Female founders battle pandemic's impact

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The Daily Pitch: VC

November 2, 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 All In Report explores the effects of the pandemic on female-founded companies in the VC market.

The latest Emerging Tech Research breaks down a busy Q3 in the information security sector.

Our breakdown of Brazilian digital banking specialist Nubank's S-1 filing.

Today's Top Stories

Female founders try to regain their footing amid pandemic recovery

The pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on female founders compared to male founders and the overall US VC market. For the first time in over a decade, early-stage valuations of female-founded companies diverged significantly from the industry, with a gap emerging in both 2020 and 2021.

While some trends such as a growing pool of female angel investors and checkwriters at VC firms are worth celebrating, other data points highlight how the pandemic has dented years of progress.

The latest edition of our All In Report, created in partnership with Beyond The Billion and sponsored by JP Morgan, breaks down the numbers by city, sector and exit activity.

read the report

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Web3 security, ransomware protection drive information security dealmaking

VCs invested $5.4 billion in information security in Q3, down slightly from Q2 but continuing a record year of funding, as dealmaking rises in tandem with both cyberattacks and corporate security spending.

Our Q3 Emerging Tech Research on infosec breaks down a strong quarter for the sector and highlights opportunities in Web3 security, data protection and encryption, and risk assessment. Takeaways include:

Venture funding in the information security sector reached an annual total of $16.2 billion, on pace to more than double 2020's record deal value.

Late-stage deals are poised to exceed early-stage activity for the first time since 2015, as the pandemic-driven trend of low early-stage deal count lingers.

The market for enterprise Web3 security, a set of solutions that protect corporations' investments in cryptocurrency projects, is expected to grow at a 71% CAGR to reach $3 billion by 2024.

read the preview

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A message from Tegus

How top VCs win deals

The most innovative firms partner with founders long before fundraising begins. By including founders in diligence through Tegus, investors build a relationship along the way:

Redpoint and their peers introduce founders to prospective customers. Leverage your network and third parties to expand a founder's reach.
First Round Capital and Pear VC invite founders to expert calls. Conducting diligence side by side with founders is a win-win—you get up to speed; founders learn directly from experts.
The Investment Group of Santa Barbara makes learning frictionless for portfolio companies. Sharing diligence tools expedites a founder's path to product-market fit and makes learning frictionless.

Try Tegus for yourself with a free trial.

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Rivian targets $8B+ in blockbuster IPO

Electric vehicle maker Rivian has set the terms for one of the year's most anticipated IPOs in a deal that could raise more than $8 billion.

The company estimated it would sell 135 million shares at $57 to $62 a share. A deal at the midpoint of that range would give the Irvine, Calif.-based company a market value of more than $55 billion. It was last valued in the private market at over $27 billion, according to a PitchBook estimate.

Rivan's top shareholders include Amazon, T. Rowe Price and Ford.

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Nubank S-1 breakdown: Big growth in a massive market

(Courtesy of Nubank)

Nubank, one of Latin America's largest digital banks, has filed for an IPO in the United States. The company is seeking a valuation of up to $50.6 billion, based on its initial pricing range of $10 to $11 a share.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2021, the company's revenue doubled to $1.06 billion from the $534 million for the same period the previous year. Nubank's gross profit margin has also been improving over time.

Sequoia stands to make over $8 billion in the offering and the founder and CEO David Vélez retains most of the controlling votes.

See our full S-1 breakdown for more takeaways.

Recommended Reads

Why some CEOs are trading in offshoring and outsourcing for domestic work. [The Wall Street Journal]

Ventures capitalists are funneling billions into crypto- and blockchain-related startups. Here's a look at some of those bets. [The New York Times]

How a global carbon market could help countries share the burden of the climate fight. [Bloomberg]

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2019 Vintage North American Debt Funds
	A message from RBC Capital Markets
	What is the M&A outlook for consumer and retail sectors?
	VC Deals
	When I Work secures $200M
	OctoML picks up $85M
	Lever lands $50M Series D
	Mosaic brings in $44M
	Investors
	Digital Currency Group raises $700M in secondary sale
	Fundraising
	Walden Catalyst Ventures closes $550M+ fund

The Daily Benchmark

2019 Vintage North American Debt Funds

Median IRR

13.94%

Top Quartile IRR

21.23%

1.10x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

OrbiMed Royalty & Credit Opportunities III

Antares Special Opportunities Fund

HIG Bayside Loan Opportunity Fund V

*IRR: net of fees

46 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

A message from RBC Capital Markets

What is the M&A outlook for consumer and retail sectors?

Recent M&A deal volumes have reached historic levels at all deal sizes across all industries. Consumer and retail M&A has been exceptionally high, with companies deploying new strategies to stay aligned with evolving consumer behaviors. Emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic, "Winning companies have shown they can adapt their business models, causing them to be more assured in pursuing strategic growth initiatives using M&A as a tool," according to RBC's Vito Sperduto.

How are consumer brands and companies preparing for the future? Will the pace of consumer and retail M&A continue?

See what's ahead for the sector and why large deals may be a theme going forward, with insights from RBC Capital Markets' industry experts.

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VC Deals

When I Work secures $200M

When I Work has raised $200 million in a round led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, with support from Arthur Ventures. Founded in 2010, the Minneapolis-based company offers a scheduling and time-tracking platform for shift-based employees.

View round

View 41 competitors »

OctoML picks up $85M

OctoML has raised an $85 million Series C led by Tiger Global. The Seattle-based company is a developer of a machine learning deployment platform designed to help organizations optimize models for production. OctoML was valued at $238 million in March, according to PitchBook data.

Investors:

Addition, Amplify Partners, Madrona Venture Group

View round

View 6 competitors »

Lever lands $50M Series D

Lever has raised $50 million in a round led by Apax Digital Fund. Based in the Bay Area, the company is a developer of a talent acquisition platform designed to help customers such as Netflix and Spotify eliminate hiring bias and access customized talent analytics. Lever was valued at $200 million in 2017, according to PitchBook data.

View round

View 30 competitors »

Mosaic brings in $44M

Mosaic has raised a $44 million Series B from investors including Peak State Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. The Phoenix-based company is a developer of a construction tech platform for residential projects.

Additional Investors:

Building Ventures, Founders Fund, Innovation Endeavors

View round

View 2 competitors »

Investors

Digital Currency Group raises $700M in secondary sale

Digital Currency Group has sold $700 million shares of stock in a private sale led by SoftBank, valuing the crypto conglomerate at more than $10 billion, according to reports. GIC Capital, Ribbit Capital and CapitalG also participated in the investment. Founded in 2015, Digital Currency Group is a New York-based CVC firm that invests in companies operating in the fintech, crypto and blockchain sectors.

View details

View 201 investments »

Fundraising

Walden Catalyst Ventures closes $550M+ fund

Walden Catalyst Ventures has raised more than $550 million for its debut fund. The San Francisco-based VC firm invests in early-stage deep tech companies across the US, Europe and Israel.

View fund

View 1 investments »