Venture Capital
It’s been 50 years since Venrock established itself to expose investors to venture capital opportunities. Today, the global venture capital industry tracks just south of $200 billion and continues to grow as new entrepreneurs, engineers, financiers, and thought leaders create the economy of tomorrow. The DailyAlts VC channel tracks the trends, opportunities, key thought leaders, and next-generation industries that will generate billions in returns.
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Revaia, Europe’s largest female-founded venture capital firm, has successfully raised €150 million ($160 million) for its second fund, Revaia Growth II. The funding was secured from sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and institutional investors across Europe, with support from existing partners like Bpifrance and new backers such as mutual insurer Carac and the European Investment Fund.
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More Stories on Venture Capital
Venture Capital: Aksia Warns PE and VC Shops Against PPP Hunt
Private equity and venture capital firms want government money. But investment consulting firm Aksia says they need to think twice about any bailout capital
The industries have lobbied for their portfolio companies to achieve eligibility under the new Small Business Administration program.
Venture Capital: Chinese Startups Limp Back to Face Falling Valuations, Down Rounds
It’s a painful observation, but venture capitalist firms with plenty of dry powder are looking at Chinese startups as potential multi-baggers. After the disruption of the coronavirus, startups confront difficult fundraising, lower valuations, and tighter performance expectations. But things may be turning.
Alternative Investments: Activant Capital Announces New Infrastructure Fund
Activant Capital has announced a new $257m fund to invest in commerce infrastructure technology. Activant is a growth equity fund that invests in infrastructure platforms focused on efficiency across industries. The firm invests between $15 million to $60 million in high-growth companies.
Venture Capital: Peter Brooke, a VC and PE Legend, Passes Away at 90
Peter Brooke passed away last week at the age of 90 from congestive heart failure and pneumonia. His passing is not related to COVID.
Brooke received the moniker as the Johnny Appleseed of venture capital and private equity. Mr. Brooke built two of the largest venture capital firms in the world. He also helped fund several of the most successful companies in the world, including FedEx (NYSE: FDX) and Biogen (NASDAQ:BIIB).
Venture Capital: Accelerator Dcode Floats VC for Startups Working With Federal Agencies
Nearly 100 companies have graduated from the Dcode government technology accelerator program. Many of these reverted to the firm with requests for further funding. It, therefore, decided to form Dcode Capital, a venture capitalist that will invest in these companies. The capital investments will help these firms to advance national objectives, including technology and security.
Digital Assets: Exponential’s New Fund Allows Everyday People to Invest Alongside “4-Percenters”
The new $100 million Digital Asset Fund from Exponential will change that preferential treatment. Now retail investors can invest even $500 in diversified digital assets. These are companies of the future that bet on the promise of emerging and distributed ledger technologies to transition the market to a new, open, and enhanced digital economy.
Venture Capital: Podium Closes $125 Million Series C Round
Customer messaging platform provider Podium announced that it had closed on a $125 million Series C round of funding led by YC Continuity.
Notable investors in the financing round included high-profile investors who also participated in the financing. This list includes Sapphire Ventures, Alkeon Capital, Recruit Co. Ltd., IVP, Accel, Summit Partners, and GV.
Venture Capital: Accel Gets Sweet 4X Returns on $1.2B Galileo Exit
It’s the third big one in the fintech space within a space of barely four months. In January, Visa (NYSE: V) acquired Plaid for $5.3 billion, followed by Intuit (NASDAQ: INTU) paying $7.1 billion for Credit Karma in February. In the current deal, personal finance company SoFi is buying up Galileo, a Utah-based financial services API and payments platform, for $1.2 billion in cash and stock. Accel, an investor in Galileo, has reportedly romped home with 4X returns.
Venture Capital: venBio’s Third Life Sciences Fund Oversubscribed; Raises $394M
venBio Partners LLC is a life sciences firm that partners with industry leaders to build highly innovative medicines and technologies. It focuses on novel therapeutics for unmet medical needs.
venBio announced the closure of its venBio Global Strategic Fund III, a third life sciences venture capital fund. The fund exceeded its target and raised approximately $394 million in capital commitments.
FinTech: Despite the Virus, Open Banking FinTech Yapily Raises $13M
Yapily, a fintech startup that offers an open banking API, raised $13 million in a Series A round despite swirling panic around the coronavirus. The round was led by Lakestar, which also funded Revolut, Skype, Spotify, Airbnb and Facebook (NASDAQ: FB).
Venture Capital: Call for UK Government to Support Startups During the Coronavirus Crisis
The Save Our Startups (SOS) campaign launched in the UK on Sunday. It aims to mobilize financial support for the 30,000 startups and high-growth businesses in the country, many of whom may not be covered by the government’s Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS). (Sifted)
The CBILS will provide financial support to small and medium-sized business firms (SMBs) during the pandemic. However, a large number of startups may not qualify as they have not yet reached the stage of profitability.
A large number of prominent tech personalities vouched for the campaign.
Venture Capital: Biotech the Flavor of the Season; Two VCs Raise $1B+ Funds Each
Flagship Pioneering Raises $1.1B; Arch Venture Partners Gets $1.46B. While Flagship Pioneering will use the money for sustainability and biotech, Arch Venture will invest in early-stage biotech companies.
Venture Capital: CARES Act – Save Our Small Businesses, Urge Pelosi and Khanna
Hundreds of small businesses that have received venture capital finance may be excluded from the relief offered in the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), a part of the $2 trillion CARES Act coronavirus stimulus package. They would be denied even if the number of their employees is less than the qualifying limit of 500. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Cal.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Cal.) wrote to Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Jovita Carranza, head of the Small Business Administration (SBA) to correct this anomaly.
Ride Sharing Startup Via Raises $400M @ Valuation of $2.25B
Dial-a-shared-shuttle startup Via raised $400 million in a Series E funding round led by Exor (BIT: EXO) at a valuation of $2.25 billion. Exor is a holding company of the billionaire Italian Agnelli family and owns chunks of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (BIT: FCA) and Ferrari NV (BIT: RACE). Exor coughed up half, or $200 million, of the total funding round.
Venture Capital: Transit Startup Via Raises $200 Million in Latest Funding Round
Transit startup Via raised $200 million in a new round of funding. The new deal brings its valuation to $2.25 billion.
Exor NV (EXXRF), Giovanni Agnelli’s European holding company led the Series E round. Agnelli is a co-founder of Fiat (NASDAQ: FCAU).
Venture Capital: General Catalyst Raises $2.3B Despite Pandemic
Undeterred by the coronavirus health crisis and its grim impact on the economy, investors have plowed $2.3 billion into General Capital (GC) to deploy across three new funds. But the virus has certainly affected GC’s investing thesis. Suddenly, technology is again front-and-center, with its potential to improve lives in a world scarred by fear and loss from the disease.
Venture Capital: VC-backed Small Businesses May Get Short Shrift from the SBA in Stimulus Relief
A startup may have as few as 20 employees but still not qualify for stimulus relief by way of SBA loans.
The devil is surely in the details, as VC-backed startups with less than 500 employees will tell you. They may not qualify for SBA relief loans because their employees may be classified as “affiliates” of the VC firm that financed them.
Venture Capital: HighByte, Which Makes Sense of Industrial Data, Raises $875K
HighByte, an industrial software company based in Portland, Maine, closed on its pre-seed round funded by angel investors and early-stage venture capitalists. Investors included Maine Venture Fund and Momenta Ventures. HighByte raised a total of $ 875,000 comprising $ 625,000 in convertible debt and a long-term, low-interest loan of $250,000 from Maine Technology Institute (MTI).
Venture Capital: Limited Partners at DCVC Get an Inside Edge on Virus Tests
An email DCVC sent out on March 24 to its investors has landed the VC base in some controversy. It apparently offered to “expedite delivery of a test kit” through a “unique relationship with one of our portfolio companies.” One recipient of the mail – tech entrepreneur Michael Arrington – vented his outrage at the preferential treatment in a tweet the next day.
Venture Capital: Corona Launches Some Asian Businesses on a New Growth Trajectory
The coronavirus has delivered unexpected benefits for some businesses. Social distancing norms and country-wide lockdowns have given a boost to remote working. Companies in the health tech sector such as telemedicine and online pharmacies are seeing new interest and rapid growth. Not surprisingly, private investors are on the prowl, looking to get in on these Asian gems at bargain-basement valuations.
Venture Capital: VC World May Run at Half-Speed Over the Next Few Months
The coronavirus has disrupted networking, the lifeblood of the VC industry, or has it?
You get a somewhat mixed response to that question. Meeting an entrepreneur in person – that sine qua non of the venture industry – is usually not possible now that lockdowns and social distancing are so pervasive. Here’s a look at what VC investors and founders think.
Venture Capital: (Coronavirus) New Service Matches Cash-Hungry Startups With Still-in-the-Game Investors
Laurent Grill has over a decade of experience in the Los Angeles venture finance industry. He is an investor at Luma Launch, the corporate venture arm of the film studio Luma Pictures. Realizing the current uncertainties startups are facing with their funding, Grill decided to put his not inconsiderable network to use.
Venture Capital: Fox Buys Streaming Startup Tubi for $440M; Sells Roku Stake
Fox Corporation (NASDAQ: FOXA) snapped up direct-to-consumer streaming startup Tubi for $440 million in cash. Simultaneously, Fox disposed of its 5% stake in streaming platform Roku, using the cash for the new acquisition. Tubi, a start-up based in San Francisco, is an ad supported streaming service providing content from over 250 partners, including Paramount and Lions Gate.
Venture Capital: Keros Therapeutics Files With the SEC for an $86M IPO
The stock markets have been hammered by panicked investors fearing the worst from the coronavirus epidemic. Roiled by fear, the CBOE VIX index is currently ruling at a high 75.91, after closing Monday at an all-time high of 82.69. Its previous closing high was 80.86 in 2008 at the time of the global financial crisis. The index is also known as the “fear gauge.” Surely, this is not the best of times to float an IPO, as Keros Therapeutics proposes to do.