The Road Ahead
Theme of the Week
A resurgence in fintech investment activity? In the last two weeks there has been a significant influx of funding towards capital-intensive businesses, ~$400M in 11 deals. These deals include Addi, Moove, and Sealed, among others. ~65% of these deals are internationally focused, underscoring the global demand for greater access to financial services .
Market Insights
Spring thaws venture debt market, but not everyone is feeling that warmth (Pitchbook)
Private credit has had its 15 minutes of fame (Bloomberg)
In 2023, the pace of venture-backed startups being bought by other startups slowed, with ~650 deals, marking a three-year low. Median deal sizes declined to $30 million from $40 million in 2022, reflecting reduced valuations across various sectors. Despite this, over 80% of acquired startups were sold to other startups, while 142 were acquired by public companies. The “Big five,” in particular—Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Nvidia—are holding back on acquisitions, in part due to antitrust concerns. (Pipe Newsletter)
VC Insights
Pivoting to a billion-dollar idea: Lessons from Clipboard Health founder Wei Deng (Y Combinatior)
Redpoint – market overview: March 2024 (Logan Bartlett)
VC Fundraises
B Capital closes opportunities fund II at $750M (B Capital)
IVP has raised $1.6 billion, marking its 18th fund (Fortune)
Frontline Ventures raises $200M targeting B2B startups straddling the Atlantic (TechCrunch)
Notable Capital Raises
‘Banking-as-a-service’ startup Griffin raises $24M as it attains full banking license (TechCrunch)
VCs double down on fintech Coast, which aims to be the Brex for ‘real-world’ industries (TechCrunch)
Leonardo DiCaprio backs YC alum SolarMente to democratize solar power in Spain (TechCrunch)
Levenue acquires MidFunder to expand Swiss fintech (Michele Mattei – LinkedIn)
Emerging from stealth, SAPI secures £7.5M equity fundraising for small business lending (tech.eu)
SquareDash raises over $20 million to accelerate growth and get contractors paid faster (PR Newswire)
Sealed raises $30M in funding (Finsmes)
Addi, a Colombian BNPL fintech, secures $86M to fuel growth in home market (Michele Mattei – LinkedIn)
Marco Secures $12M in Series A Funding to Revolutionize LatAm SME Trade Finance (PR Newswire)
Coterie secures $27M in oversubscribed growth capital funding (PR Newswire)