Measuring VC's pandemic resilience

African fintech market on the rise; Boeing spins off VC arm; AI infrastructure specialist hits $4.6B valuation; GoGuardian books $200M
Read online | Don't want to receive these emails? Manage your subscription.
PitchBook
Log in
The Daily Pitch: VC, PE and M&A
August 6, 2021
Like our newsletter? The data comes from the PitchBook Platform — our data software for VC, PE and M&A
Ads
In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find:
  • Our latest Quantitative Perspectives report

  • A feature on a new fintech frontier: Africa

  • A midyear check of our 2021 predictions about Europe's private markets
Today's Top Stories
Measuring VC's pandemic resilience
Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, the US venture capital industry set several records in the past year and has continued its robust performance in 2021.

PitchBook's latest Quantitative Perspectives report provides a data-driven analysis on how the industry is charging full steam ahead, including insights on the correlation between public and private markets, mounting optimism from nontraditional investors and why the SPAC market has yet to establish itself as a game-changing exit route. Highlights from the report include:
  • With large tech stocks including Amazon and Netflix driving the market upward, institutional investors are increasingly seeking value in the next crop of VC-backed tech companies.

  • Investors have concentrated their capital into fewer industries over the past 15 years. IT hardware and energy are among the sectors seeing the largest reduction in capital investment.

  • Already in 2021, mega-funds have nearly eclipsed 2020's annual record. With the supply of capital higher than estimated demand, companies are securing funding more quickly than expected.

  • In recent months, de-SPACing activity seems unable to keep up with SPAC announcements. This could indicate a lack of worthy SPAC targets, and that capital may be returned in the coming year as many SPACs come up against the two-year deadline to deploy capital.
read the report
 
Share:   Email    LinkedIn    Twitter    Facebook
Is Africa fintech's next frontier?
(Kypros/Getty Images)
Africa's fintech sector is witnessing unprecedented growth as foreign investors try to get in on the ground floor of an ecosystem ripe for innovation.
  • Fintech startups in Africa secured around $330.5 million in H1 2021, more than double the amount raised the entire year before, according to data from Disrupt Africa, a tech-focused research and news organization.

  • The sheer size of the market and recent startup success stories have made Africa increasingly attractive to foreign investors.

  • African startups may be undervalued due to various risks, but firms entering the market earlier stand to make solid returns as the ecosystem matures.
read more
 
Share:   Email    LinkedIn    Twitter    Facebook
A message from SS&C Intralinks
Going public: This new report highlights six key trends driving the IPO surge
While we've all been shut indoors for a year and a half, quite the opposite has been happening with the public markets. IPOs grew 51% in 2020, and the trend is continuing into 2021 as worldwide exchanges flash new ticker symbols of recently minted publicly traded companies.

Intralinks' new report, What's Driving the IPO Explosion, highlights six key trends that will shape the IPO marketplace and guide investment in the coming year:
  • Inclusion of environmental, social and governance strategies in IPO offerings
  • The rise and regulation of SPACs
  • A spike in Asia-Pacific IPOs
  • The ascent of Europe's exchanges
  • Booms in tech and health & wellness
  • Post-pandemic market confidence
Be ready to capitalize on the IPO surge. Download this report now.
Share:   Email    LinkedIn    Twitter    Facebook
Assessing PitchBook's 2021 predictions for Europe's private markets
(Sylvain Sonnet/Getty Images)
Midway through the year, our analysts revisit their predictions in the 2021 European Private Capital Outlook: H1 Follow-Up. In January, we forecast that PE deal activity in the region would top a record €480 billion in 2021. Already, dealmaking is set to march past that—and perhaps beyond €500 billion—thanks in part to rising middle-market and micro-cap activity.

As expected, VC activity has been equally buoyant, shrugging off the dual headwinds of the pandemic and Brexit. How have our other forecasts fared? In the report, we review 2021 predictions including:
  • SPAC listings in Europe will reach double digits.

  • Fundraising for distressed and restructuring strategies will hit record highs.

  • The UK will remain the largest contributor to venture activity in Europe, with dealmaking surpassing €10 billion.
read it now
 
Share:   Email    LinkedIn    Twitter    Facebook
Recommended Reads
How Michael Dell turned his declining PC business into a $40 billion windfall. [Forbes]

One silver lining of the pandemic was the democratization of remote work access that it provided. An in-depth look at how a mishandling of the transition to a hybrid model may threaten that. [Harvard Business Review]

Since January, automakers and electronics producers have been dealing with a semiconductor shortage. Now the imbalance in supply and demand might be swinging the other way. [Fortune]
Ads
Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:
413
Deals
1398
People
485
Companies
17
Funds
See what our data software can do
 
Quick Takes
  The Daily Benchmark  
  2010 Vintage European Real Estate Funds  
  People  
  TPG taps Jack Weingart for CFO role  
  VC Deals  
  Dataiku hits $4.6B valuation  
  Edtech startup GoGuardian raises $200M from Tiger Global  
  Bluecore lands $125M Series E  
  Peruvian edtech startup books $70M  
  SentiLink secures $70M  
  Lucid Lane picks up $16M for telehealth platform  
  PE Deals  
  Brighton Park devotes $100M+ to Relatient, plans add-on  
  Alta Growth Capital, IFC invest $9.8M into Mexican higher education company  
  Government Brands strikes deal with new, existing backers  
  Investors  
  Boeing spins off VC arm  
  Corporate M&A  
  Penn National to buy TheScore for $2B  
 
 
Ads
The Daily Benchmark
2010 Vintage European Real Estate Funds
Median IRR
7.65%
Top Quartile IRR Hurdle Rate
11.58%
1.22x
Median TVPI
Select top performers
Bridges Sustainable Property Fund
Frogmore Real Estate Partners II
Sveafastigheter Fund III
*IRR: net of fees
8 Funds in Benchmark »
Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks
Ads
People
TPG taps Jack Weingart for CFO role
TPG has named Jack Weingart chief financial officer to oversee the firm's finance, treasury and capital markets functions. Since joining the firm in 2006, Weingart has served as co-managing partner and as managing partner of TPG's funding group, which comprised fundraising and capital markets activities at the firm.
View details
 
 
Ads
VC Deals
Dataiku hits $4.6B valuation
AI infrastructure startup Dataiku has raised $400 million in a round led by Tiger Global at a $4.6 billion valuation, which is more than triple what it was worth last year, according to PitchBook data. Other participating investors included Iconiq Capital, CapitalG, Snowflake Ventures, FirstMark Capital and Battery Ventures. New York-based Dataiku helps customers including Mercedes Benz, Morgan Stanley and Pfizer implement AI throughout their business.
Additional Investors:
Dawn Capital, Eurazeo, Insight Partners, Lightrock, Olivier Pomel
View round
 
View 46 competitors »
 
Edtech startup GoGuardian raises $200M from Tiger Global
GoGuardian was valued at more than $1 billion after raising $200 million from Tiger Global. The Los Angeles-based startup makes digital learning products for use in K-12 classrooms. GoGuardian has also been backed by Sumeru Equity Partners since 2018.
View round
 
View 6 competitors »
 
Bluecore lands $125M Series E
Bluecore has raised $125 million at a $1 billion valuation in a round led by Georgian. The New York-based company is the developer of a marketing platform intended to help retail brands such as Express and Tommy Hilfiger personalize customer experiences. Bluecore raised $50 million at a $240 million valuation in May 2020, according to PitchBook data.
Additional Investors:
FirstMark Capital, Norwest Venture Partners, Silver Lake
View round
 
View 75 competitors »
 
Peruvian edtech startup books $70M
Crehana has raised $70 million in a Series B led by General Atlantic. The Peru-based edtech startup is the developer of an online learning platform that's geared toward career development in the Latin American workforce. Crehana, which recently raised a $13 million Series A extension, plans to use the new funding in part to launch operations in Brazil.
Additional Investors:
Alive Ventures, Dila Capital, IFC, Mountain Nazca, Rethink Education, Salesforce Ventures
View round
 
View 59 competitors »
 
SentiLink secures $70M
SentiLink, the developer of an identity verification platform for financial institutions, has raised a $70 million Series B led by Craft Ventures. Founded in 2017 and based in San Francisco, the company was valued at $40.1 million in 2019, according to PitchBook data. Felicis Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and NYCA also participated in the round.
View round
 
View 39 competitors »
 
Lucid Lane picks up $16M for telehealth platform
Accel has led a $16 million Series A for Lucid Lane, the developer of a personalized telehealth platform intended to help patients manage anxiety, depression, medication dependence and substance-use disorders. Accel partner Eric Wolford has joined the California-based company's board.
Additional Investors:
AME Cloud Ventures, Battery Ventures, Morado Ventures
View round
 
View 5 competitors »
 
PE Deals
Brighton Park devotes $100M+ to Relatient, plans add-on
Brighton Park Capital has agreed to invest more than $100 million in Relatient, a Tennessee-based provider of healthcare patient engagement software. Some of the funds will go toward acquiring Radix Health, a fellow provider of such software. The combined company will operate under the Relatient brand.
View deal
 
View 8 competitors »
 
Alta Growth Capital, IFC invest $9.8M into Mexican higher education company
Mexico City-based Alta Growth Capital and the IFC have co-invested $9.8 million in Lottus Education, a higher education group that operates several Mexican schools. Founded in 2015, Lottus provides high school, undergraduate and graduate education to over 45,000 low- and middle-income students through three institutions: Universidad Tres Culturas, Universidad Latinoamericana and Colegio Indoamericano.
View deal
 
View 1 competitors »
 
Government Brands strikes deal with new, existing backers
TPG and growth equity firm PSG have agreed to recapitalize Government Brands, a Georgia-based provider of government payment software. Greater Sum Ventures is exiting its ownership position as part of the deal. PSG will remain the company's majority shareholder, and TPG will own a significant minority stake in the business.
View deal
 
View similar company »
 
Investors
Boeing spins off VC arm
Boeing is partnering with AE Industrial Partners to spin off its venture capital arm, HorizonX, which was launched in 2017. The new firm, dubbed AEI HorizonX, will operate independently with Boeing as its anchor investor. AEI HorizonX plans to raise its first independent fund next year.
View details
 
View 37 investments »
 
Corporate M&A
Penn National to buy TheScore for $2B
Sports-betting giant Penn National Gaming has agreed to acquire Toronto-based Score Media and Gaming (TheScore) for $2 billion in cash and stock. As part of the deal, TheScore shareholders will receive $17 and 0.2398 shares of Penn National common stock for each TheScore share owned. TheScore stock was up nearly 80% at market close Thursday following news of the deal.
View details
 
View 2 competitors »
 
Chart of the Day
"Direct lending continues to be the standout strategy within the private debt market, accounting for a majority of capital raised in the space. After a middling 2020 in terms of fundraising, direct lenders picked up the pace in the first half of 2021. Managers raised $33.5 billion across 28 vehicles, already more than three-quarters of the amount they raised in the entirety of 2020."

Source: PitchBook's H1 2021 Global Private Debt Report
About PitchBook | Terms of use | Advertise with us | Contact

Follow us:   in   twtr   fb

This email was sent to pitchbook@quicklydone.com via the PitchBook Platform.

Do you want to change your email address, get a different edition or unsubscribe? Manage your subscription here.

© 2021 PitchBook Data. All rights reserved.
Venture capital, private equity and M&A financial information technology provider.

No comments: