| | | | | Despite pandemic uncertainty, VC deal value is ticking up in 2020 | | On the whole, venture dealmaking in the US remained surprisingly steady during the first six months of the coronavirus crisis: In both the second quarter and the third quarter of 2020, VC deal value was higher than in any quarter from 2019.
But the pandemic has still been reshaping the venture landscape in many ways, both big and small.
The Q3 2020 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, sponsored by Silicon Valley Bank and Certent, deploys all our latest data to paint a picture of how the VC scene has shifted during the spring and summer. The report examines a boom in interest for the life sciences sector, fundraising challenges for founders from underrepresented backgrounds, and a number of other key trends, including: - Public listings from Snowflake, Palantir, Asana and more helped drive VC exit value to its second-highest quarter ever
- VCs have raised $56.6 billion for new funds through Q3, already topping 2019's full-year total
- Significant long-term changes in consumer and business behavior could lay the groundwork for future unicorns
| | | | | | | | | | How data lags create shifting trends in VC | | In our research reports, PitchBook analysts have often noted that trends in venture capital and private equity may shift as the data lags behind reality—a persistent challenge when it comes to offering timely analysis on the often-opaque private markets.
In addition to all the latest data and analysis, this quarter's Venture Monitor includes a key addition centered on mitigating that challenge: estimates of VC deal and exit counts. Our companion analyst note to the report details the methodology behind this significant development: | | | | | | | | | | Poland's Allegro valued at $19B after first-day pop | |  | Allegro's IPO is said to be Warsaw's largest-ever listing.
(Jacek Kadaj/Getty Images) | | | Stock in Polish ecommerce specialist Allegro shot up nearly 63% during its first day of trading on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, giving the company a market cap of nearly $19 billion.
Allegro is the second European ecommerce business to have a banner day in a recent stock-market debut. In September, shares of The Hut Group, a UK-based company previously backed by KKR, climbed 30% in its first trading day after a £5.4 billion (around $7.1 billion) public offering.
Positioning itself as a homegrown competitor to names like eBay and Amazon, Allegro raised 9.2 billion zloty (around $2.4 billion) in its IPO late last month, marking what was believed to be the biggest debut in the history of the Warsaw exchange. Private equity backers Cinven, Permira and Mid Europa Partners paid about €2.75 billion (around $3.25 billion at today's conversion rate) to acquire Allegro in 2017. | | | | | | | | | | Apollo stock sinks following report linking Leon Black to Jeffrey Epstein | |  | | The US Virgin Islands said in August that it planned to subpoena Leon Black in relation to its investigation of Jeffrey Epstein. (Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) | | | Apollo Global Management stock dropped nearly 6% Monday after The New York Times reported that firm co-founder Leon Black wired Jeffrey Epstein at least $50 million for consulting fees and a charity donation, payments that reportedly came after Epstein had pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting prostitution with a minor.
In a letter sent Monday to the firm's limited partners, Black, 69, wrote that he had hired Epstein to provide tax, estate planning and philanthropic services between 2012 and 2017. He said the NYT report was consistent with a prior letter Black sent to LPs in 2019 disclosing ties to Epstein, reiterating that their relationship was personal and not related to his firm. "Apollo never did any business with Mr. Epstein, at any point in time," he wrote.
Black also wrote that he "was completely unaware of, and continue to be appalled by, the reprehensible conduct that surfaced at the end of 2018," referring to federal criminal charges of sex trafficking that led to Epstein's arrest the following year. Black also pledged to cooperate with the US Virgin Islands attorney general's office in its continued investigation of Epstein and his offshore companies.
"I deeply regret having had any involvement with him," Black concluded. | | | | | | | | | | Roblox files confidentially to go public | | Gaming company Roblox has confidentially filed with the SEC for a public offering, teeing up another major exit for the sector after its competitor Unity Software raised a $1.3 billion IPO in September.
The offering could value Roblox at $8 billion and come in the form of a traditional IPO or direct listing, Reuters reported earlier this month. The company was valued at $4 billion in February with a $150 million Series G led by Andreessen Horowitz, according to PitchBook data. Roblox has also received backing from investors including Greylock Partners, Tiger Global and Meritech Capital Partners.
San Mateo, Calif.-based Roblox's monthly user base grew by 38% to 164 million from January through July, according to RTrack, a website that monitors Roblox data. Its platform, which allows developers to create their own games, is popular with children and has gained a following with teachers who use educational games for remote classes, according to Bloomberg. | | | | | | | | | | In his earlier sci-fi novels, Cory Doctorow took a lighter look at the potentials of hacking and panopticons. But now, in his work—just like in the real world—the topics are taking on new shades of gray. [Wired]
For students around the US who want to learn remotely but are lacking the proper tools to do so, the digital divide starts with a laptop shortage. [The New York Times]
Many see Silicon Valley as a bastion of liberalism. Recently, though, the politics of America's tech capital are being seen in a different light. [The Washington Post] | | | | | | | | | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 224 Deals | 1214 People | 381 Companies | 16 Funds | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2015 Vintage Global Venture Funds with less than $250M | | | | | | | | | | | | | Flash Express banks $200M | | | | | | | | | Razorpay raises $100M, becomes Indian fintech unicorn | | | Razorpay has secured a $100 million Series D co-led by Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC and Sequoia at a valuation of over $1 billion. The Bengaluru-based company develops an online payment platform intended to help businesses manage bank transfers, invoices and digital transactions. Existing investors Ribbit Capital, Tiger Global, Y Combinator and Matrix Partners also participated in the funding. | | | | | | | | Snapdocs brings home $60M | | | Snapdocs has raised a $60 million Seriec C led by YC Continuity, with participation from investors including Sequoia, F-Prime Capital and Founders Fund. The San Francisco-based company offers a platform to simplify mortgage loan closings; it was valued at $200 million in October 2019, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Germany's N26 eyes funding at $3.5B valuation | | | N26 is planning to raise new capital in 2021 that could value the company at more than $3.5 billion, according to Bloomberg. Backed by investors including Greyhound Capital, Battery Ventures and Insight Partners, the Berlin-based company is the developer of a mobile banking app and has more than 5 million global customers. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Carlyle, Pacific Equity make $2B bid for Link Administration | | | The Carlyle Group and Pacific Equity Partners have offered to acquire Australia's Link Administration for A$2.76 billion (about $2 billion), or A$5.20 per share, marking a 30.3% premium to the financial services provider's Friday close. Pacific Equity originally backed Link in 2005, eventually taking the company public in 2015 at a valuation of roughly A$2.7 billion. | | | | | | | | Broadtree scoops up Seanair Machine | | | Broadtree Partners has acquired Seanair Machine, a New York-based parts manufacturer for sectors that include government services and aerospace and defense. Avi Das, the former head of strategy and corporate development at Tata Group, has been appointed the company's CEO. | | | | | | | | IK Investment to buy food safety specialist from Ardian | | | European PE firm IK Investment Partners is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Kersia, a biosecurity and food safety company owned by Ardian. The business was formed in 2016 through the merger of several smaller companies. Today, Kersia has annual revenue of over €300 million (about $354 million) and operates in more than 120 countries. | | | | | | | | Dyal Capital backs Veritas Capital | | | | | | | | | Clearwater Analytics gets more PE funding | | | | | | | | | | | | | Twilio to buy Segment in $3.2B all-stock deal | | | Cloud communications company Twilio has agreed to buy customer data startup Segment for $3.2 billion in stock. San Francisco-based Segment was valued at $1.5 billion in April 2019, according to PitchBook data. It has received prior backing from GV, Y Combinator, Accel, Thrive Capital and others. Twilio's stock, which has now tripled in value this year, closed Monday up nearly 8%, giving the company a market cap of over $47 billion. | | | | | | | | Vitruvian Partners to offload Voxbone for $527M | | | Vitruvian Partners has agreed to sell Brussels-based cloud communications specialist Voxbone to fellow cloud business Bandwidth at an enterprise value of €446 million (about $527 million), marking an exit from a company it has owned since 2015. Voxbone, which offers a communications platform and IP voice network, will operate under the Bandwidth brand upon the deal's close. | | | | | | | | AEA inks $218.5M exit pact with Helios | | | Helios Technologies has agreed to pay $218.5 million to acquire Balboa Water Group, a developer of electronic controls for baths, spas and other aspects of the health and wellness industry. AEA Investors has owned Balboa, which is based in Southern California, since 2015. | | | | | | | | Apollo launches latest energy SPAC | | | A special-purpose acquisition company backed by Apollo Global Management has filed for an IPO, with plans to raise $400 million in a listing on the NYSE. Called Spartan Acquisition Corp. II, the vehicle will seek to merge with a target in the energy sector. Apollo's first SPAC under the Spartan banner agreed in July to merge with electric vehicle builder Fisker in a $2.9 billion deal. | | | | | | | | | | | | Former Silver Lake, Blackstone execs launch BayPine | | | Silver Lake co-founder David Roux and former Blackstone senior managing director Anjan Mukherjee have formed a new private equity firm called BayPine that will focus on companies driving digital transformation in a number of sectors, according to Bloomberg. The two have reportedly begun speaking with LPs about raising their debut fund. Mukherjee left Blackstone in 2015 to become an adviser to the US Treasury Department. | | | | | | | | SoftBank preparing to launch SPAC | | | SoftBank's Vision Fund is reportedly setting up a special-purpose acquisition company. The fund's head, Rajeev Misra, said he was preparing the investment vehicle at the 2020 Milken Institute Global Conference, and expects to reveal more details in the next couple weeks, according to reports. The Vision Fund's investment advisers will operate the SPAC with money from outside investors and SoftBank's Vision Fund 2, according to CNBC. | | | | | | | | | | | | Tencent backs $10B streaming deal in China | | | Chinese game streaming giant Huya has agreed to acquire rival DouYu in an all-stock merger, bringing together two companies that closed Monday trading with a combined market cap of around $10 billion. Tencent, which currently owns a stake in both Huya and DouYu, will hold nearly 68% of the voting power in the combined business. Tencent also plans to sell its own streaming unit, called Penguin e-Sports, to the combined company for $500 million. | | | | | | | | RedBird SPAC talks $8B Red Sox deal | | | | | | | | | Air Canada cuts Transat offer by 74% | | | Air Canada has slashed the price of its bid to acquire fellow Canadian air carrier Transat because of falling airline valuations during the coronavirus crisis, reducing the value of the proposed transaction from C$720 million to C$190 million (about $145 million). Air Canada is now set to purchase its competitor for $5 per share, down from a price of $13 per share when the two sides first struck a takeover agreement in May 2019. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Who's in the newsletter today? | | People | | | | Investors | | | | Companies | | | | | | | | | |
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