PitchBook News - US VC valuations notch records in 2021

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The Daily Pitch: VC

February 7, 2022

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 US VC Valuations Report explores how record dry powder and the proliferation of nontraditional investors propelled startup valuations in 2021.

Bonaccord Capital Partners, which closed a $740 million fund last summer to buy minority stakes in PE firms, is back in the market and looking to raise around $1.25 billion.

The gaming industry is ripe with M&A activity as video game giants like Microsoft and Sony vie for dominance.

Today's Top Stories

US VC valuations notch records in 2021

Valuations of VC-backed companies soared in tandem with record levels of dry powder and the proliferation of nontraditional investors into the venture ecosystem during the past year.

Our 2021 Annual US VC Valuations Report explores how startup valuations across the venture lifecycle and within different sectors changed throughout the year. Key takeaways include:

Early-stage valuations reflected the tsunami of capital flowing into the venture industry, with the median pre-money valuation growing at 50% year-over-year to $45 million.

Nontraditional investors' rise in participation put upward pressure on both deal sizes and valuations. At the late stage, the median valuation of deals with nontraditional investors reached $200 million—double that of 2020.

Public market investors sustained an elevated level of demand for growth assets in the past year, with the valuation step-up for public listings notching a record high of 1.6 times in the fourth quarter.

read the report

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Exclusive: Bonaccord aims to raise $1.25B GP stakes fund

(wenmei Zhou/Getty Images)

Bonaccord Capital Partners, which closed a $740 million fund last summer to buy minority stakes in private equity firms, is already back in the market to raise around $1.25 billion for its second fund dedicated to the strategy, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The asset manager's fast return to the fundraising trail highlights the bullish market for targeting GP stakes as investors seek alternative ways of generating returns from high-performing managers of private funds.

Read the exclusive story

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A message from Citizens

Can M&A momentum continue into 2022?

After a record year in M&A, decision-makers from 400 US middle-market companies and PE firms are bullish that corporate valuations and deal activity will continue to rise in 2022.

Access the Citizens M&A Outlook to discover:

A sector-by-sector breakdown of valuation expectations.
How pandemic-related headwinds have affected company outlooks.
Shifts in buyer/seller dynamics and motivations.

Enhance your approach to M&A in 2022 with insights from your peers, as well as three actionable tips to consider moving forward.

Explore the Citizens M&A Outlook

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Battle for the future of gaming fuels deal frenzy

"Spyro Reignited Trilogy" (Courtesy of Activision Blizzard)

Sony's recent $3.6 billion deal for game developer Bungie is the latest development in a flurry of M&A activity in the video game industry, as a confluence of trends in the sector drive interest in dealmaking.

The Bungie buyout is only the third-largest acquisition of the year, as 2022 reaches record levels in less than six weeks.

Recommended Reads

Sustainability-focused VC is still only a small part of institutions' portfolios. How one ex-Calpers portfolio manager is on a mission to change that. [Institutional Investor]

Will a scrappy team of robotics undergrads stand a chance against the best-funded labs in the world? At the Darpa Challenge, it's anyone's game. [Wired]

A conversation with Automattic founder Matt Mullenweg on the future of asynchronous work. [The Wall Street Journal]

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Quick Takes


	The Daily Benchmark
	2018 Vintage Global Funds-of-Funds
	VC Deals
	Cart.com collects $240M in debt and equity
	Celestial AI lands $56M Series A
	Novi Connect nabs $40M Series B
	QED leads $20M round for Melonn
	Fundraising
	Tiger Global locks down $11B+ for latest fund
	Buckley Ventures seeks $500M
	ACME Capital brings in $300M+
	Investors
	WNBA scores $75M in first outside funding

The Daily Benchmark

2018 Vintage Global Funds-of-Funds

Median IRR

32.37%

Top Quartile IRR

42.57%

1.51x

Median TVPI

Select top performers

Industry Ventures Partnership Holdings V

Top Tier Venture Velocity Fund 2

TrueBridge Capital Partners Fund V

*IRR: net of fees

38 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Cart.com collects $240M in debt and equity

Cart.com has raised $240 million in a round led by Legacy Knight Capital Partners, Bloomberg reported. The company operates a marketing and customer engagement platform for ecommerce brands.

Additional Investors:

Citi Ventures, JP Morgan, TriplePoint Capital, Visa

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Celestial AI lands $56M Series A

Celestial AI has raised $56 million in a round led by Koch Disruptive Technologies. The California-based company is a developer of AI computing technology for machine learning chipsets.

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Novi Connect nabs $40M Series B

Tiger Global has led a $40 million round for Novi Connect, the developer of a B2B marketplace designed to help consumer brands find sustainable ingredients and packaging. Founded in 2020, Novi was valued at $35 million in September, according to PitchBook data.

Additional Investors:

Defy.vc, Greylock Partners

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QED leads $20M round for Melonn

Melonn has raised a $20 million Series A led by QED Investors. Based in Colombia, the company is a provider of end-to-end fulfillment and software services to ecommerce companies across Latin America.

Select Additional Investors:

Global Founders Capital, NFX, Pear

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Fundraising

Tiger Global locks down $11B+ for latest fund

Tiger Global has raised more than $11 billion for its latest venture capital vehicle, The Information reported. The VC stalwart expects to close the fund at $12 billion in March.

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View 671 investments »

Buckley Ventures seeks $500M

Buckley Ventures, the firm run by solo capitalist Josh Buckley, has set a target of $500 million for its third flagship fund.

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View 6 investments »

ACME Capital brings in $300M+

Early-stage investor ACME Capital has raised more than $300 million for its fourth flagship fund and the vehicle's adjacent opportunity fund.

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View 120 investments »

Investors

WNBA scores $75M in first outside funding

The Women's National Basketball Association has raised $75 million in its first ever outside funding round, according to reports. Backers include Michael Dell and Susan Dell, Laurene Powell Jobs, Nike, Joe Tsai and Clara Tsai, and Condoleezza Rice. Proceeds from this transaction are expected to be used for brand elevation and marketing, globalization of the WNBA and more.

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Chart of the Day

"The asset class' median fund size and median step-up figures hit their highest marks in a decade. Around half of the fundraising dollars YTD have been committed to mega-funds, and two thirds were committed to the fifth or later fund in a fund family."

Source: PitchBook's Q3 2021 Private Fund Strategies Report