| | | | | The Daily Pitch: VC, PE and M&A | December 3, 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: - A look at how VC-backed IPOs pace against the broader market.
- An analysis of what's driving demand for beverage robots and how VCs are fueling the trend.
| | | | | | | | | | How venture-backed IPOs pace against the broader market | |  | | (Foxeel/Getty Images) | | | The IPO market in the US has smashed records in 2021 for both total value and count, with $513 billion across 221 listings through Q3—exits that often come with a healthy step-up valuation for private investors.
How do returns on these red-hot IPOs hold up?
Our latest analyst note, shaped by our updated VC-backed IPO index, tracks both current and historic price performance to evaluate the success of these listings against the broader market. | | | | | | | | | | Beverage robots drink up VC funding | |  | | (Westend61/Getty Images) | | | The hospitality industry has always been characterized by high attrition rates, but labor shortages have disproportionately affected it during the pandemic. The sector is now turning to beverage robots that can help restaurants streamline operations, maintain target service levels and offer new services via precision automation.
Our recent analyst note explores major trends driving the demand for beverage robots and provides an overview of emerging VC-backed startups in the nascent industry, including Botrista, Cafe X and Somabar. | | | | | | | | | | A message from West Monroe | | | | Why private equity leaders need to level up on data science | | Today, a successful deal is dependent on external data sources married with company data, requiring private equity to shift to more advanced analysis to stay competitive. Until recently, analyst experience, personal relationships and Excel prowess were relied on to guide decision-making and review target companies. But new methods have emerged.
Data science identifies how operating executives should focus their resources. Using billions of data points, scarce company resources can be directed to initiatives that generate the highest return on investment. For example, West Monroe recently worked with a private equity-backed software company to evaluate several value-driving questions, including: Who are the customers we can upgrade? How can we quantify our churn risk?
Discover how data science helps the private equity industry deliver increased returns. | | | | | | | | | | Lawmakers' moonlighting affair is an inconvenient truth for private equity | |  | | (Drew Sanders/PitchBook News) | | | Not for the first time, the relationship between politicians and their corporate connections has come under scrutiny.
The latest focus has been the more than 30 members of the British Parliament who supplement their public income by moonlighting as consultants in the private sector and the potential conflicts of interest that come with their actions.
How could it impact PE and investors' attempts to do business with key decision-makers in the UK? | | | | | | | | | | Marketers are rushing to collect their own information on consumers as tech giants and governments institute new privacy protections that threaten the flow of user data utilized to target ads. [The Wall Street Journal]
The growing difficulties of managing the world's largest sovereign wealth fund. [The Economist]
Mounting research on the negative health effects of continuous noise exposure has led cities to take action through ordinances and urban design. Now they're automating the war on noise pollution. [Bloomberg] | | | | | | | | | | | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 669 Deals | 2200 People | 515 Companies | 29 Funds | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2016 Vintage Global PE Funds with more than $1B | | | | | | | | | | | A message from BMO Harris Bank | | | | Security, supply chain and surging prices: The triple threat | | Middle-market borrowers are increasingly seeking to fortify their operations to prevent cybersecurity attacks while managing supply chain issues and inflationary pressures. The latest issue of Transaction Trends has insights into how middle-market companies are currently navigating through these operating challenges.
To learn more, download the full issue of Transaction Trends. You can also contact Stephen R. Isaacs, managing director and head of BMO Sponsor Finance, at Stephen.Isaacs@bmo.com. | | | | | | | | | | | | Blackstone executive Tony James to retire | | | Hamilton "Tony" James, Blackstone's executive vice chairman, will retire after nearly 20 years with the firm, The Wall Street Journal reported. James joined Blackstone in 2002 and oversaw its IPO in 2007. He also led the acquisitions of GSO, the foundation of the firm's credit arm, and Blackstone's secondaries unit, Strategic Partners. | | | | | | | | | | | | Rapid grocery delivery startup valued at $1.2B with $260M round | | | New York-based Jokr has raised a $260 million Series B that values the rapid grocery delivery startup at $1.2 billion. The round, which will be used to expand in the US and Latin America, was reportedly led by HV Capital and supported by new and existing investors including Tiger Global, Balderton, GGV and Activant. The company raised $170 million in July. | | | | | | | | Mexico's Kueski lands $202M Series C | | | | | | | | | Battery Ventures backs Smartling in $160M round | | | Smartling, the creator of a cloud translation management and automation platform, has raised a $160 million growth investment from Battery Ventures. The startup's tech is used by B2B and B2C brands like Shopify and Lyft to localize multilingual content across various devices and platforms. | | | | | | | | Panther Labs nabs $120M at unicorn valuation | | | | | | | | | Shiftsmart raises $95M for labor management platform | | | Shiftsmart has raised $95 million in Series B funding led by D1 Capital Partners, with participation from Imaginary Ventures, Spieker Partners and S12F, among other investors. The startup offers a labor management platform that connects skilled workers with companies who are looking for staff in over 50 countries, and provides services like scheduling, payments and onboarding. | | | | | | | | Business travel startup books $65M | | | Hotel Engine has been valued at $1.3 billion with a $65 million Series B, up from the more than $150 million valuation the company reached with a $16 million round in 2019. The new funding was led by Telescope Partners, with support from Blackstone. The startup's platform, which lets users book hotels for business travel, is used by more than 40,000 companies in over 185 countries. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Kayak leads $60M round for Life House | | | | | | | | | | | | | Carlyle lands healthtech company CNSI | | | The Carlyle Group has acquired healthcare technology company CNSI from Alvarez & Marsal Capital Partners. Based in Virginia, CNSI partners with government agencies to develop and maintain digital systems for Medicaid, Medicare and related health programs. CNSI also operates a technology center in Chennai, India. | | | | | | | | PE-backed American Safety Council acquires TPC Training | | | | | | | | | Lee Equity buys security systems provider | | | Lee Equity Partners has acquired a majority stake in Unlimited Technology, a Pennsylvania-based security systems company. Unlimited Technology completed over 1,400 systems integration projects in 2020 for clients in the critical infrastructure, transportation, commercial real estate, financial, municipal and education sectors. | | | | | | | | Tailwind sells consultant to New Mountain | | | Tailwind Capital has sold project and cost management consulting services firm Cumming Group to New Mountain Capital. Founded in 1996, Seattle-based Cumming Group employs over 1,100 people across 41 offices and has completed over $300 billion in projects. | | | | | | | | Apollo lands Griffin Capital units | | | Apollo Global Management has agreed to acquire the US wealth distribution and asset management businesses of Griffin Capital. Founded in 1995, Griffin Capital has co-invested over $300 million in its various investment verticals and supports over 200,000 individual investors. | | | | | | | | Transom Capital picks up Wolters Kluwer's legal education business | | | | | | | | | | | | | Swiggy to spend $700M on express grocery delivery | | | Indian food delivery platform Swiggy will invest $700 million into expanding its express grocery service, Instamart, Bloomberg reported. The service launched in Gurugram and Bengaluru last year, and it now operates in 18 cities. Swiggy, also based in Bengaluru, has raised funding from investors including Prosus Ventures, SoftBank, Qatar Investment Authority and Accel. | | | | | | | | IRL picks up 'digital nutrition' startup | | | Venture-backed IRL has acquired AeBeZe Labs, a company focused on "digital nutrition" whose platform helps users understand the potentially negative impacts of content they consume. IRL, which raised a unicorn round led by SoftBank in June, provides a social and event-planning app. | | | | | | | | VC-backed Picsart to acquire DeepCraft | | | Picsart has agreed to buy research and development company DeepCraft, in a deal that TechCrunch reported to be in the seven-figure range. San Francisco-based Picsart, which provides a digital content creation platform, is backed by investors including SoftBank, Sequoia, DCM and G Squared. | | | | | | | | | | Grab shares close down more than 20% in first day of trading | | | Shares of Singapore's Grab closed down over 20% in their first day on the Nasdaq after a brief rise in early hours of trading. The company, which provides ridehailing, delivery and digital payments services, went public through a combination with blank-check company Altimeter Growth Corp., raising $4.5 billion in gross proceeds. Grab's stock closed Thursday at $8.75, giving the company a market cap of about $34.6 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported. | | | | | | | | CD&R completes $2.5B sale of Sirius Computer Solutions to CDW | | | Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has completed its sale of Sirius Computer Solutions, a provider of secure, mission-critical technology-based solutions for corporate and institutional customers, to CDW for $2.5 billion. CD&R originally acquired Sirius in 2019 in a $1.5 billion deal. | | | | | | | | Video platform Rumble looks to go public via SPAC | | | Rumble has established plans to go public on the Nasdaq through a combination with blank-check company CF Acquisition Corp. VI that gives Rumble an initial enterprise value of $2.1 billion. The deal, which is expected to provide Rumble with $400 million in proceeds, is set to close in Q2 2022. The creator of a video distribution platform has received prior backing from Peter Thiel, Colt Ventures and Narya Capital. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Who's in the newsletter today? | | Investors | | | | Companies | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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