| | | | | Affirm, SoFi herald potential boom in new fintech listings | |  | | A group of fintech companies could follow Affirm and SoFi to the public market in 2021. (Hiroshi Watanabe/Getty Images) | | | Some of the largest fintech companies in the US are lining up public offerings and SPAC mergers, bolstered by pandemic-era growth and higher stock market valuations.
Affirm and SoFi are set to be the first on the scene—a potential predictor for whether the fintech industry stands a chance of topping last year's record high for VC-backed exits. And IPO hopefuls like Robinhood and Klarna could follow. | | | | | | | | | | Top PE lobbying group pauses its political donations after Capitol riot | |  | | Supporters of President Trump rallied outside the US Capitol last week before storming the building. (Jon Cherry/Getty Images) | | | The American Investment Council, a lobbying organization for the private equity industry, has decided to pause political donations after rioters supporting President Trump broke into the US Capitol last week and terrorized lawmakers during a rally to protest the results of the presidential election.
The move came after a growing number of companies and investors withdrew support for politicians who opposed certifying the votes. | | | | | | | | | | A message from PitchBook Media | | | | | A new year calls for new marketing strategies to address a rapidly evolving environment.
By partnering with PitchBook Media, you can reach thousands of C-suite executives, managing directors and other business leaders. Share your firm's expertise or spotlight key insights with an actively growing audience across multiple channels, including: - Placement of your message within The Daily Pitch newsletter
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Connect with us to learn more | | | | | | | | | | Visa abandons Plaid takeover after DOJ antitrust pressure | | When Visa's purchase of Plaid was announced last January, it was a landmark deal and one of the largest venture-backed fintech exits on record. In November, the Justice Department sued to stop the acquisition on the grounds that it gave Visa a monopoly over the online debit space.
At the time, Visa hotly disputed the argument, calling it "legally flawed" and saying the company planned to defend the merger. Instead, Visa has walked away from the deal. | | | | | | | | | | Checkout.com crowned Europe's top unicorn as valuation hits $15B | |  | The company has raised $830 million over the last two years.
(Courtesy of Checkout.com) | | | Online payments startup Checkout.com has become Europe's most valuable VC-backed company following a $450 million Series C.
The London-based startup nearly tripled its valuation to $15 billion with a round led by Tiger Global. Greenoaks Capital joined the fundraise, as did existing investors including Insight Partners, DST Global and Blossom Capital.
Checkout.com has now raised $830 million in the last two years. Although founded in 2012, it wasn't until May 2019 that the company closed its Series A, which was followed a year later with a $150 million Series B at a $5.5 billion valuation. The new round will help fund Checkout.com's international expansion, with a particular focus on the US. Simultaneously with the Series C, the company announced new offices in New York and Denver.
Checkout.com's payments platform processes transactions for clients including Grab, Farfetch and Klarna, which became Europe's then-most valuable fintech startup when it reached a $10.65 billion valuation in September. | | | | | | | | | | Where will your firm rank in PitchBook's Global League Tables? | | More than 25,000 firms coordinate with us in order to ensure the deals they accomplish appear in the PitchBook Platform. Where will your firm end up?
Reach out to connect@pitchbook.com to get your deals properly credited, so you may feature in our industry, region and deal type rankings. | | | | | | | | | | Around $140 billion worth of bitcoin is believed to be held in lost digital wallets. And the star-crossed early adopters who can't access their fortunes are dying to get it all back. [The New York Times]
With a new investment in carbon capture technology, United Airlines is taking a notable step toward reckoning with the aviation industry's serious pollution problem. [The Washington Post]
Demand for environmental, social and governance funds is booming. But that doesn't change the fact that most new ESG efforts are doomed to fail. [Institutional Investor] | | | | | | | | | | | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 510 Deals | 1613 People | 432 Companies | 18 Funds | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2014 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds | | | | | | | | | | | Former Ivy League investor joins Blackstone | | | Blackstone has hired Joe Dowling, former CEO of Brown University's investment office, as global co-head of Blackstone Alternative Asset Management, the firm's hedge fund unit. His fellow co-head will be John McCormick, who has worked at Blackstone since 2005. Dowling has overseen Brown's endowment since 2018, and before that he was the university's chief investment officer for five years. | | | | | | | | Kristie Goodman to lead IR efforts at ICV | | | ICV Partners, a lower-middle-market private equity firm based in New York, has hired Kristie Goodman as its director of investor relations and strategic partnerships. She will work out of the firm's office in Atlanta. In 2017, Goodman launched Inner City Consulting, which provides consulting services to minority-led investment funds and startups. Before that she was director of IR, marketing and communications at Wind Point Partners. | | | | | | | | Techstars names Maëlle Gavet as CEO | | | Startup accelerator Techstars has announced that Maëlle Gavet has taken over as CEO of the company to replace outgoing chief David Brown, who will continue to serve on the board. Gavet was most recently COO of real estate tech company Compass and previously an executive vice president of operations at the Priceline Group. Techstars also appointed co-founder David Cohen as chairman of the board. | | | | | | | | | | Tessera Therapeutics banks $230M+ | | | | | | | | | Cockroach Labs hits $2B valuation with new round | | | Cloud database startup Cockroach Labs has raised $160 million at a $2 billion valuation. The round was led by Altimeter Capital, with support from Greenoaks, Lone Pine and others. The company's revenue and customer base have both doubled in the past year, helped by a shift to cloud services during the pandemic. New York-based Cockroach raised $86.6 million in May 2020 and its total funding now stands at $355 million. | | | | | | | | Edtech startup secures new funding | | | Prodigy has raised C$159 million (around $125 million) in a Series B led by TPG Growth. Based in Ontario, Canada, the startup offers an edtech platform designed to help students learn via games and other resources. TPG Growth principal Jacqui Hawwa and TPG Capital partner David Trujillo will join the company's board. With over 100 million users worldwide, Prodigy has expanded beyond North America to operate in the UK, Australia and India. | | | | | | | | Workato brings home $110M Series D | | | Workato has reached a valuation of $1.7 billion after raising $110 million in a round led by Altimeter Capital and Insight Partners, with participation from Redpoint Ventures and Battery Ventures. Based in the Bay Area, the startup is the developer of a platform that helps companies integrate their apps and securely automate business workflows. In 2019, Workato raised a $70 million Series C at a $500 million valuation, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Spark Capital leads $30M round for Reggora | | | | | | | | | | | Silver Lake circles New Zealand rugby team | | | Silver Lake has reportedly entered advanced talks to buy a minority stake of up to 15% in the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team in a deal that would value the club at roughly $2 billion. Silver Lake previously purchased a minority stake in Manchester City football club owner City Football Group and owns a stake in the UFC. | | | | | | | | Bain's impact strategy stakes TeachTown | | | Bain Capital Double Impact has made a growth investment in TeachTown, a Woburn, Mass.-based provider of education curriculum software for students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual and developmental disabilities. Bain Capital Double Impact serves as the impact investing arm of Bain Capital, focusing on companies in the health, wellness, education and workforce development sectors. | | | | | | | | Sixth Street to back Legends | | | Sixth Street has agreed to make a majority investment in Legends, an experiences and events management company that was co-founded by affiliates of the New York Yankees and Dallas Cowboys. Based in New York, Legends maintains partnerships with those two franchises and some of the other biggest names in sports, including Real Madrid FC, Manchester City FC and the University of Notre Dame. Sixth Street became an independent firm last year after 10 years as an affiliate of TPG Capital. | | | | | | | | SilverTree makes enterprise architecture acquisition | | | SilverTree Equity has purchased Orbus Software, a developer of enterprise architecture software that is based in London. Orbus creates tools used by more than 550 enterprise clients to manage digital transformation, shift services to cloud platforms, enable remote work and more. SilverTree typically targets investments in the software and technology sectors. | | | | | | | | Investment Metrics adds on Style Analytics | | | | | | | | | Valcourt lands Littlejohn backing | | | Littlejohn & Co. has made a growth investment in Valcourt Building Services. Founded in 1986 and based in Virginia, the company provides exterior maintenance and repair services for commercial office buildings, high-rise condominiums, healthcare facilities and more. | | | | | | | | | | EV maker Proterra to go public in $1.6B SPAC deal | | | | | | | | | Talkspace nears SPAC deal | | | Talkspace is closing in on a merger with a SPAC led by managing partners at hedge fund Hudson Executive Capital that would take the online therapy provider public, Bloomberg reported. The deal could reportedly raise over $200 million in equity and value the combined company at more than $1.5 billion. Talkspace has raised over $100 million in private backing from investors including Spark Capital, SoftBank and Revolution; it was valued at $310 million in 2019, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Byju's to buy tutoring specialist for $1B | | | | | | | | | Parthenon-backed LoanDepot plans to go public | | | Nonbank mortgage lender LoanDepot has filed for an IPO on the NYSE. Backed by Parthenon Capital Partners since its founding in 2010, the California-based company captured 2.6% of the mortgage loan origination market for the first nine months of 2020, up from 1.1% in 2014. LoanDepot previously sought an IPO in 2015, but later pulled the filing, citing market conditions. | | | | | | | | Sverica sells 7Summits to IBM | | | IBM has purchased 7Summits, a consulting firm owned by Sverica Capital Management that specializes in projects based on Salesforce applications. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Sverica bought the company in 2013. | | | | | | | | | | SoftBank offloads $2B+ in Uber stock | | | SoftBank has sold over $2 billion in Uber stock, an SEC filing shows. The conglomerate's Vision Fund sold 38 million shares at $53.46 apiece, yet it still holds 184.2 million shares of Uber. SoftBank also holds stakes in ridehailing companies around the world, including China's Didi Chuxing, India's Ola, and Singapore's Grab. | | | | | | | | | | Steris strikes $4.6B deal for Cantel | | | Medical equipment specialist Steris has agreed to acquire Cantel Medical, a provider of infection prevention products, in a cash-and-stock deal with an enterprise value of about $4.6 billion, including some $1 billion in debt. The implied price of $84.66 per share is equal to the closing price of New Jersey-based Cantel's shares Monday. | | | | | | | | | "Software has been a refuge for investors during the COVID-19 pandemic, as stay-at-home orders accelerated adoption of digital entertainment, ecommerce, education, and healthcare technologies, and as companies continued to invest in productivity tools for their now primarily remote workforces. The SaaS business model is seen as particularly attractive because it combines recurring revenue streams with the potential for low-capital-intensity growth."
Source: PitchBook's 2020 Annual US PE Breakdown | | | | | | | | | | | | | Who's in the newsletter today? | | People | | | | Investors | | | | Companies | | | | | | | | | |
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