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In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find:
- How US startup valuations have changed amid the frenzied VC dealmaking of the last few quarters.
- The outlook for global real assets is more bullish than it has been in years—but how long will it last?
- From bees to rockets to robots, six deals that have defined VC trends in 2021.
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US venture capital valuation trends in seven charts
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| (Jorg Greuel/Getty Images) |
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The venture industry has continued to prove its resiliency in 2021—a year marked by outsized funds, numerous mega-deals and the soaring interest of multistage investors looking to back younger startups.
As a result, valuations of VC-backed companies are on the rise across most stages in the third quarter.
Here are seven charts from PitchBook's US VC Valuations report that depict how startup valuations have changed amid the frenzied dealmaking of the last few quarters. |
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This may be a turning point for real assets
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The outlook for real assets is more bullish than it has been in years. However, only time will tell whether GPs and LPs will be attracted to strategies that have underperformed for years.
Our Q3 2021 Global Real Assets Report dives deep into fundraising activity, commodity performance, transportation trends and more. Takeaways include:
- Infrastructure managers have continued to attract capital by delivering reliable fund returns in the region of 10%.
- The passage of a $1 trillion infrastructure package in the US may create some public-private partnership opportunities for private capital, while government transportation and renewable energy projects in Europe and Australia continue to facilitate investment.
- Fundraising in oil and gas has been lackluster in 2021, continuing a steady decline that began in the mid-2010s. It remains to be seen whether elevated prices will lure capital back into the strategy despite ESG pressures.
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Health tech stands poised to transform the coming decade
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Even amid the torrid growth of the expansion-stage ecosystem in the past year, health tech stands out. 2021 has seen close to 560 completed transactions, accounting for $23.8 billion in deal value, just through the end of September. In the latest edition of Deloitte's Road to Next series, the burgeoning health tech ecosystem is explored in depth, especially considering its acceleration by the COVID-19 pandemic and its myriad ramifications. Highlights include:
- Analysis of key datasets such as median financing metrics.
- A spotlight on the consumerization of healthcare and its intersection with health tech.
- Insights from experienced health tech Deloitte professionals as to critical growth considerations, regulatory changes and more.
Read it now |
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Bees, robots and rockets: 6 VC deals that help define 2021
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| (Marina Avramenko/Getty Images) |
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If 2020 was defined by the pandemic, 2021 has perhaps been defined by looking to the future and the potential for innovation across a range of sectors that shape daily life.
We've collected six deals from 2021 that illustrate key trends in VC, from agtech innovations to space-tech startups to sustainable foodtech. |
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Some subscription-based companies are promising updated cancellation practices as the FTC cracks down on call-to-cancel policies and more. [The Wall Street Journal]
Why researchers planning for future missions to Mars have turned to Iceland's unearthly landscapes. [Wired]
Investors may be spending less time in Silicon Valley and more across the Atlantic, as a report shows that the returns from European VC investments have outperformed those in the US for the past two decades. [Fortune] |
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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:
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17
VC valuations
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1799
People
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476
Companies
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25
Funds
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2018 Vintage Global PE Funds-of-Funds
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Investors are increasingly backing startups based in rising cities
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2021 is turning into a record year for venture, but where are those dollars going? Not where you might expect. For the first time in more than a decade, the proportion of seed- and early-stage capital invested in Bay Area Startups is on pace to drop below 30%.
Having visited, backed and spotlighted companies in rising startup ecosystems for the last decade, Revolution's Rise of the Rest Seed Fund partnered with PitchBook to take a closer look at this seismic shift. The full report explores how the trend toward investing in rising cities evolved, including notable pandemic-related accelerations, with highlights including:
- Cities attracting the most seed- and early-stage capital from Bay Area- and NYC-based investors.
- The impact of an increasing number of local and regional venture investors.
- Insights from local partners in rising startup ecosystems.
Read it now. |
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Felix Capital brings on former Meta exec
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| Felix Capital has hired Julien Codorniou as a partner focused on gaming and SaaS deals. He had served as a member of the firm's adviser group since 2015, when the firm was launched, and previously worked at Meta (formerly Facebook) for 11 years, most recently as VP of Workplace. Felix Capital has also promoted investor Susan Lin to the role of partner; she held previous roles at Hg and Bain & Company prior to joining the firm. Based in London, Felix Capital backs digital commerce, digital media and connected life companies at the early and growth stages. |
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Identity verification startup snags $220M Series B
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| Incode has raised a $220 million round that values the San Francisco-based startup at $1.25 billion. SoftBank and General Atlantic led the financing, with support from investors including JP Morgan, Capital One Ventures and Coinbase Ventures. The company, which also has offices in Europe and Latin America, provides onboarding, authentication and payment verification to banks, fintech companies, governments and others. |
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Rocket startup Ursa Major takes off with $85M
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Insurtech startup AgentSync hits unicorn valuation with $75M round
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| AgentSync, a provider of infrastructure for the insurance industry, has raised a $75 million Series B at a $1.2 billion valuation. The funding was led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Craft Ventures, Tiger Global, Atreides Management, Anthemis and existing backers. Founded in 2018 and based in Denver, AgentSync's platform minimizes compliance costs and prevents regulatory violations. The startup has now raised around $111 million in total private backing. |
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Ironscales picks up $64M Series C
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| Ironscales, a provider of AI-based email security services, has raised a $64 million round led by Providence Strategic Growth, with support from K1 Investment Management and Jump Capital. The company's self-learning tech helps users detect and remediate threats including business email comprises, credential harvesting and account takeovers. Ironscales was founded in Tel Aviv in 2014 and is currently headquartered in Atlanta. |
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Suki closes $55M round for healthcare AI
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| Suki, a creator of AI-based voice technology for the healthcare industry, has raised $55 million in Series C funding led by March Capital, with participation from Philips Ventures as well as existing backers and several angel investors. Suki's flagship product is an AI-powered digital assistant that helps physicians complete documentation and other administrative tasks more quickly. The startup was valued at $110 million with a $20 million round in March 2020, according to PitchBook data. |
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Adendra Therapeutics launches with $53M in backing
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| Life sciences VC firm ATP has launched Adendra Therapeutics with $53 million in Series A backing. Adendra, a spinout of The Francis Crick Institute in London, will use dendritic cell biology to develop treatments for solid cancers and autoimmune diseases. Founded in 1999, ATP has $2.65 billion in committed capital and offices in the US and the UK. |
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Insight Partners backs $50M round for Torq
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Cybersecurity startup GitGuardian pockets $44M Series B
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| Paris-based GitGuardian has raised $44 million in a round led by Eurazeo and Sapphire Ventures. The startup offers a code security platform that helps developers prevent leaks by detecting sensitive data within a code repository in real time. |
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Battery Ventures leads $30M round for Hummingbird
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| Hummingbird has collected $30 million in Series B funding led by Battery Ventures, with Flourish, Homebrew, FinVC and Plaid co-founder William Hockey also participating. Hummingbird's platform provides anti-money laundering, compliance investigation and reporting solutions for financial institutions. The San Francisco-based company has now raised around $41.8 million in private backing, including an $8.2 million Series A in 2020. |
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PitchBook for Dealmakers is built for those investing in, acquiring or advising on private market transactions.
Today's markets are in a constant state of flux, and dealmakers need insights spanning the public and private markets to be effective in their work. To that end, it's vital for dealmakers to have access to both best-in-class data on private companies and broad fundamental public data. Dig into our guide to learn more about PitchBook's utility for dealmakers—from our unmatched capital market coverage to our in-depth reports, collaboration tools and more.
Get the PitchBook for Dealmakers guide |
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Biopharma company Aerami Therapeutics to go public via SPAC
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| Aerami Therapeutics has agreed to go public through a reverse merger with blank-check company FoxWayne Enterprises Acquisition Corp. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022. Aerami is a clinical-stage provider of inhaled therapies that are designed to treat severe respiratory and chronic diseases. |
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Falcon Edge kicks off $10B vehicle, rebrands
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| Falcon Edge Capital has closed the first tranche of its new $10 billion vehicle, Alpha Wave Ventures II, TechCrunch reported. The New York-based investor is also rebranding as Alpha Wave Global. |
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Greycroft targets $1.5B+ across two funds
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| Greycroft is raising a pair of funds, including the firm's first-ever billion-dollar vehicle, The Wall Street Journal reported. Greycroft plans to raise about $1 billion for its fourth vehicle focused on later-stage investments, and about $500 million for its seventh main early-stage fund, according to the report. |
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Mountain Partners launches new climate-focused vehicle
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| The Chilean division of Mountain Partners has announced the launch of the country's first climate-focused VC fund, Bloomberg reported. The Zurich-headquartered firm said it plans to raise $50 million for the vehicle, which will back between 15 and 20 startups with early-stage investments of up to $3 million each. |
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"At 18.0% of funds raised thus far in 2021, VC is on pace to garner a record share of all capital committed for the year. Secondaries have fallen off some in 2021 fundraising, hardly a surprise after the strategy took in so much capital in 2020. Fewer than 50 secondaries funds are raised each year, so the fundraising there can be lumpy from one year to the next."
Source: PitchBook's Q3 2021 Private Fund Strategies Report |
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