Europe's VC valuations continue upward march

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The Daily Pitch: VC

November 15, 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:

An analysis of the latest record-breaking quarter for Europe's venture-backed companies.

A look at which US venture verticals are garnering massive step-ups in valuation.

The five largest public PE firms in the US had a banner Q3, yet the valuation gap among them is widening.

Today's Top Stories

Europe's VC valuations continue marching upward

The European VC ecosystem has smashed records across the board in 2021—and valuations are no exception. Bullish VC investors, outsized rounds across all stages and a fervent exit environment have helped push valuations sky high.

Our Q3 European VC Valuations Report breaks down the latest record-breaking quarter in venture capital, including data on valuations by sector, region and investor type. Among the takeaways:

VC deals with nontraditional investors have risen in both value and volume, becoming one of the key drivers behind Europe's record round sizes and valuations.

Late-stage pre-money valuations in the software sector topped €27 million in Q3, nearly double 2020's record figure.

The VC ecosystem appears to be coping well in the post-Brexit era, as last quarter's valuations in the UK & Ireland paced above 2020's numbers at all stages.

read the report

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Which verticals had the highest valuation jumps in 2021

(sesame/Getty Images)

In a year where just about everything in venture capital is going up and to the right, some verticals are heating up more than others in terms of valuation growth.

See our 2021 US valuation step-up rankings.

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The good times keep getting better for public PE firms

(champc/Getty Images)

The five largest US public PE firms had a phenomenal showing in Q3, reporting robust figures across all their metrics. The group of Apollo Global Management, Ares Management, Blackstone, The Carlyle Group and KKR also all traded up and outperformed the S&P over the past 12 months.

In this goldilocks period for large alternative asset managers, everything seems to be going right, according to our latest analyst note. Yet the valuation gap among these five is widening, with some trading down to a lower distributable earnings multiple.

read it now

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Gaming industry piles into Forte's $725M raise

(Fabio Principe/Getty Images)

Blockchain gaming platform developer Forte has added $725 million to a war chest built on capital from global gaming publishers.

The Series B was led by hedge fund Kora Management and Sea Capital, the corporate VC arm of Singaporean gaming and consumer tech conglomerate Sea. Other gaming backers in the round included Animoca Brands, Huuuge, Overwolf and Playstudios.

In May, the company raised $185 million at a $1 billion valuation in a round led by Griffin Gaming Partners.

Gaming investors see a future in which digital goods are traded on in-game marketplaces secured by the blockchain, creating new revenue streams for publishers, developers and players.

Forte's platform allows game developers to embed crypto features such as non-fungible tokens and wallets. The startup also handles anti-money laundering checks, intellectual property security and other compliance tasks.

Related read: A16z charts course to own the NFT market

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EIF tech head warns of European VC bubble

(Courtesy of the European Investment Bank)

The European Investment Fund's head of technology investments has raised concerns that European VC could be heading for a bubble. The continent has seen record numbers of venture investments this year, and with that, valuations have soared to all-time highs.

Recommended Reads

Why Chinese crypto players are seeking a new home base in Singapore. [Protocol]

As the Christmas season approaches, one of the oldest wooden toymakers in Vermont says the labor shortage is creating a bigger challenge than global supply chain disruptions. [The Washington Post]

The 10,000 faces that launched an NFT revolution. [Wired]

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2020 Vintage Global VC Funds
	A message from eFront
	eFront Insight Research Quarterly Report—Q1 2021
	VC Deals
	Icertis eyes $5B valuation
	Applied Intuition hits $3.6B valuation
	Ankyra Therapeutics raises $45M Series B
	Ometria brings in $40M

The Daily Benchmark

2020 Vintage Global VC Funds

Median IRR

18.12%

Top Quartile IRR

43.21%

1.00x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Ethos Fund I

Northzone Conviction I

Target Global Early Stage Fund II

*IRR: net of fees

52 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

A message from eFront

eFront Insight Research Quarterly Report—Q1 2021

The latest quarterly report from eFront brings together two complementary sets of benchmarks for the global private equity market as of Q1 2021: fund-level transaction-based metrics and deal-level performance statistics derived from individual deal financials.

The eFront Insight Research Quarterly Report delivers only a selection of performance benchmarks to its readers, but clients have access to the eFront Insight Quarterly Data Pack catalog of benchmarks, which includes performance dispersion metrics, a performance breakdown by industry subsectors, more granular regional performance benchmarking (per country), the pace of new investments and more.

Download the paper

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VC Deals

Icertis eyes $5B valuation

SoftBank is reportedly planning to buy a roughly $80 million stake in Icertis from Eight Roads Ventures. The funding could value the contract management software provider at $5 billion, Bloomberg reported. In March, Icertis raised $80 million at a more than $2.8 billion valuation.

View details

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Applied Intuition hits $3.6B valuation

Applied Intuition has raised a $175 million Series D at a $3.6 billion valuation. Elad Gil, Addition and Coatue co-led the round. The Bay Area company's simulation software and other offerings help autonomous vehicle makers to develop, test and deploy their systems.

Select Additional Investors:

Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Lux Capital

View round

View 17 competitors »

Ankyra Therapeutics raises $45M Series B

Ankyra Therapeutics has raised $45 million from investors including Borealis Ventures, GV, Sands Capital Ventures and Spring Mountain Capital. The Boston-based company is developing cancer therapies intended to boost anti-tumor immune responses.

Additional Investors:

Fidelity Management & Research, Polaris Partners, Mithril Capital

View round

View similar company »

Ometria brings in $40M

Ometria has raised a $40 million Series C led by InfraVia Growth. The company is a developer of a customer data and marketing platform for retail brands such as MADE.com, Hotel Chocolat and Pepe Jeans.

Select Additional Investors:

Adjuvo, Columbia Lake Partners, Octopus Ventures, Sonae IM

View round

View 78 competitors »