| |
| In today's Daily Pitch, you'll find: | | | | | |
| |
| |
| VC funding for AI media generation surges nearly 90% | |  | | (Qi Yang/Getty Images) | | | While tech giants like Apple and Alphabet are making content generation a cornerstone of their AI initiatives, startups are raising record sums to bring AI for image, video and media creation to enterprise clients.
In Q1, deal value for AI media generation startups increased nearly 90% from the previous quarter to hit a record $402.7 million. Software for sales, marketing and design teams has powered much of the recent momentum. | | | | | | | | | Middle market take-private count nearly doubles | |  | | (Aerial_Views/Getty Images) | | | | The middle market has proven itself as a sweet spot for take-private deals. The first three months of 2024 saw a notable uptick in middle market take-private transactions, reflecting relatively cheaper valuations for small-cap public companies, and a need for PE buyers to put capital to work. | | | | | | | |
| |
| |
| The Rise of Co-sourcing: A Catalyst for Private Capital Growth | | Private equity general partners (GPs) have approached middle and back-office operations by keeping those functions in-house or outsourcing them. As limited partners (LPs) evolve and become more sophisticated, they demand increased transparency, robust support, and access to real-time data and reporting. These changing dynamics are prompting GPs to reconsider their operational strategies, leading to the rise of co-sourcing.
Is your firm ready to embrace co-sourcing? How will you integrate fund administrators into your operational strategy? Download this whitepaper to learn how private equity firms can navigate the complexities of modern investment management with agility, ensuring you remain at the forefront of the industry. As the demands of LPs evolve, co-sourcing provides a framework that supports transparency, enhances data security, and enables growth. | | | | | | | |
| |
| Soon you'll have a (better) conversation with your car | | Despite a slow quarter for mobility tech VC deals, generative AI continues to push its way into the sector, according to our latest Emerging Tech Research. ChatGPT and other generative AI partners are changing the way voice controls in cars work, enabling more natural interactions with your vehicle while eliminating the need for precise, explicit commands.
The largest VC deals of the first quarter were in electric vehicles. Over three times the amount invested in autonomous driving startups went to EV specialists, totaling $2.6 billion. IM Motors led the way with a $1.1 billion deal to develop solid-state batteries for EVs. | | | | | | | | | Italy's economy fares better than private investing | | Italy's economy has had a solid start to 2024, with improved growth as inflation slows. Its main stock index, the FTSE MIB, outperformed other global indices in Q1. The financials and consumer discretionary sectors showed particularly strong returns, according to PitchBook's Q1 2024 Italy Snapshot.
Private market activity has been less positive but still demonstrated resilience in Q1 with VC dealmaking holding flat compared with Q4. PE deal count and total value dipped, however. | | | | | | | | | Pulling teeth: Why dental sector exits have been tough for PE | |  | | (Catherine McQueen/Getty Images) | | | PE firms have encountered an obstacle when it comes to exiting larger dental platforms, compounded by challenges surrounding physician retention and compensation.
As of Q1 2024, 37 PE-backed dental platforms in the US and Canada have been in managers' portfolios for more than five years—17 of these for more than seven years. | | | | | | | | | Promising progress toward a cancer vaccine | | Developing a cure for cancer is a holy grail of biopharmaceutical research—and some clinical trials have begun to show promising signs, according to our Q1 2024 Biopharma Report. Drug researchers are incorporating new technologies like mRNA into vaccine development.
As well as the major partnerships between pharma and biotech, like Moderna's collaboration with Merck, some venture-backed companies are quietly making notable strides: Corner Therapeutics and Infinitopes are two startups to watch. | | | | | | | |
| |
| |
| | Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: | | 16 Deals | 50 People | 41 Companies | 2 Funds | | | | | | |
| |
The Daily Benchmark:
2017 Vintage Global Funds-of-Funds | | | | | | |
| |
| |
Highview Power, a London-based energy storage company, has raised £300 million in a round led by the UK Infrastructure Bank and Centrica.
Sakana AI, a Tokyo-based developer of large language models, is raising a $100 million round led by NEA, Lux Capital and Khosla Ventures. The round values Sakana at $1 billion, The Information reported.
Seattle-based InduPro, which produces treatments targeting cancer tissues, received an $85 million Series A led by The Column Group and Vida Ventures.
Enveda Biosciences, a Colorado-based company utilizing plants to treat disease, raised a $55 million Series B2 from investors including Microsoft, The Nature Conservancy and Premji Invest.
GPTZero, a company developing AI detection tools, raised a $10 million Series A led by Nikhil Basu Trivedi.
London-based Sidekick has secured £8.5 million in debt and equity for its wealth management platform. Pact and TheVentureCity led the seed round.
EnFi, a Boston-based credit risk analysis specialist, received a $7.5 million seed round led by Unusual Ventures. | | | | | |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala is looking to sell struggling German insurance startup Wefox to UK insurance broker Ardonagh Group at a €550 million valuation, Bloomberg reported. However, the company's founders are said to oppose the deal.
HMH Holding is expected to seek a valuation upward of $1.5 billion in its upcoming US IPO, Bloomberg reported.
LBC Tank Terminals, a liquid chemical storage company, is seeking a sale valuing the firm at €1.5 billion, Bloomberg reported. LBC is currently owned by APG Asset Management, Ardian and PGGM.
Only What You Need, a company that makes clean nutrition beverages, has been sold to Nasdaq-listed Simply Good Foods for $280 million. | | | | | |
| |
| |
Index Ventures is raising a total of $2.3 billion across two new funds, The Wall Street Journal reported. The $1.5 billion and $800 million for the new funds are less than what Index raised previously.
Play Ventures launched its third flagship fund targeted at $119 million, which is less than its previous $135 million fund, according to SEC filings.
Two Small Fish Ventures, a Canadian VC firm, raised C$41 million (about $29.8 million) for its third fund.
The Canadian government, through its Strategic Innovation Fund, and Inovait are backing VC startups with their latest investment of $10.7 million for seven commercialization-focused R&D projects. | | | | | |
| |
| |
| |
| |
No comments:
Post a Comment