August 30, 2019 Who will win big when Peloton goes public?
While we're out here sweating and waiting to get a small dose of happiness, the ones who will actually get a big rush of endorphins (and cash) are two of its largest shareholders: Tiger Global and True Ventures.
The exercise equipment maker has raised a total of over $994 million in funding. And with over a 100% growth rate and a valuation in the billions, some early-stage investors may be getting ready for a big payday.
My colleague Anne Sraders reports:
The fitness company’s largest investor is Tiger Global Management, with just under a 20% stake in Peloton with 46,721,427 shares, according to the company’s S-1 filing. Tiger bought in early to Peloton in Series B funding at $1.42 per share, according to PitchBook. Since their initial investment, Tiger also invested in Peloton’s Series C round at $2.22 per share (and later Series F). And the kicker? Since Tiger first invested in the fitness company in 2014, Peloton’s valuation has increased from around $35 million to over $4 billion. To boot, the company’s latest funding round sold shares for over $14 per share (up some 916% from Tiger’s first buy-in).
But close behind with a 12% stake (28,369,274 shares) is investor True Ventures, who first got in on Peloton in Series C funding at $2.22 per share in 2015 (and again in Series D, E, and F). Other venture heavy-hitters bought in slightly later in Series E funding, led by the likes of Wellington Management, NBCUniversal, Comcast, Fidelity Investments, and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers—propelling Peloton’s valuation over the $1 billion mark for the first time.
However, for those investors who got in late in the game in Peloton’s Series F funding (like new investors Felix Capital, G Squared, Winslow Capital Management, and Technology Crossover Ventures to name a few), the payoff may not be quite as impressive.
GHOSTS OF UBER PAST: Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said yesterday that “it sure looked like” former executive Anthony Levandowski took information on self-driving cars from his former employer Google.
Prosecutors charged Levandowski this week with 33 counts of stealing trade secrets from Alphabet's autonomous-vehicle unit Waymo. Levandowski was fired by Uber and then-CEO Travis Kalanick later resigned and was replaced by Khosrowshahi two years ago.
“I wasn't here when we brought Anthony on board but what I do know is that we went to incredible depths to makes sure that any information that Anthony might have acquired from Google—and it sure looked like he did—didn't make it over to our company,” Khosrowshahi said in an interview with Bloomberg. “That was our responsibility and I think we were incredibly diligent in making sure that we were not guilty of anything that could be nefarious one way or another.”
Now the U.S. Attorney's office is re-opening that saga by bringing charges against Levandowski. Prosecutors have said their investigation is ongoing. Levandowski pleaded not guilty and his lawyer said he didn't steal anything.
Read more.
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTING: Alphabet is teaming up with its subsidiary, Sidewalk Labs, and Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to launch an infrastructure holding company that is being spun out of Sidewalk. Sidewalk Infrastructure Partners, as the new firm will be known, will focus on investing in what the group calls technology-enabled infrastructure. Read more.
JUUL'S UNDER FIRE … AGAIN: An investigation by U.S. health authorities into whether e-cigarettes can cause seizures was triggered by a handful of people who reportedly used Juul devices, according to Food and Drug Administration documents.
HOUSEKEEPING: As a reminder, Term Sheet is off on Monday for the Labor Day holiday. Have a great weekend, and see you next week! If you really miss us, you can find me on Twitter here. Also, if you have something you want to share with us, our anonymous tip box is here.
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