| | | | | Calendly rides remote working wave to $3B valuation | |  | | (Utamaru Kido/Getty Images) | | | Calendly has raised $350 million in a round led by OpenView Venture Partners, catapulting the company's valuation to over $3 billion. Iconiq Capital also joined in the investment as a new backer. Founded in 2013, Calendly had only raised $550,000 before the latest funding, TechCrunch reported.
Based in Atlanta, the company is a developer of subscription-based scheduling software that's used by more than 10 million monthly customers, including LinkedIn, Zendesk and Twilio. Calendly's recurring subscription revenue doubled to more than $70 million last year.
Company founder and CEO Tope Awotona said in a statement that some of the new capital will be used to give early employees and investors liquidity, as the company marches on to its $1 billion revenue goal.
Calendly also announced that it has hired former Salesforce marketing executive Patrick Moran as its first chief revenue officer, and former Atlassian HR executive Jeff Diana as its chief people officer. | | | | | | | | | | Fintech startups begin year with blistering fundraising pace | |  | | (marchmeena29/Getty Images Plus) | | | Venture capital-backed fintech companies kicked off the new year with billions of fresh funding, showing an eagerness to build on pandemic-era momentum.
Consumers and banks alike have readily embraced digital financial services in the past year—largely out of necessity. And while investors are encouraged by the pace of adoption, they warn that overenthusiasm could lead to reckless spending by portfolio companies. | | | | | | | | | | A message from Unigestion | | | | Hunting for 2x/25% IRR in the secondary market | | The current market crisis has created a rich seam of opportunities in the secondary market, particularly in GP-led transactions at the smaller end. Supply from opportunistic sellers and a strong flow of GP-led/structured opportunities have appeared much sooner than anticipated.
However, transactions of this nature are often complex: GPs typically require tailored liquidity solutions that demand the right skills and resources.
So how can investors gain exposure to the best opportunities? Join a panel of private equity experts as they discuss: - Where to find deep-discount deals
- The key ingredients for a good secondary deal
- Generating 2x while maintaining a risk-aware approach
- The advantages of GP-led transactions for investors
- GP-led deals—what's next?
Register at the link below to join the panel:
UNIGESTION PRIVATE EQUITY | | | | | | | | | | VCs defy pandemic expectations with a record-breaking 2020 | | The onset of the pandemic last year created widespread uncertainty across the private markets. Many venture capitalists responded by flocking to the familiar, focusing on existing portfolio companies and established relationships rather than chasing new deals. The result was a series of new annual records across the US VC industry, including new all-time highs for deal value, fundraising value and exit value.
The Q4 2020 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, presented in partnership with Silicon Valley Bank and Velocity Global, now includes new league tables ranking the industry's most active players. The report presents a bevy of data, analysis and charts breaking down every facet of the past 12 months—plus a look at what to expect in the year to come. Other key takeaways include: - The IPO market may well remain strong in 2021 following enormous IPOs from Airbnb and DoorDash in December
- Two-thirds of all VC deal value in the US came from late-stage rounds, the highest percentage on record
- The race for a COVID-19 vaccine contributed to a record-breaking fundraising year in healthcare
| | | | | | | | | | A closely reported look at Francisco Partners' track record of investing in companies that provide surveillance and censorship software to some of the world's most repressive governments. [Bloomberg]
Wall Street is familiar with bull raids and other sometimes controversial forms of investor collectivism. But it's never seen anything like GameStop and the rise of the meme stock. [Marker]
Looking for an Ask Jeeves stock certificate or some mementoes from the last days of Enron? In the booming market for failed capitalist memorabilia, you're not alone. [The New York Times] | | | | | | | | | | | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 137 Deals | 445 People | 113 Companies | 16 Funds | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2017 Vintage Global PE Funds with more than $1B | | | | | | | | | PitchBook Webinar: How did US VC fare through 2020? | | Though faced with early challenges, the US venture industry has proved robust through the end of the year, as activity finished strong from a high-level perspective. 2020 set new records in total deal value, exit value and capital raised by VC funds.
Join PitchBook and NVCA on Feb. 3 for a panel discussion on VC through Q4 2020 and how the market environment is shaping up for 2021. Featuring industry experts from Velocity Global, Silicon Valley Bank, NVCA and PitchBook, the webinar will cover top trends highlighted in the Q4 2020 PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, including the latest in fundraising, deal flow and exit activity.
Register today | | | | | | | | | | | | | | NEA has added two female partners to the firm's technology investing team: Ann Bordetsky, a former business development executive at Twitter and Uber, and Sheila Lirio Marcelo, founder of Care.com. Marcelo will focus on consumer technology and commerce; Bordetsky plans to pursue investing opportunities at the intersection of consumer and enterprise technologies. | | | | | | | | Sapphire Ventures reveals new promotions, offices | | | | | | | | | | ICV Partners has hired Mary Rachide as a managing director in the private equity firm's portfolio operations group. Rachide, who will be based in Atlanta, has held executive positions at Surterra, FleetCor Technologies and other companies. ICV pursues lower-middle-market deals across sectors including business services, consumer goods, food and healthcare. | | | | | | | | | | Sila Nanotechnologies secures $590M | | | | | | | | | Klook books $200M for travel platform | | | Klook has raised a $200 million Series E led by Aspex Management, with participation from investors including Sequoia China and SoftBank's Vision Fund. Founded in 2014, the Hong Kong-based company is the creator of a travel platform that lets users book accommodations, transportation, experiences and more. Klook raised a reported $225 million in 2019. | | | | | | | | Bloomreach collects $150M | | | Sixth Street's growth arm has led a $150 million Series E for Bloomreach, which offers an ecommerce personalization platform for companies. Backed by investors including NEA and Salesforce Ventures, Bloomreach was valued at $527 million in 2016, according to PitchBook data. The company has also acquired Exponea, a provider of customer engagement software. | | | | | | | | Stripe co-leads $102M round for Fast | | | Fast has landed $102 million in a Series B led by Addition and Stripe, with support from other investors including Index Ventures, Susa Ventures and Sugar Capital. The San Francisco-based startup helps ecommerce companies provide fast logins and single-click checkouts for customers. Its first product, Fast Checkout, launched in September and is available to sellers on the WooCommerce and BigCommerce platforms. The startup has now raised around $124 million in total private funding. | | | | | | | | Rhino lands $95M round led by Tiger Global | | | Rhino, the developer of an insurance platform focused on security deposits and other property damages, has raised $95 million in a round led by Tiger Global. In September, the company secured $8 million at a $138 million valuation, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | FreeWire lights up with $50M for EV charging | | | FreeWire Technologies has raised a $50 million Series C led by Riverstone, with participation from Bp Ventures, Energy Innovation Capital, TRIREC and Alumni Ventures. The California-based company is a provider of battery-integrated electric vehicle chargers and other power solutions, with plans to install more than 2,500 charging stations by 2025. FreeWire was valued at $54.6 million after a $25 million round in April, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | Airspace flies off with $38M | | | Airspace, which operates a delivery network for time-critical logistics, has raised a $38 million Series C co-led by Telstra Ventures and HarbourVest Partners. Mark Sherman, managing partner at Telstra Ventures, will join the company's board. Airspace was valued at $100 million in 2019, according to PitchBook data. | | | | | | | | | | RedBall won't buy Fenway Sports Group | | | RedBall Acquisition, a blank-check company backed by Oakland Athletics executive Billy Beane and Redbird Capital Partners, has ended discussions to purchase a minority stake in Boston Red Sox parent company Fenway Sports Group, Axios reported. Previous reports indicated RedBall was looking to take FSG public and purchase between a 20% and 25% stake in the company, which also owns Liverpool FC, in a deal that would have valued FSG at some $8 billion. | | | | | | | | EQT to buy Exeter Property Group for $1.9B | | | EQT has agreed to buy real estate investment firm Exeter Property Group for $1.87 billion, part of a broader plan to expand its real estate business in Europe and North America. Exeter, which is majority-owned by its CEO Ward Fitzgerald and other members of the executive team, has more than $10 billion of real estate assets under management. Stock in EQT climbed nearly 15% on Tuesday, closing at an all-time high. | | | | | | | | Carlyle battles activist for Japan Asia Group | | | The Carlyle Group has raised its offer to purchase energy conglomerate Japan Asia Group to 48 billion yen (about $463 million), doubling a previous offer after a rival bid from an activist investor, Reuters reported. Japan Asia's stock jumped more than 7% on Tuesday following the news, hitting 940 yen per share. | | | | | | | | Sycamore to retain control of Belk | | | Sycamore Partners has reached an agreement to recapitalize Belk, with plans to reduce the debt load of the North Carolina-based retail chain by $450 million. Sycamore will maintain its majority stake in Belk, having acquired the company for $3 billion in 2015. Sycamore, KKR, Blackstone and other lenders have committed $225 million in new financing to Belk as part of the deal. | | | | | | | | Ivanti to add on Cherwell | | | Ivanti, a provider of automation software for the IT industry, has agreed to acquire Cherwell Software, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based provider of IT management services. Clearlake Capital has backed Ivanti since 2017, when it acquired Landesk from Thoma Bravo and combined it with existing portfolio company Heat Software in a deal valued at $1.1 billion. | | | | | | | | Mill Rock backs Ohio-based manufacturer | | | Mill Rock Capital has made a growth investment in DRT Holdings, which manufactures specialized components and tools for canned foods, military aircraft, medical imaging equipment and other markets. Founded in 1949 and based in Dayton, Ohio, DRT operates 10 locations across the US and Europe. | | | | | | | | Bertram stakes e-bike specialist | | | Bertram Capital has made an investment in Lectric eBikes, a designer and manufacturer of electric bicycles. Founded in 2018 and based in Phoenix, the company operates on a direct-to-consumer business model, with its flagship bike retailing for less than $1,000. | | | | | | | | | | Twitter buys newsletter startup Revue | | | Twitter has acquired Revue, the operator of a newsletter publishing platform that competes with Substack. Twitter didn't reveal what it paid for the Dutch startup, which raised a €300,000 (about $365,000) seed round in 2017. The social media giant will use the acquisition to help writers on its platform make money through paid subscriptions. | | | | | | | | Wheels Up explores SPAC deal | | | Wheels Up has held discussions with blank-check company Aspirational Consumer Lifestyle Corp. about a merger that could value the private jet chartering startup at some $2 billion, Reuters reported. Wheels Up was valued at over $1.1 billion after it raised $128 million in 2019. It has received prior funding from investors including T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Management & Research and NEA. | | | | | | | | PE-backed Telus International eyes $800M debut | | | Telus International, a digital customer experience specialist, has revealed plans to offer about 33.3 million shares for between $23 and $25 apiece in its upcoming IPO, with a midpoint pricing set to raise about $800 million for the company and its shareholders. The largest of those shareholders is Telus Communications, Telus International's Canadian parent company, while Baring Private Equity Asia owns a 34.8% pre-IPO stake. | | | | | | | | Webinar specialist ON24 sets IPO terms | | | ON24, which offers a platform for creating webinars and other virtual experiences, has set the terms for its IPO. The company plans to raise up to $430 million by offering 8.6 million shares for $45 to $50 apiece. Among its top shareholders are US Venture Partners (20% pre-IPO stake), Canaan Partners (16.3%) and Goldman Sachs (14.5%). | | | | | | | | | | Qiming Venture Partners closes latest fund on $441M | | | Qiming Venture Partners has closed its RMB Fund VI on 2.85 billion yuan (about $441 million). Founded in 2006, Qiming manages some $5.9 billion in assets across several US dollar- and yuan-denominated funds. The firm, which typically targets companies in the healthcare and technology, media and telecom industries, is a former backer of personal electronics company Xiaomi, ecommerce platform provider Meituan, and video-sharing website Bilibili. | | | | | | | | Union Square caps latest fund at $250M | | | Union Square Ventures has secured $250 million for its 2021 Core Fund, an early-stage venture fund targeting companies that broaden access to learning and healthcare, among other areas. As with past funds, Union Square plans to allocate 30% of the capital to crypto-related investments, which include holding tokens as well as funding blockchain-related projects. | | | | | | | | | | TFI strikes $800M pact for UPS Freight | | | UPS has agreed to sell its UPS Freight unit to TFI International for $800 million, marking an exit for the postal giant from the less-than-truckload shipping business. UPS acquired the Virginia-based freight unit, which was previously known as Overnite, for $1.25 billion in 2005. UPS Freight has about 14,500 employees across North America, with estimated revenue of about $3.15 billion in 2020. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Who's in the newsletter today? | | People | | | | Investors | | | | Companies | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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