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In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find: - An analysis of trends driving VC investment in movement-tracking and sleep tech as well as key providers in the space.
- Supply chain specialist Flexport has raised $935 million to support visibility in what is often an opaque industry.
- E-Space has raised a $50 million seed round as it looks to develop a network of sustainability-focused satellites.
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| Human movement-tracking tech sparks VC interest | |  | | (rzarek/Getty Images) | | | Startups are leveraging advancements in human movement tracking to integrate data from biometric devices and enable connected fitness applications, providing performance feedback in real time.
In addition, sleep-tech startups are exploring ways to enhance sleep quality—turning their attention to products that intervene during sleep, rather than using light therapy or temperature-regulation technology.
Our latest analyst note examines trends driving VC investment in movement-tracking and sleep tech as well as key providers in the space. | | | | | | | | | | Flexport grabs $935M to pry open supply chain visibility | |  | | (Sasin Tipchai/Getty Images) | | | Supply chain tech specialist Flexport has been valued at more than $8 billion after raising $935 million in a Series E round led by Andreessen Horowitz and MSD Partners, with participation from Shopify and existing investors. - Flexport was already among the most valuable VC-backed freight tech companies—it was reportedly valued at $3.2 billion in 2019—and is now second only to Alphabet-owned Waymo, according to PitchBook data.
- The company's software is used to track shipments through the global supply chain, providing visibility in an often opaque industry. Flexport's revenue more than doubled to $3.2 billion last year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- While ecommerce leaders have not been prolific investors in supply chain tech startups, Shopify also invested in logistics tech company Swyft last year. Walmart has invested in the produce supply chain, recently backing indoor farming startup Plenty as part of a deal to supply fresh greens to its stores, as well as Indian agtech company Ninjacart last year.
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| A message from Moss Adams | | |
| Five tips to achieve a successful integration | | M&A activity is a high-risk endeavor. Without a proven playbook, it could take years to recover from a failed integration.
Successful companies follow five leading principles to gain more value. These strategies and other tips are part of the Moss Adams M&A playbook.
Learn how these principles can improve your chances of success: - Establish a clear strategy to deliver the business case.
- Build a master plan that focuses on creating strategic capabilities.
- Set up an effective governance structure for rapid decision-making.
- Empower leaders to make critical decisions in their domain.
- Overcommunicate with employees, customers and suppliers.
Dive deeper into the Moss Adams playbook and these best practices in this recent article.
Looking for support managing your next transaction? Visit the Moss Adams Transaction Services page. | | | | | | | |
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| VC, PE fund returns continue to impress—what's next? | | Private equity and venture capital funds, along with funds-of-funds, continued to post incredible returns through the end of June, as the world seemed to be through the worst of the pandemic.
Our latest Global Fund Performance Report tracks the data through Q2 2021 across the full range of private fund strategies, breaking down past trends and outlining future expectations in the face of shifting economic conditions. Key takeaways include: - Funds of $5 billion or more performed best among PE vehicles, buoyed by public market comps amid an abundance of massive IPOs.
- VC returns displayed the benefits of a robust exit market, with rolling one-year IRRs surpassing 65% as of Q2 2021, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of increasing IRRs.
- Real assets funds posted a 19% return over the 12 months ended in Q2 2021, driven by steady returns in infrastructure and a positive trend in oil and gas, though the latter remains volatile.
- Private debt funds recorded their strongest performance since 2010, riding the wave of strong corporate earnings and a continued bounce back from the pandemic.
| | | | | | | | | | E-Space takes off with $50M in seed financing | |  | | (Xuanyu Han/Getty Images) | | | E-Space, a sustainability-focused developer of satellites, has raised $50 million in a seed round led by Prime Movers Lab. The company will use the capital to launch its first test satellites in March, with plans to deploy 100,000 satellites this decade.
The funding marks the largest seed deal in the global space-tech sector to date, according to PitchBook data. Here's a closer look at other top seed financings in the industry. | | | | | | | | | | As the largest computer networks continue to grow, some engineers fear that their smallest components could prove to be the biggest headache. [The New York Times]
Some investors are worried that the ceiling for video streaming subscriptions may be lower than they had previously thought. [The Economist]
Chinese officials historically supported private companies by offering them cheap land and other subsidies. Now provincial governments are turning to profitable venture capital investments. [Bloomberg] | | | | | |
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| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 488 Deals | 1534 People | 483 Companies | 20 Funds | | | | | | |
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| 2016 Vintage Global Debt Funds | | | | | | |
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| Peter Thiel to step down from Meta board | | | Facebook parent Meta has announced that Founders Fund partner Peter Thiel will step down from the company's board at its annual shareholder meeting later this year. Thiel, who co-founded PayPal, was one of the first investors in Facebook, and earned hundreds of millions of dollars when it went public in 2012. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal reported separately that Thiel was leaving his board position to campaign for candidates in the mid-term elections who support the agenda of former President Donald Trump. | | | | | |
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| Sequoia leads $450M round for Polygon | | | | | | | | | SoftBank, a16z back $200M Aleo funding | | | Aleo has raised a $200 million Series B co-led by Kora Management and SoftBank's Vision Fund 2. The company offers a platform that uses zero-knowledge cryptography to help developers build decentralized, blockchain-based applications. | | | | | | | | Endeavor BioMedicines brings in $101M | | | Endeavor BioMedicines has raised a $101 million Series B co-led by Ally Bridge Group and Avidity Partners. The San Diego-based company is developing treatments for multiple terminal diseases, including cancer and fibrosis. Endeavor was valued at $122 million in January 2021, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Koneksa secures $45M for digital biomarker platform | | | Koneksa has raised a $45 million Series C led by AyurMaya, an affiliate of Matrix Capital Management, with participation from Takeda Ventures and Velosity Capital. Koneksa's healthcare platform is designed to remotely collect and analyze patient data from wearables and sensors. Koneska was valued at $71 million in 2020, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | | 1859 has raised $40 million in a round co-led by Northpond Ventures and OMX Ventures. The company is the developer of an empirical screening platform designed to discover new small molecule medicines for emerging disease targets. | | | | | |
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| PE-backed Frontier to acquire Spirit in $6.6B deal | | | Indigo Partners-backed Frontier Airlines has agreed to combine with Spirit Airlines in a transaction that's valued at $6.6 billion, including net debt and operating lease liabilities. The deal would reportedly create the fifth largest airline in the US. Frontier shareholders will own 51.5% of the merged business on a fully diluted basis, with Spirit shareholders owning the remainder. The companies are pledging to add 10,000 direct jobs by 2026. | | | | | | | | Advent, Centerbridge blocked in Aareal bid | | | | | | | | | EQT, Verdane to exit Forsta | | | | | | | | | PE investors eye THG take-private | | | UK-listed THG is being targeted by private equity investors seeking to buy the ecommerce company less than two years after its public debut, according to reports. Potential suitors are said to include Leonard Green & Partners, Advent International and Apollo Global Management. THG went public in 2020 at a £5.4 billion (about $7 billion) valuation; however, its share value has fallen more than 80% since the listing. | | | | | | | | Blackstone, CVC Capital consider European building materials merger | | | Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners are considering merging their separate European building materials retailers, Bloomberg reported. In the potential deal, Blackstone would combine its Building Materials Europe with CVC's Stark Group. Blackstone is said to be seeking a valuation of about €6 billion (around $6.9 billion) for its business in any deal. | | | | | |
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"2021 saw a record number of angel and seed financings completed, also coinciding with unprecedented investment deal sizes and valuations, as an enormous amount of dry powder flowed increasingly to these more-nascent startups. In the past, angel and seed deals took on a more structured style than other stages, with fewer size and valuation outputs, due to low revenues generated by still-new companies."
Source: PitchBook's 2021 Annual US VC Valuations Report | | | | | |
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