| | | | | | | Presented By JobsOhio | | | | Pro Rata | | By Dan Primack ·Mar 15, 2021 | | 🏀 Yes, our annual March Madness contest is back. Details tomorrow. 🎧 Axios Re:Cap yesterday concluded its series on The Week America Changed, including episodes with Anthony Fauci, Ron Klain and United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. Listen to them all via Apple, Spotify or Google Podcasts. - Perspective from Axios' Sam Baker: "Measured in death, loss, isolation and financial ruin, one year has felt like an eternity. Measured as the time between the declaration of a pandemic and vaccinating 60 million Americans, one year is an instant."
| | | | | | Top of the Morning |  | | | Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios | | | | Digital payments giant Stripe yesterday announced $600 million in new funding at a $95 billion valuation, making it the most highly valued U.S. "unicorn." Why it matters: Because it no longer matters. Huh? When I began doing this job [redacted] years ago, big outlier numbers were king. Like when J.P. Morgan Partners (RIP) sought to raise $5 billion from outside investors for a global fund, or when Amp'd Mobile (RIP) raised over $260 million in VC funding during its first year of existence. Trade pubs wrote about those efforts for months, and they dominated my phone calls with unrelated investors. - A more recent example would be SoftBank Vision Fund.
Today, no one's blinking. Stripe got some Sunday headlines, and a few second-day stories, but we'll have all moved on to other things by this time next week. - This isn't a reflection on Stripe, which is a remarkable business.
- Instead, it's that outsized outliers have become routine. Each one larger than the last, in a deafening, Fed-fueled cyclone.
- Aileen Lee coined the term "unicorn" to reflect mythical rarity. Today such companies have become almost common.
- "The Social Network" is just 10 years old, but Justin Timberlake Parker's comment about "a billion dollars" being cool is as anachronistic as Dr. Evil holding Earth ransom for "one million dollars."
Stripe didn't need the money. - Chief financial officer Dhivya Suryadevara tells me that it will be used to invest in growth opportunities like enterprise and Europe, but admits the round was mostly about opportunity knocking.
- In other words, why turn down $600 million at nearly a 3x valuation from where the company raised just a year ago? Particularly when your founders are stubbornly noncommittal on going public?
The bottom line: At some point the cycle will assert itself, because that's what's always happened. For now, though, the numbers will keep going up while their significance goes down. |     | | | | | | The BFD | | Source: GIPHY Fidelity acquired a minority stake in Moonfare, a German platform for investing in private equity funds. - Why it's the BFD: This reflects amplified institutional and high-net-worth access to alternative investment opportunities, beyond the "unicorn" exposure Fidelity already provides via some of its mutual funds.
- Bottom line: "Moonfare offers access to a range of private equity funds with a minimum investment of €100,000, and collaborates with some of the biggest private equity firms including KKR, Carlyle, EQT and Warburg Pincus. As a result of the partnership with Fidelity, the first institutional investor to acquire a stake in Moonfare, clients will be able to access private market funds on the platform with a minimum €50,000 investment." — David Ricketts, Financial News
| | | | | | | | Venture Capital Deals | | 🚑 ElevateBio, a Cambridge, Mass.-based cell and gene therapy developer, raised $525 million in Series C funding, Matrix Capital Management led, and was joined by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Fidelity. http://axios.link/U3wU 🚑 Insitro, a South SF-based drug discovery platform, raised $400 million in Series C funding. CPP Investments led, and was joined by Temasek, SoftBank and insiders Andreessen Horowitz, T. Rowe Price, Casdin Capital, BlackRock, Arch Venture Partners, Foresite Capital, GV, Third Rock Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures, HOF Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. www.insitro.com 🚑 Graphite Bio, a South SF-based gene editing startup, raised $150 million in Series B funding. RA Capital Management and Rock Springs Capital co-led, and were joined by Cormorant, Deerfield, Federated Hermes Kaufmann Funds, Fidelity, Janus Henderson, Logos Capital, OrbiMed, Perceptive Advisors, Surveyor Capital, Venrock and insiders Samsara BioCapital and Versant Ventures. www.graphitebio.com • DeepSee.ai, a Salt Lake City-based automation platform, raised $22.6 million in Series A funding. ForgePoint Capital led, and was joined by insiders AllegisCyber Capital and Signal Peak Ventures. http://axios.link/lUGq • Zeller, an Australian fintech focused on SMBs, raised A$25 million in Series A funding. Addition led, and was joined by insiders Square Peg Capital and Apex Capital. http://axios.link/QzNw • Gatsby, a New York-based stock and options trading app, raised $10 million in Series A funding from Techstars Ventures, Beta Bridge Capital and SeedInvest. www.trygatsby.com • HeraSoft, a Bartlesville, Okla.-based blockchain startup focused on cybersecurity, raised $5 million in Series A funding led by United Capital Management of Kansas. http://axios.link/G7xc • FocalPoint Positioning, a British provider of satellite positioning software, raised £6 million from Draper Esprit. www.focuspointpositioning.com • GloveBox, a mobile platform for insurance agents, raised $3 million in seed funding, per CrunchBase. Mercato Partners led, and was joined by Heffernan Insurance Brokers. http://axios.link/DRv8 • Kutumb, an Indian social network, is in talks to raise up to $20 million led by Tiger Global at a $170 million valuation, per TechCrunch. http://axios.link/Il5C | | | | | | | | A message from JobsOhio | | You're invested in your business—and so are we | | |  | | | | Ohio's business-friendly policies promote job creation and economic growth. Key numbers: That's why last year Ohio ranked #9 on Chief Executive Magazine's list of Best States For Business—up from #41 in 2011. Find out more about how Ohio can help your business. | | | | | | Private Equity Deals | | • The Blackstone Group and Starwood Capital Group agreed to buy Charlotte-based hotel chain Extended Stay America (Nasdaq: STAY) for $6 billion, or $19.50 per share (15.1% premium to Friday's closing price). http://axios.link/BSVI • Bridgepoint agreed to buy Infinigate, a Swiss distributor of cybersecurity and cloud solutions to SMEs, from H.I.G. Capital. www.infinigate.ch 🚑 Hellman & Friedman agreed to buy Cordis, a Miami-based maker of medical devices for coronary and peripheral vascular diseases, from Cardinal Health (NYSE: CAH) for around $1 billion. http://axios.link/zzqH • Pfingsten acquired Omega Systems, a Reading, Penn.-based provider of managed IT solutions. www.omegasystemscorp.com ⛽ Pontem Energy Capital is in talks to pay more than US$800 million for Eagle Ford acreage from Ovintiv (TSE: OVV), per Reuters. http://axios.link/n4LJ • Warburg Pincus agreed to buy a minority stake in Edelman Financial Engines, a Fairfax, Va.-based investment management firm owned by Hellman & Friedman, at a $7.3 billion enterprise value (including debt). http://axios.link/l0Ph | | | | | | | | Public Offerings | | • Eight companies plan to go public on U.S. exchanges this week: Olo, Sun Country Airlines, Universe Pharma, Duckhorn, Gain Therapeutics, Tuya, Connect Biopharma and Vine Energy. http://axios.link/Cwck • Smart Share Global (dba Energy Monster), a Chinese network of mobile device charging stations, filed for a $100 million IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (EM), and reports $12 million of net income on $431 million in revenue for 2020. It raised over $145 million from firms like SoftBank Ventures Asia, BOC International, Shunwei Capital, Hillhouse and Goldman Sachs. http://axios.link/Z6sI • Sprinklr, a New York-based customer experience management platform, said it's filed confidential IPO documents. It's raised around $880 million from firms like Hellman & Friedman, Sixth Street, JC2 Ventures, Iconiq, Revolution and Battery Ventures. www.sprinklr.com | | | | | | | | SPAC Stuff | | Greenrose Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: GNRS), a cannabis-focused SPAC, will pay up to $320 million to buy four private companies: Shango Holdings, Futureworks, Theraplant and True Harvest. - What to watch: SPAC rollups are increasing in popularity, which significantly increases the target universe.
• IronNet, a McLean, Va.-based cybersecurity platform, is in talks to go public at an implied $1.2 billion valuation via acquisition by defense-focused SPAC LGL Systems (NYXSE: DFNS). IronNet had raised over $150 million, plus got a PPP loan, from backers like C5 Capital, ForgePoint Capital, Kleiner Perkins and Trident Capital. www.ironnet.com • IronSource, an Israeli mobile marketing company, is in talks to be acquired by a Thoma Bravo-sponsored SPAC, per Bloomberg. IronSource has raised over $500 million from firms like CVC Capital Partners, 83North, Aster Capital and Viola Ventures. http://axios.link/kJGO • KORE Wireless Group, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based provider of machine-to-machine network connectivity services, agreed to go public at around a $1 billion valuation via acquisition by Cerberus Telecom Acquisition (NYSE: CTAC). KORE had been owned since 2014 by Abry Partners. http://axios.link/Jieg • 1Sharpe Acquisition, a prop-tech and fintech SPAC, filed for a $225 million IPO. http://axios.link/3aIH • Able Brands, a "better for you" consumer SPAC, filed for as $225 million IPO. http://axios.link/gs9o • AltC Acquisition, a SPAC formed by Michael Klein and Sam Altman, filed for a $1 billion IPO. http://axios.link/J5NA • Brand Velocity Acquisition, consumer SPAC formed by Brand Velocity Partners, filed for a $200 million IPO. http://axios.link/Q4dU • Cerberus Telecom Acquisition II, an ICT SPAC formed by Cerberus Capital Management, filed for a $500 million IPO. http://axios.link/uBpA • Decarbonization Plus Acquisition IV, SPAC formed by Riverstone Holdings, filed for a $350 million IPO. http://axios.link/BUM3 • EFIC1, a financial services SPAC led by former Commerzbank CEO Martin Blessing, is prepping a €415 million Amsterdam IPO, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/5kNk • FirstMark Capital filed to raise $200 million for its second tech SPAC and $400 million for its third. http://axios.link/xt2s • Osprey Technology Acquisition II, a tech SPAC led by Edward and Jonathan Cohen targeting, filed for a $325 million IPO. http://axios.link/Nd3R ] • SDCL EDGE Acquisition, a SPAC formed by Sustainable Development Capital, filed for a $250 million IPO. http://axios.link/zou7 • Thunder Bridge Capital Partners IV, a fintech SPAC led by Gary Simanson, filed for a $225 million IPO. http://axios.link/EkHG • Transformational CPG Acquisition, a consumer SPAC led by Brookside Management CEO Daryl Brewster, filed for a $300 million IPO. http://axios.link/kyat • Vector Acquisition III, a tech SPAC formed by Vector Capital, filed for a $250 million IPO. http://axios.link/xj8K | | | | | | | | Liquidity Events | | • Mr Price Group (JSE: MRP, a South African discount retailer, agreed to buy Cape Town-based kitchenware maker Yuppiechef from backers like Tiger Global. http://axios.link/RzH0 • Stone Point Capital hired William Blair to find a buyer for Grace Hill, a Greenville, S.C.-based provider of compliance and training software for the real estate industry, per PE Hub. http://axios.link/w12k | | | | | | | | More M&A | | Giphy • Rogers Communications (TSE: RCI) agreed to buy rival Canadian telco Shaw Communications (TSE: SJR) for around C$26 billion, or C$40.50 per share (nearly a 70% premium to Friday's closing price). http://axios.link/Eent • Alibaba (NYSE: BABA) is being asked by the Chinese government to divest its media assets, per the WSJ. http://axios.link/8RVw ⛽ Griddy Energy, a Houston-based power retailer, is planning to file for bankruptcy protection, stemming from issues related to last month's deep freeze. Backers include Macquarie Energy. http://axios.link/nFCO • Lowes (NYSE: LOW) agreed to sell a 47% stake in Atlanta-based subsidiary Altium Packaging to Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC at a $2 billion enterprise value. http://axios.link/l8mL 🚑 Roche (Swiss: ROG) agreed to buy GenMark Diagnostics (Nasdaq: GNMK), a Carlsbad, Calif.-based molecular testing company, for $1.8 billion in cash, or $24.05 per share (43% premium before February media reports). http://axios.link/olf4 | | | | | | | | Fundraising | | • Banner Ridge Partners, a PE secondaries firm led by ex-Siguler Guff investors Anthony Cusano and C.J. Driessen, is targeting $600 million for its second fund, per the WSJ. http://axios.link/4SX8 • TinySeed, an accelerator program for very early-stage business software startups that are largely bootstrapped, raised $25 million for its second fund, per Axios. http://axios.link/ugeW | | | | | | | | It's Personnel | | • Scott Bommer joined The Blackstone Group as chief investment officer of a new absolute returns effort called Blackstone Horizon. He previously founded and led SAB Capital Management. www.blackstone.com • Brad Coleman joined Hunter Point Capital to lead GP coverage. He previously chaired Citi's global asset managers group. www.hunterpointcapital.com | | | | | | | | Final Numbers |  Data: FactSet; Chart: Axios Visuals | | | | | | | | A message from JobsOhio | | You're invested in your business—and so are we | | | | | | | | Ohio's business-friendly policies promote job creation and economic growth. Key numbers: That's why last year Ohio ranked #9 on Chief Executive Magazine's list of Best States For Business—up from #41 in 2011. Find out more about how Ohio can help your business. | | | | ✅ Thanks for reading Axios Pro Rata! Please ask your friends, colleagues and fintech billionaires to sign up. | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters.
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