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| In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find: | | | | | |
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| Global M&A remains strong despite geopolitical conflicts | | Global M&A activity bifurcated for much of Q1 2022. Previously negotiated deals closed on time, while announced activity diminished due to the uncertainty created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to our latest Global M&A Report, sponsored by Liberty GTS.
Final deal counts for the quarter fell compared to the fervent activity seen in the back half of 2021, but were healthy relative to the past five years. Key findings include: - As much of the globe pushes beyond the worst effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumer spending has been dampened as housing and transportation costs lift.
- Higher-growth companies have lagged, as have tech-heavy indexes including the Nasdaq. Going forward, analysts expect deal professionals will be walking a tightrope.
- Capital intensive industries—including energy and industrials—appear poised for prolonged growth, despite higher raw materials costs.
- PE continues to account for a swelling proportion of deal activity, including a significant percentage of the biggest deals. Eight of the 20 largest deals to close in Q1 were led by financial sponsors.
| | | | | | | | | | YL Ventures raises $400M fund targeting Israeli cybersecurity startups | |  | | (KrulUA/Getty Images) | | | YL Ventures, a venture firm focused on backing Israel-based cybersecurity companies at the seed stage and beyond, has raised a $400 million fifth vehicle. The fund is a significant step-up in size from the firm's $135 fourth vehicle that closed at the end of 2020 and represents the largest seed-stage cybersecurity fund ever raised by any VC firm.
The Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv-based firm said it initially set out to raise a $180 million to $200 million fund and rely on special-purpose vehicles for follow-on financings. But when YLV realized that the funding environment is becoming more difficult, it decided to fold future SPV capital into its main fund for backing its portfolio companies from seed through late-stage rounds. | | | | | | | |
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| A message from Plante Moran | | |
| Value creation from day one? It's possible. | | Value creation starts on day one with a solid post-acquisition plan to streamline operations and boost revenue. After all, private equity investors have come to expect high returns to maximize their investment. Plante Moran can help you lead through today's fast-paced environment with a holistic approach to optimizing and creating value across your portfolios. See what you may be missing with helpful guidebooks, informed perspectives on tax and accounting, and valuable insights for operational strategies that amplify ROI.
Get insights | | | | | | | |
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| Europe sees dramatic drop in Q1 VC exit activity | |  | | (MirageC/Getty Images) | | | Last year saw record levels of VC-backed exits in Europe, but ongoing volatility in the public markets has caused investor appetite to cool off.
Inflation, interest rates and geopolitical tensions are among the factors driving a fall in public listings. | | | | | | | | | | Congress may soon require US government agencies to vet tech startups seeking federal capital, as research has found China may be targeting companies that have received Pentagon funding. [The Wall Street Journal]
How climate change and human activity are destroying the layers of fungi, lichen and bacteria that protect deserts from erosion. [Wired]
After having its facial recognition tech deemed illegal by many countries and facing heavy fines from others, Clearview AI's legal battle has reached Illinois' courts. [The New York Times] | | | | | |
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| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 468 Deals | 1223 People | 417 Companies | 23 Funds | | | | | | |
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| 2018 Vintage European PE Funds | | | | | | |
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| How board technology is transforming governing practices | | With the digital transformation of the boardroom, VC and PE firms are uniquely challenged with supporting multiple boards as they adapt to new technologies and virtual meetings—moving away from physical books to tablet devices with multi-factor authentication and reducing the time spent on logistical tasks. This allows more time for strategic discussion and decision-making.
Granite Partners recognized that effective boards play a crucial role in their mission of growing companies to create value for all stakeholders. By embracing board technology, they now have a streamlined and secure way to provide board members with easy access to sensitive audit and valuation documents in a single, well-organized, and easy-to-navigate location.
Find out how to leverage boardroom technology to drive greater efficiency. Read about it here. | | | | | | | |
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| OHouse secures $182M Series D | | | | | | | | | Aspen Neuroscience raises $147.5M | | | | | | | | | | Hugging Face has raised a $100 million Series C led by Lux Capital. The funding reportedly values the New York-based company at $2 billion. Hugging Face operates a platform for open-source machine learning models for developers. Sequoia, Coatue and Addition also participated in the funding, among others. | | | | | | | | Brightseed grows with $68M in new funding | | | Bay Area-based Brightseed has raised a $68 million Series B led by Temasek. The company uses artificial intelligence to track the interaction of plant-based bioactives with human biological systems and discover health benefits. | | | | | | | | | Mashgin has raised a $62.5 million Series B led by NEA. The funding values the Palo Alto-based company at $1.5 billion. Mashgin is a developer of touchless self-checkout kiosks for locations including convenience stores, sports stadiums and airports. | | | | | | | | Paymob banks $50M for payment platform | | | Paymob has raised a $50 million Series B co-led by Kora Capital, PayPal Ventures and Clay Point. Based in Cairo, the company offers payment infrastructure that helps businesses across Africa and the Middle East accept online and in-store transactions. Paymob has now raised nearly $70 million in total private funding. | | | | | | | | RGo Robotics emerges from stealth with $20M | | | RGo Robotics, a Boston-area developer of artificial perception tech that enables robots to understand their surroundings and operate autonomously, has exited stealth with $20 million. The funding was led by MoreTech Ventures. | | | | | |
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| Boehly, Clearlake consortium strikes $5.2B deal for Chelsea FC | | | A consortium led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital has officially struck a deal for the Premier League's Chelsea Football Club at a £4.25 billion (about $5.24 billion) price tag, according to reports. The sale is the result of the imposition of UK government sanctions on current owner and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Abramovich, who has owned Chelsea since 2003, said he would donate the sale's net proceeds to charity. | | | | | | | | Carlyle inks $1.7B+ deal for insurance specialist | | | | | | | | | HIG leads $120M round for Pyramid | | | HIG Growth Partners has led a $120 million Series E for Pyramid Analytics. Incorporated in Amsterdam, with regional headquarters in cities including London, New York and Tel-Aviv, the company is the creator of a decision intelligence platform for enterprises. | | | | | | | | Cornell Capital to buy Advancing Eyecare | | | | | | | | | PE-backed Netherlands Measurement Institute acquires Chamois Metrology | | | | | | | | | Arsenal Capital Partners lands oncology specialist | | | | | | | | | Heartwood Partners exits investment in Allentown | | | Heartwood Partners has sold Allentown, with PE Hub reporting the buyer is Aterian Investment Partners. Allentown is a provider of vivarium laboratory equipment and related solutions for biomedical and preclinical research. Heartwood had backed the New Jersey-based company since 2019. | | | | | |
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| TPG offloads mobile tower, rooftop portfolio to OMERS | | | TPG has agreed to sell its mobile towers and rooftop portfolio to OMERS Infrastructure for A$950 million (about $661 million). The portfolio consists of over 1,230 sites concentrated in metro locations across Australia. | | | | | |
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| Unusual Ventures collects $485M for third fund | | | Unusual Ventures has raised $485 million for its third flagship fund, which will be used to invest in seed-stage software companies across the SaaS, infrastructure, fintech and consumer applications verticals. Founded in 2018 and based in Menlo Park, the firm's portfolio includes Carta, Wonderschool and Arctic Wolf. | | | | | | | | Plexus Capital brings in $204M for debut buyout fund | | | Raleigh, N.C.-based Plexus Capital has raised $204 million for its debut private equity fund. Founded in 2005, Plexus focuses on the lower middle market, targeting a variety of industries. The firm has invested $1.5 billion into over 140 companies. | | | | | |
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| Blackstone opens Toronto real estate office | | | Blackstone has established a real estate office in Toronto and appointed Janice Lin as head of its real estate business in Canada. Blackstone has C$14 billion (about $10.8 billion) worth of real estate assets totaling around 450 Canadian properties; its portfolio companies employ more than 3,550 people in the country. | | | | | |
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