| | | | | On the podcast: Emerging technologies from real estate to air taxis | |  | | (Courtesy of Joby Aviation) | | | Over the past year, record-breaking VC activity has fueled innovation for emerging technologies across a variety of industries. But autonomous mobility and real estate have seen especially pronounced change.
In the latest episode of "In Visible Capital," PitchBook analysts Asad Hussain and Zane Carmean break down recent developments within both sectors. Topics discussed include: - The emergence of flying air taxis and the current challenges facing a sector that expects to be operational by the mid-2020s.
- How the transition to remote work has fueled a boom in real estate mortgage technologies as people increasingly move away from urban centers.
- How the push to tokenize parts of the real estate industry is still facing obstacles.
| | | | | | | | | | Fintech giant Marqeta files for IPO amid online shopping boom | |  | | (marchmeena29/Getty Images) | | | Payment processing specialist Marqeta has filed for an IPO amid massive investor interest in both public and private fintech companies. Based in Oakland, Calif., Marqeta offers debit cards, banking services, lending and a host of other financial products to companies like Square, DoorDash and Instacart. - The pandemic-fueled online shopping boom helped to more than double the company's 2020 revenue to $290.3 million, up from $143.3 million a year earlier. Marqeta reported an even stronger first-quarter revenue growth, which jumped 123% to $108 million, compared to $48.4 million in Q1 2020.
- Net loss over the first three months of 2021 narrowed to $12.8 million from $14.5 million over the same period last year.
- Marqeta is one of the most coveted private stocks on the secondary market, where it trades between $33 and $35 per share, CNBC reported. At that price and based on shares offered, Marqeta's valuation is about $16 billion to $17 billion, well above its last private valuation of a reported $4.3 billion.
- Founded in 2010, Marqeta competes with Stripe, Adyen and SoFi-owned Galileo, as well as traditional financial vendors including FIS and Global Payments. The company has raised over $400 million in funding since 2019; its backers include 83North, Granite Ventures and Iconiq Capital.
Related read: Affirm, SoFi herald potential boom in new fintech listings | | | | | | | | | | | | Middle-market M&A: Picking up where it left off | | Since M&A activity picked up late last year, the challenge has been how to account for the pandemic's effect on earnings. The most recent issue of Transaction Trends looks at the methods lenders have used to account for the impact on EBITDA and the path back to sustainable profitability. The issue also examines the prominence of environmental, social and governance initiatives among investors.
To learn more, download the full issue of Transaction Trends. You can also contact Stephen R. Isaacs, Managing Director and Head of BMO Sponsor Finance, at stephen.isaacs@bmo.com. | | | | | | | | | | UK & Ireland private markets see blistering start to the year | | With its record-breaking first quarter for both private equity and venture capital dealmaking, the UK & Ireland remains Europe's dominant region for private capital. Despite Brexit and the ongoing effects of the pandemic, UK-based companies have continued to close deals, particularly in the technology and healthcare sectors.
Our 2021 UK & Ireland Private Capital Breakdown explores the key trends across the private equity and venture capital sectors in the region, including Q1's record-setting exit volumes and the boost in US participation in VC deals. Among the takeaways: - Partly due to the loss of financial services passports, PE funds had a subdued start to the year, with only 11 funds closed worth a total of £14.8 billion.
- By claiming 79.5% of capital invested in startups, late-stage VC capital accounted for an overwhelming majority of deal value in the UK & Ireland.
- In just the first quarter, exit value generated in the region reached a record £10.9 billion—surpassing 2018's annual record of £10.3 billion.
| | | | | | | | | | PE funds have spent decades trying to bring on pensions, universities and other similar big-ticket investors. Now they have a new target: mere millionaires. [Bloomberg]
In a recent shareholder letter, Jeff Bezos concluded that the convenience of Amazon Prime is worth $630 per year for each Prime customer. What he didn't measure was the true cost of the service to the safety of the general public. [The Information]
New data shows that family-owned corporate VC firms not only add more value to their portfolio companies, but that those companies are more likely to have successful exits. [Institutional Investor] | | | | | | | | | | | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 403 Deals | 1438 People | 411 Companies | 36 Funds | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2010 Vintage Global PE Funds-of-Funds | | | | | | | | | | | PitchBook Webinar: Q1 2021 EMEA private market update | | This European private market webinar will uncover how the industry performed in the first quarter of 2021, including overviews of venture and private equity deals, exits and the fundraising landscape. Our analysts will share their VC and PE predictions for the remainder of the year and review some of the largest funds in the market. Key statistics: - European venture activity set new records in 2020 despite the global pandemic.
- European PE deal flow rebounded quickly in H2 2020, though exits remained muted as sponsors waited for valuations to fully recover.
- European fund managers had varying degrees of success in 2020, depending on their strategy and level of experience.
Register here to secure your spot | | | | | | | | | | | | Apollo brings on Craig Farr to lead capital markets unit | | | Apollo Global Management has hired Craig Farr as a senior partner to lead the firm's capital solutions business, which provides financing to a variety of companies and borrowers. Farr previously worked at The Carlyle Group from 2017 to 2019, serving as a senior adviser and helping the firm grow its credit business and expand into capital markets. | | | | | | | | | | | | Eleanor Health secures $20M Series B | | | Eleanor Health, a provider of outpatient addiction and mental health services, has raised $20 million from investors including Town Hall Ventures and Echo Health Ventures. Based in the Boston area, the company aims to help patients suffering from depression, anxiety and substance use disorders, among other health conditions. | | | | | | | | | Picnic, the creator of a pizza-making robot, has raised $16.3 million in Series A financing. Thursday Ventures led the round, with support from Creative Ventures, Flying Fish Partners and Vulcan Capital. Alongside the funding, the Seattle-based startup has inked partnerships with pizza supplier Orion Land Mark and restaurant group Ethan Stowell Restaurants, among others. | | | | | | | | NEA leads seed round for Merge | | | Merge has raised $4.5 million in a round led by NEA. Founded in 2020 and based in San Francisco and New York, Merge provides an API platform to help B2B companies integrate their HR, payroll, recruiting and accounting systems. Scott Sandell, managing general partner at NEA, has joined the company's board. | | | | | | | | | | | | BlackRock buys pharmacy software developer | | | BlackRock has acquired a majority stake in Transaction Data Systems, a developer of pharmacy software solutions and services. GTCR, which has owned the company since 2015, will maintain a minority stake. | | | | | | | | Platinum Equity to launch gaming platform | | | Platinum Equity has agreed to acquire Game Taco, the operator of a mobile gaming platform that allows users to compete for cash prizes. As part of the deal, Game Taco has agreed to acquire fellow mobile-gaming company WorldWinner, and the two businesses will be merged. Media executive David Nathanson, a minority co-investor in the deal, will serve as executive chairman of the combined company, while Game Taco founder and CEO Joshua Barrow will be CEO. | | | | | | | | Warburg Pincus to take stake in building compliance servicer | | | | | | | | | HIG Capital makes $225M insurance bet | | | HIG Capital has invested $225 million in eHealth, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based online insurance marketplace operator. The minority investment was made in the form of convertible preferred stock. Founded in 1997, eHealth offers plans from over 180 health insurance carriers across the US. | | | | | | | | KKR devotes $95M to Lenskart | | | KKR has agreed to invest $95 million in Lenskart, an India-based provider of eyewear products. As part of the deal, TPG Growth and TR Capital, which have backed the company since 2014, will each divest a portion of their stake. Funds for KKR's deal will come via the firm's Asia-focused private equity fund. | | | | | | | | | | | | Secfi adds to debt financing | | | Secfi, which finances stock-options trades for employees of pre-IPO startups, has secured an additional $150 million in a lending from Serengeti Asset Management. The deal builds on a $550 million credit package that Serengeti provided Secfi in January 2020. | | | | | | | | | | Summa Equity to exit Finnish diagnostics supplier to Mindray | | | Summa Equity has agreed to sell HyTest, a developer of antibodies and antigens for diagnostics tests, to medical technology company Mindray for around €545 million (about $663 million). Summa Equity acquired Finland-based HyTest in 2018. | | | | | | | | | Productivity software maker Monday.com has filed to go public on the Nasdaq. The Israeli startup more than doubled its annual revenue to $161 million in 2020, with a net loss of $152 million. Insight Partners owns a 42.7% stake in the company. | | | | | | | | Bright Machines to go public via SPAC | | | Bright Machines, the developer of a platform that uses AI and robotics to automate manufacturing tasks, has agreed to go public through SCVX, a blank-check company, at a valuation of $1.6 billion. The transaction includes $230 million of cash proceeds and a $205 million PIPE from investors like Fidelity Management & Research and a subsidiary of SoftBank. San Francisco-based Bright Machines is also backed by BMW i Ventures, Eclipse Ventures and Lux Capital, which will roll all of their equity into the combined entity. | | | | | | | | Twilio to buy Zipwhip for $850M | | | Cloud communications company Twilio has agreed to acquire corporate-texting startup Zipwhip for $850 million in cash and stock. Zipwhip previously raised more than $91 million in financing, with investors valuing the Seattle-based company at $261.5 million in a 2019 private funding round, according to PitchBook data. The startup is backed by investors including Ronin Capital, M12 and Goldman Sachs' growth equity unit. | | | | | | | | | | Ulu Ventures lands $138M for latest fund | | | Ulu Ventures, a Palo Alto-based seed-stage investor, has raised $138 million for its third flagship fund, exceeding a target of $100 million. The firm focuses on enterprise IT startups with diverse founders. Ulu has backed companies like BetterUp, the developer of a mobile-based professional coaching platform, and SoFi, a provider of lending and personal finance services. | | | | | | | | | | Amazon in talks to buy MGM studios | | | Amazon is seeking to buy Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios for about $9 billion, according to reports. MGM's biggest shareholder is Anchorage Capital, which picked up a stake in 2010 as part of a rescue deal following the global financial crisis. The group went public in 2016. Along with AT&T's plans to merge its WarnerMedia assets with Discovery, the deal is part of a wave of consolidation among media companies as industry incumbents look to set up rival streaming platforms to compete with the likes of Netflix. | | | | | | | | Gojek, Tokopedia announce merger | | | Indonesian tech giants Gojek and Tokopedia announced that they have merged, forming a new entity called GoTo Group. The company, which is said to be planning an IPO, commands sprawling operations across the ecommerce, ridehailing, delivery services and payments sectors. It has a total gross transaction value of more than $22 billion for 2020, with over 1.8 billion transactions during the year. The merger is backed by Alibaba, Astra International, BlackRock, KKR, Sequoia India, SoftBank, Facebook and many others. | | | | | | | | AT&T to merge WarnerMedia assets with Discovery | | | AT&T will merge its WarnerMedia entertainment, sports and news assets with Discovery's nonfiction entertainment and sports businesses to create a new media and streaming giant. Under the agreement, AT&T will receive $43 billion in an all-stock transaction. Libraries from HBO, Warner Bros., TLC, HGTV, Cartoon Network and others will be included in the new service. Discovery President & CEO David Zaslav is set to lead the new company, for which a name has not yet been released. | | | | | | | | | "Middle- and lower-quartile valuations via IPOs fell in 2020, which indicates that valuations among differently sized companies operating in various sectors could experience diverging fortunes in 2021. The underlying financial health of individual companies and national economies is precarious in certain instances, and financial stress can still emerge as viral variants surface and vaccination supply chains ramp up."
Source: PitchBook's 2020 Annual European VC Valuations Report | | | | | | | | | | | | | Who's in the newsletter today? | | People | | | | Investors | | | | Companies | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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