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| In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find: | | | | | |
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| VC investors make careful supply chain tech bets in downturn | | VC investment in the supply chain tech sector continued to drop in Q1. The latter half of the quarter reflected more of the slowdown, possibly in response to the crisis surrounding Silicon Valley Bank. In our latest Emerging Tech Research, the freight tech and inventory tracking industries get the spotlight, along with three companies: Verity, Plus One Robotics and Outrider. - The total value of deals for supply chain tech companies fell 45.3% from Q4 2022, while the number of deals was down 19.4%.
- Enterprise supply chain management was the industry most able to hold fast.
| | | | | | | | | VC investment in indoor farms plummets 91% in 1 year | |  | | (Courtesy of Infarm) | | | Venture dollars for indoor farms are in a free fall as investors cool on startups whose costs have risen sharply alongside energy prices and interest rates.
Indoor farms raised $75.8 million in VC funding across 14 deals globally, down 91% year-over-year in terms of deal value. Five indoor farms went bankrupt or ceased operations in Q1, and several more have announced major layoffs in recent quarters.
Those that have stayed afloat are surviving by "stretching out their cash," says Mark Lynch, of Oghma Partners. | | | | | | | |
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| A message from Juniper Square | | |
| Don't let uncertainty undermine your success | | Take control of your firm's future by investing in your operations now. Juniper Square offers a comprehensive solution to solve operational challenges from end to end for venture capital and private equity investors.
This is also a time to learn best practices from your peers. On May 25th, Juniper Square is hosting a live discussion with Wells Fargo, Kirkland & Ellis, and Barings on the state of private equity. The panel will discuss: - The availability of debt financing for buyout deals;
- How LPs are responding to limited liquidity & how GPs might solve this challenge;
- How the power balance between LPs and GPs is shifting;
- Which types of funds might struggle the most in the second half of 2023
Register now and tune in live | | | | | | | |
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| Ranks of US leveraged loan 'Weakest Links' grow as credit conditions tighten | |  | | (pogonici/Shutterstock) | | | Market watchers wary of clouds on the financial horizon will want to note PitchBook LCD's most recent "Weakest Links" analysis, which tracks how much of the $1.4 trillion US leveraged loan asset class is especially low-rated, and perhaps facing downgrade.
With rising rates increasing debt issuers' borrowing costs and continued recession talk tamping down growth, Weakest Link activity has grown for two quarters and now totals 148 companies—up from 96 at this point last year. That's the highest reading since 2020.
Weakest Links have proved to be an indicator of potential default activity. This analysis also includes downgrades/upgrades ratios, default rates and more. | | | | | | | | | Startup radar: VCs on femtech startups to watch | |  | | (Elena Nechaeva/Getty Images) | | | Global venture investment in femtech has grown in recent years as women's healthcare has garnered more attention.
We spoke to four VCs active in femtech to get their takes on the most promising women's health startups. | | | | | | | | | B2B startups steal retail fintech's thunder | | Challenges for consumer-facing fintech startups have driven investors toward B2B investment opportunities. And while PitchBook analysts expect VC investment in fintech to continue to fall, a less crowded B2C market does have its upsides.
Our recent Emerging Tech Research on the space explores VC trends in the retail fintech vertical and long-term opportunities like digital financial passports and open-loop P2P payments. It also includes company highlights on Portabl and Ping. | | | | | | | | | | A punk-rock soccer team in Germany is pushing back against the lure of PE investment. [Bloomberg]
Health concerns keep shrinking the roster of approved artificial dyes, but Americans still can't seem to go cold turkey on ultra-colorful foods. [The Atlantic]
The wind-turbine industry should be booming. Why isn't it? [The Economist] | | | | | |
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| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 403 Deals | 1977 People | 616 Companies | 20 Funds | | | | | | |
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The Daily Benchmark:
2019 Vintage Global Funds-of-Funds | | | | | | |
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VC-backed life sciences companies experience a slow start to 2023 | | VC deal activity for life sciences companies hit a five-year quarterly low in Q1 2023, signaling an end to the surge of funding that started with the pandemic in 2020 and began to slow due to macroeconomic challenges in 2022. Earlier-stage deals took up a greater share of deal activity at the start of the year as later-stage companies contended with narrower exit opportunities and declining check sizes. Orrick's Life Sciences Snapshot provides further analysis of the US market, as well as a roundtable discussion of the trending supplements market.
Read it now | | | | | | | |
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| Equity Group Investments founder and chair Sam Zell has died due to complications from illness. Zell, a prolific real estate and corporate investor, was widely known for building residential and commercial real estate investment trusts in the 1990s. | | | | | |
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Francisco Partners and TPG have been working together on a bid north of $5 billion for software company New Relic, The Wall Street Journal reported. The publicly traded company provides observability software to application and website owners.
Ambienta has acquired Spaggiari Parma, an Italian company that provides software for schools. The firm completed the deal through its Ambienta Fund III. | | | | | |
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| Ardian-backed French software company Planisware is considering an IPO, Reuters reported. | | | | | |
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Insight Partners has closed its Continuation Fund II on about $1.3 billion committed by LPs including HarbourVest Partners and Lexington Partners.
RMBV, a firm led by former executives of scandal-hit Abraaj, is looking to raise up to $400 million for its North Africa-focused fund, Private Equity International reported. The firm is said to be eyeing a first close by the end of the year.
Morgan Stanley Investment Management has held a $500 million first close on its private equity climate fund.
Michigan-based Plymouth Growth has closed its fifth fund on roughly $125 million. The fund, Plymouth Growth V, focuses on B2B software and tech-enabled services companies in the mid-continent region of North America. | | | | | |
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| Pension plan Calpers has an "appetite" to further increase its allocation to private equity, the Financial Times reported. The LP's target allocation for PE was raised from 8% to 13% in late 2022. | | | | | |
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Shopping center owner, operator and developer Regency Centers has agreed to acquire another real estate investment trust, Urstadt Biddle Properties, in an all-stock deal that values the latter around $1.4 billion.
Chinese manufacturer Geely has invested £234 million in Aston Martin, doubling the company's stake in the British carmaker and making Geely the third-largest shareholder. | | | | | |
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"Different types of nontraditional investors will be experiencing different challenges in the current climate. For example, a VC arm of an IT company conducting layoffs and focusing on capital efficiency may struggle to justify a hefty capital outlay on a new business. Whereas, a sovereign wealth fund benefitting from recent spikes in oil prices may have revived appetite to deploy cash and diversify into sectors such as IT amid lower valuations."
Source: PitchBook's Q1 2023 European Venture Report | | | | | |
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