Data Community Fund, Operator Collective

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