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In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find:
- VCs have invested $14.8 billion in Latin American companies this year—more than the previous six years combined. What's driving the surge?
- A decline in huge deals has slowed overall VC activity in the retail healthtech industry.
- US PE middle-market activity through Q3 2021 has smashed annual records for both deal count and value.
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Why 2021 was a breakout year for Latin America's VC ecosystem
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| (blackdovfx/Getty Images) |
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Venture-backed companies in Latin America raised nearly $15 billion in 2021—more than the previous six years combined. What happened?
- The most obvious catalyst was mass digitization under the pandemic, which helped push tens of millions into online banking and draw more investors to fintech startups in the region.
- The region's growth is likely to accelerate interest among international investors, who hope that the region could mimic Southeast Asia's startup success.
- Valuations are rising fast, but "it's still early innings," said a leading growth investor.
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Mega-rounds slow in retail healthtech
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Demand for mobile and digital healthtech skyrocketed during the pandemic. While interest is still high, it may not be rising as rapidly, as demand was pulled forward for at-home fitness equipment. Additionally, gyms are reopening and in-person doctor visits are becoming safer again.
Our recent installment of Emerging Tech Research explores key trends, VC activity and new business opportunities in the retail healthtech sector. Among the takeaways:
- Deal value in the space dropped to $2.6 billion in Q3 from $3.5 billion in Q2, while disclosed median deal size declined to $11 million, largely due to a decrease in mega-deals.
- VC exit value fell to $2.4 billion—following Q2's record $7.6 billion, which included the public listing of 23andMe.
- Emerging opportunities in the industry include utilization-based insurance for high-cost digital health solutions and startups developing applications to help patients make use of data from continuous glucose monitors.
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eFront Insight Research Quarterly Report—Q1 2021
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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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US PE middle market smashes annual records in 2021
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Middle-market private equity firms have sustained a feverish pace of activity throughout 2021, as investors push to capitalize on booming economic growth and low interest rates before the macroeconomic tide turns.
Going into year's end, dealmaking has already broken annual records in both volume and value, with nearly 2,900 transactions comprising $438.6 billion, according to our Q3 US PE Middle Market Report. The report, sponsored by Antares, Canton & Company, and LBMC, is now updated with league tables. Takeaways include:
- US middle-market exits also continued at a remarkable pace, with a combined $184 billion in value through Q3—also an annual record.
- Inflation remains top of mind for middle-market firms, with increased labor, raw materials and energy costs driving down earnings growth in industries such as manufacturing.
- The fundraising environment favors large funds and established managers, prompting many firms to launch additional middle-market strategies.
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A look at how women authors are taking back the tech narrative. [The Information]
The mental challenges of sports have been discussed for years. But it wasn't until 2021 that athletes in a variety of disciplines took action. [The New Yorker]
Pandemic-related supply chain snags and shipping bottlenecks have forced some companies to rethink their corporate strategies. [Financial Times] |
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Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:
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24
VC valuations
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1575
People
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442
Companies
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48
Funds
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2016 Vintage Global Venture Funds with less than $250M
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Razorpay scores $7.5B valuation
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Cars24 raises $400M at $3.3B value
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| India's Cars24 has been valued at $3.3 billion in a new funding round, up from $1.84 billion in September, according to reports. Alpha Wave Global led the $300 million Series G round, which was raised alongside $100 million in debt. Cars24 offers a marketplace for used cars and motorcycles, operating across 182 Indian cities as well as the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Thailand. |
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India's OfBusiness picks up $325M
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| OfBusiness has raised $325 million in Series G financing from Alpha Wave Global, Tiger Global and SoftBank. The round valued India-based OfBusiness at about $5 billion, an increase from $3 billion in October. OfBusiness operates a platform for the procurement of raw materials and offers credit servicers for small and medium-sized businesses. |
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SoftBank backs $200M+ round for Colombian fintech startup Addi
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| Bogotá, Colombia-based Addi has raised $80 million in equity from Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, the SoftBank Latin America Fund and other investors, Bloomberg reported. The company has also reportedly raised $125 million in debt funding, the majority of which came from Goldman Sachs. Addi, which brought in $75 million for a Series B extension in September, provides buy now, pay later services for ecommerce, mobile and brick-and-mortar purchases in Brazil and Colombia. |
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Coatue leads $145M round for Rec Room
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| Virtual reality startup Rec Room has raised $145 million at a $3.5 billion valuation. Coatue led the round, with participation from Sequoia, Index Ventures and Madrona Venture Group. Seattle-based Rec Room, which provides a social gaming platform for user-generated content, was valued at $1.25 billion earlier this year. |
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E-scooter startup Voi lands $115M Series D
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| Stockholm-based Voi has raised $115 million in a round led by Raine Group and VNV Global. The startup will use the funds to enter new European markets and add more e-bikes to its rental fleet. Voi has received $430 million in total funding since its founding in 2018. |
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Mumbai's Bizongo snags $110M Series D
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| Bizongo, a Mumbai-based B2B platform for made-to-order products, has reportedly raised $110 million in new funding at a valuation of $600 million. Tiger Global is said to have led the round, with support from investors including Chiratae Ventures and AddVentures. Founded in 2015, the startup provides digital vendor management, supply chain automation and supply chain finance services to enterprise customers across sectors including fashion, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and ecommerce. |
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Figment captures $110M in new financing
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Turing hits unicorn valuation after $87M Series D
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| HR tech startup Turing has raised $87 million at a valuation of about $1.1 billion in a round led by WestBridge Capital, with support from Foundation Capital, StepStone Group and other backers. Based in Palo Alto, Turing is the creator of an AI-based platform that helps companies vet, hire and manage remote software developers in over 140 countries. |
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Taptap Send takes in $65M
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| Taptap Send, the developer of a cross-border fintech platform, has raised a $65 million Series B led by Spark Capital, with participation from Unbound, Canaan Partners, Slow Ventures, Flourish Ventures and other investors. The startup's tech allows users in underserved markets to send cross-border payments quickly and without fees. Since the start of the pandemic, Taptap has expanded into 13 additional locations, including Bangladesh, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam. |
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ZeroFox to be valued at $1.4B in public debut
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| External cybersecurity startup ZeroFox has agreed to combine with blank-check company L&F Acquisition Corp. in a deal that will see the company list on the NYSE at an equity valuation of approximately $1.4 billion. The merger comprises $170 million in financing led by Monarch Alternative Capital, with support from others including Victory Park Capital, Corbin Capital and NEA. ZeroFox will also acquire IDX, a provider of privacy protection and data breach response services. |
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Senti Bio to make Nasdaq debut via $601M SPAC merger
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| Senti Bio has agreed to go public on the Nasdaq through a merger with blank-check company Dynamics Special Purpose Corp. The transaction is expected to provide over $296 million in gross proceeds and value the combined entity at $601 million. Senti is the creator of a synthetic biology platform that's designed to treat complex diseases by programming cell and gene therapies with "gene circuits." The company raised a $105 million Series B in January from backers like Intel Capital, Leaps by Bayer, Matrix Partners China and NEA. |
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SenseTime reopens IPO, raises $512M from investors
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| Venture-backed Chinese AI firm SenseTime Group has raised $512 million from cornerstone investors after reopening orders for its Hong Kong IPO, Bloomberg reported. SenseTime originally postponed the listing to update its prospectus following new US sanctions placed on the company. SenseTime aims to raise up to $767 million and hit a valuation of about $17 billion in its IPO, according to reports. |
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Open English files to go public
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| Open English has filed confidentially with the SEC for a public debut that could occur sometime next year, Bloomberg reported. The Florida-based company had reportedly been considering going public via a SPAC merger, but opted to pursue an IPO instead. Open English offers English language learning services to children, adults and corporate clients in the US, Latin America and Turkey. The company has raised prior funding from investors including Insight Partners, Redpoint Ventures and Flybridge. |
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Crossbeam locks down $70M for Fund II
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| Crossbeam Venture Partners has closed its second flagship fund on $70 million. The vehicle will focus on backing companies at the pre-seed through Series A stages. The firm, which typically backs startups related to new internet economies, financial services or novel asset classes, closed the fund's predecessor on $25 million in March 2020. Crossbeam's portfolio includes lawsuit software specialist EvenUp and Spotter, which values and provides up-front cash for existing content libraries on YouTube. |
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