Tuesday, November 5, 2019

Term Sheet: Nov. 05, 2019

Our daily brief on deals and dealmakers.

Is this email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser.


follow
Subscribe
Send Tip
November 5, 2019

The latest financier to get on the "pivoting to profit" bandwagon? Goldman Sachs's CEO David Solomon. After years and years of companies pursuing revenue growth at all costs and putting profit on the backburner, Solomon is the latest to have the epiphany that profit matters


Stung by Uber and WeWork, Solomon told Bloomberg that "it's important for people to grow, but there's got to be a clear and articulated path to profitability." He added that he thinks there's a little more market discipline coming into play. 


Goldman Sachs lost $267 million on public equity investments such as Uber, Avantor, and Tradeweb Markets. Its stake in WeWork fell by $80 million after the company’s failed IPO plan. Last quarter was Goldman’s worst performance in more than three years.


Solomon said: "The monetary policy that has been ramping around the world has basically forced people out on the risk curve, has forced people to look for other ways to drive returns, and one of the things they've been chasing is growth and to some degree growth at all costs. The market here is speaking and telling people here, let's rein that in a little bit."


Solomon used WeWork as a signifier that capital markets were functioning properly. I've been writing about this way before the WeWork implosion. In an April column, I pointed out that investors are willing to overlook profitability so long as there's a promise for long-term growth. In response, one Term Sheet reader wrote: 


"There has to be an inflection point when a company swings to profitability, typically by wielding pricing power in a winner-take-all market, or at least continues inching closer to it. If you don't have that, you don't have a business. Plain and simple." 


Oh, and we've swung. Trinity Ventures' Patricia Nakache said last month that the private markets have swung way out toward growth at all costs. Now, public markets have weighed in and resoundingly said that this has gone too far. "It’s a mistake in private markets to go from extreme to extreme," she said at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit.


This morning, a colleague asked me how Term Sheet was going. And normally, dealmaking has slowed down by November. But not this year. My inbox is overflowing with new funding rounds, and you'll find two mega-rounds and one newly-minted billion-dollar company in the deal section below. 


People are predicting that cheap capital, skyrocketing valuations, and overall excess will come to an end in 2020. But let's not forget, that's what we said about 2019…💀


MEANWHILE, SoftBank, which is largely blamed for all this abundant capital, is expected to outline tougher governance standards and restrictions on dual-class share structures on Wednesday. (Watch Lucinda and I attempt to explain what a dual-class share structure is with … pizza.) 


Polina Marinova
Twitter: @polina_marinova
Email: polina.marinova@fortune.com 


.


.

VENTURE DEALS


- Riskified, an Israel-based provider of payments and fraud-prevention solutions, raised $165 million in Series E funding at a valuation of more than $1 billion. General Atlantic led the round.


- Kenzie Academy, an Indianapolis-based software engineering apprenticeship school, raised $100 million in funding. Investors include Community Investment Management.


- PathAI, a Boston-based provider of A.I.-powered research tools and services for pathology, raised $75 million in Series B funding. Investors include Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and Bristol-Myers Squibb.


- Volterra, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of distributed cloud services, raised more than $50 million in funding. Investors include Khosla Ventures, Mayfield. M12, Itochu Technology Ventures and Samsung NEXT.


- Papaya Global, a New York-based payroll and payment management platform, raised $45 million in funding. Insight Partners led the round, and was joined by investors including Bessemer Venture Partners, New Era Capital Partners and Dynamic Loop Capital.


- RenoRun, a Montreal-based technology-enabled construction material delivery service company, raised C$22.5 million ($17.1 million) in Series A funding. Inovia Capital and Obvious Ventures led the round, and were joined by investors including ScaleUp Ventures, Real Ventures, Maple VC and Silicon Valley Bank. 


- Ascent, a Chicago-based AI-driven solution that helps customers automate regulatory compliance, raised $19.3 million in Series B funding. Drive Capital led the round, and was joined by investors including ING, Wells Fargo, Alsop Louie, and The University of Chicago. 


- Healthify, a New York City-based healthcare company, raised $16 million in Series B funding. Investors include SV Health Investors and BlueCross BlueShield Venture Partners.


- Centrical, a New York and Israel-based provider of employee engagement and performance management solutions, raised $13 million in funding. Aleph and Jerusalem Venture Partners led the round.


- Inkbit, a Medford, Mass.-based 3D printing company, raised $12 million in funding. Stratasys and DSM Venturing led the round.


- Boulevard, a West Hollywood, Calif.-based management tool built specifically for appointment-based businesses, raised $11 million in Series A funding. Index Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Bonfire Ventures, Ludlow Ventures, BoxGroup, and Luma Launch.


- RedMarlin, a Los Altos, Calif.-based fraud prevention company, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Thomvest Ventures and Crosslink Capital co-led the round.


- Agritask, an Israel-based precision agriculture startup, raised $8.5 million in Series A funding. InsuResilience Investment Fund led the round, and was joined by investors including Barn Investimentos.


- Robocorp, a San Francisco-based developer of a cloud-based platform for open source robotic process automation, raised $5.6 million in funding. Benchmark led the round.


- NeighborSchools, a Boston-based provider of a platform for childcare providers, raised $3.5 million in seed funding. Accomplice led the round, and was joined by investors including Tuhaye Venture Partners and World Within.


- Valence, a Los Angeles-based tech platform and professional network focused on connecting black professionals with mentorship, job opportunities and capital, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Upfront Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Sinai Ventures, Human Ventures, and High Alpha.


- Kover.ai, a San Francisco-based insurance startup, raised $1.5 million in seed funding. West Loop Ventures led the round, and was joined by investors including Afore Capital and Techstars Ventures.


PRIVATE EQUITY DEALS


- CVC Capital Partners and The Jordan Company invested $600 million in Bruin Sports Capital, a White Plains, N.Y.-based private equity firm. 


- LinQuest Corporation, which is backed by Madison Dearborn Partners and CoVant, acquired The Perduco Group, a Beavercreek, Ohio-based provider of data analytics, data architecting, and model-based simulation to defense and civilian agencies. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 


- Apax Partners acquired Lexitas, a Houston, Texas-based litigation services provider, from Trinity Hunt Partners. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 


- BV Investment Partners acquired EDCO Health Information Solutions Inc, a developer of a patented medical record indexing software. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 


OTHER DEALS


- Veeva Systems (NYSE:VEEV) acquired Crossix Solutions, a provider of privacy-safe patient data and analytics, for $430 million.


- Xerox agreed to sell its 25% stake in the venture, Fuji Xerox, to Fujifilm for $2.3 billion. Read more.


- Knowlton Development Corporation acquired Benchmark Cosmetic Laboratories, Inc, a custom formulator for beauty brands. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 


IPOs


- Megvii Technology, the Chinese A.I. startup, is weighing whether or not to delay its Hong Kong IPO after being blacklisted in the U.S., Bloomberg reports. Read more.


- Lion Air, an Indonesian airline, is aiming for an IPO raising up to $1 billion in the first quarter of 2020, Reuters reports. The company would list in the country. Read more.


EXITS


- Brentwood Associates acquired a majority stake in Chicken Salad Chick, an Auburn, Ala.-based fast-casual restaurant chain, from Eagle Merchant Partners. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 


- KPS Capital Partners sold Crenlo Cab Products, a Rochester, Minn.-based manufacturer of operator cabs, to Angeles Equity Partners, LLC. Financial terms weren't disclosed. 


FIRMS + FUNDS


- Motive Partners, a New York-based investment firm, raised more than $473 million for its debut fund, Motive Capital Fund I.


- Drive Capital, a Columbus-based venture capital firm, raised $350 million for its third venture fund. It also raised $284 million for its Overdrive Fund, whose target is $400 million. 


PEOPLE


- Burak Cendek joined Autotech Ventures as a principal.



.

IF YOU LIKE THIS EMAIL...


Share today's Term Sheet with a friend.


Did someone share this with you? Sign up here. For previous editions, click here.


For even more, check out Data Sheet, Fortune's daily newsletter on the latest in tech news. Sign up here. 


.
Email Us
Subscribe
share: Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Linkedin
.
This message has been sent to you because you are currently subscribed to Term Sheet.
Unsubscribe

Please read our Privacy Policy, or copy and paste this link into your browser:
https://fortune.com/privacy/

FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

For Further Communication, Please Contact:
Fortune Customer Service
40 Fulton Street
New York, NY 10038


Advertising Info | Subscribe to Fortune

No comments:

Post a Comment