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| In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find: | | | | | |
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| Former Microsoft enterprise IT exec on AI investing and her new $230M fund | |  | | Sheila Gulati (Courtesy of Tola Capital) | | | Sheila Gulati, managing director of Seattle's Tola Capital, knows a thing about enterprise software. At Microsoft, she led the enterprise IT strategy and launched the Azure cloud platform. Now, her firm has raised $230 million for its third flagship fund.
Gulati spoke to PitchBook about why more of her former Microsoft peers are jumping into venture, how Tola raised its new fund, and how to better invest in AI. | | | | | | | | | French economy shows resilience while private markets falter | | The French economy is expected to see higher growth than its European peers this year, although it will be lower than previous projections. The country's public markets have performed better than other European markets, with the CAC 40 finishing 2023 up 16.5%, according to our Q4 2023 France Market Snapshot.
Private market dealmaking in France remained muted over the past year. VC deal value fell in Q4 but was slightly higher than Q4 2022. On the PE side, deal value sunk 19.9% year-over-year in 2023. Exit activity was quiet all year with no public listings for PE and only four for VC-backed companies. Only two new unicorns were added in 2023: Mistral AI and Ledger. | | | | | | | |
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| M&A battles through global volatility | | After the dealmaking highs of 2021-2022, M&A activity slumped in 2023. Yet 2023 still posted the third-highest tally of completed transactions worldwide since at least 2010 and saw nearly $4 trillion in aggregate deal value.
Litera's latest report on global M&A trends explores the dynamics underpinning M&A's resilience in the current landscape, while also noting the major risks that remain factors for executives to watch. This edition includes: - Deal metrics such as EV/EBITDA multiples, median deal sizes, and more.
- Analysis of cross-border activity in an era of heightened geopolitical tension.
- Spotlights on resurgent take-privates and add-ons.
- Q&A with three women partners featured in Mergers and Acquistions' 2024 Most Influential Women in Middle Market M&A.
Read it now | | | | | | | |
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| Ownership of London's Heathrow still up in the air | |  | | (Ugurhan/Getty Images) | | | A rumored multibillion-pound deal for a stake in London's iconic Heathrow Airport didn't happen yesterday. But with three investors apparently looking to take off, there may soon be other deals on the runway.
Heathrow is a prized asset but also heavily in debt. And it's not the only UK airport facing debt worries. Whatever deals eventually land, it looks like PE will play a big role in shaping the future of London's airports. | | | | | | | | | A look into funds' cash flow turbulence | | Tracking the ebb and flow of fund cash flows is pivotal for determining the outlook of an institutional portfolio's liquidity. For LPs, capital call activity and net cash flows of funds are just as important to allocation planning and portfolio maintenance as the well-documented distribution dearth.
Our recent analyst note looks across thousands of funds and analyzes distributions relative to net asset values and capital calls compared to uncalled commitments across asset classes, offering a fuller picture of the LP perspective on the changing exit and dealmaking environment. | | | | | | | | | Earnings growth bolsters credit markets despite still-hawkish Fed | |  | | (Hermen van Laar/Getty Images) | | | Improvement in earnings growth for leveraged borrowers has helped reinvigorate credit markets this year.
Still, coverage measures remain perilously thin for a wide swath of borrowers, as the Federal Reserve remains hawkish with a higher-for-longer rate policy. | | | | | | | | | How buy now, pay later will propel retail fintech forward | | Retail fintech saw slight growth in Q4 with deal value ticking up to $2.6 billion, a 5% increase from the previous quarter. While deal count declined to 148 deals—a 10.8% decrease from Q3—a new crop of buy now, pay later startups are poised to energize the space.
The Q4 2023 Retail Fintech Report dives into the new wave of BNPL startups, with financial analysis of the major players and trends investors need to know. | | | | | | | |
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| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 256 Deals | 552 People | 234 Companies | 11 Funds | | | | | | |
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The Daily Benchmark:
2013 Vintage Global PE Funds between $500M-$1B | | | | | | |
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FundGuard, which provides an AI asset class investment and accounting platform, has raised a $100 million Series C led by Key1 Capital.
AI video- and voice-generation startup HeyGen is in talks to raise $60 million in a round led by Benchmark, The Information reported.
Ohio-based Finite State, a risk management software startup, has raised a $20 million growth round led by Energy Impact Partners.
Virginia-based Iron Sheepdog, a trucking technology startup for brokers and contractors, has raised a $10 million Series B led by SJF Ventures.
New York-based Goalsetter, a fintech startup focused on financial education, has extended its Series A with $9.6 million led by MassMutual and an affiliate of Edward Jones.
Firecell, a French provider of private 5G mobile networks, has raised €6.6 million in a round led by Ventech and Matterwave Ventures.
Circular, which is based in San Francisco, has raised $5.3 million for its sustainable sourcing platform from Eclipse, Maniv and Oxygea. | | | | | |
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| Don't miss our upcoming webinar | | In 2023, the European VC deal value and deal count generated by female-founded companies reached record totals, with their proportion of deal value growing by 36%. And while they represented a growing proportion of annual deal counts over the past decade, our data shows there is still progress to be made.
In this webinar, a panel of expert speakers will share insights from our inaugural European edition of the All In report, sponsored by UBS Wealth Management, Shoosmiths, and Enterprise Ireland. The discussion will analyze the current landscape for European female entrepreneurs, focusing on how female founders have fared in these challenging times. Key topics include: - Activity for female-founded companies followed a similar trend compared to the broader VC environment in 2023, slowing for the second year in a row but remaining elevated when compared to the past decade.
- Women represent 15% of all European decision-makers at VC firms with $25 million or more in AUM.
- All-female founding teams amassed €681 million (about $739.46 million) in 2023, and their total deal count dropped by 31%.
Register now to secure your spot. | | | | | | | |
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Healthcare-focused PE firm Hildred Capital has raised a $750 million continuation fund, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Golding Capital Partners has raised nearly €280 million for its latest secondaries fund, Secondaries Investor reported.
London-based 1991 Ventures has launched a £15 million early-stage fund targeting Ukrainian and Central and Eastern European startups.
London-based early-stage venture firm Ascension VC has raised about £17 million for the first close of an institutional impact fund. The firm aims for a second close in 2025 on £50 million total. | | | | | |
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