Venture-backed M&A reached nearly $9 billion in the third quarter, led by the sale of Jet.com to Wal-Mart for $3.3 billion. The quarter’s totals still represented a 36 percent drop from Q2, which saw the completion of the $10 billion Stemcentrx acquisition by AbbVie in June. Still, Q3 was pretty good for venture investors. The three-month period saw two […]
This year was expected to bring a significant reset of venture valuations in the United States. So far it hasn’t. Sure, valuations are soft. But prices haven’t compressed to the degree many investors anticipated, so say many GPs. Some partners even use the word “frothy” to describe values for top-performing companies. One example of this […]
Returns at mid-decade venture funds showed surprising stability last year even as valuations compressed and stock markets adjusted, if a Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board portfolio is a guide. Returns at the nearly two dozen funds that MassPRIM holds with vintages of 2003 to 2006 shifted only slightly in most cases, with about 60 […]
Rishi Garg, who previously ran corporate development and strategy for Twitter and Square, has joined Mayfield as a partner. He becomes the sixth investment partner at Menlo Park, California-based Mayfield, which earlier this year raised $525 million combined for two new funds. One of those funds, the $125 million Mayfield Select, targets later-stage venture investments, […]
Children and electronics go together like peanut butter and jelly, so it’s no surprise that connected toys are gaining in popularity with consumers and investors alike. Colin Beirne, a managing director at Two Sigma Ventures, the venture arm of Two Sigma Investments, is both a father of three small children and an investor who sees toys […]
“The end is not nigh,” said Frank Caufield, managing partner at Darwin Ventures. Caufield, speaking at PartnerConnect West 2016 at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco in late September, said that despite the uncertainty surrounding the presidential election, fluctuating valuations this year and a drop in deal activity, he was confident that venture will continue to grow […]
Canada’s top 10 third-quarter venture financings attracted more than $329 million from investors, down 30 percent from the $470 million that went into the top 10 deals in the same quarter a year ago. The estimate is based on PE Hub Canada's list of the largest deals announced from July through September, and preliminary data from Thomson Reuters. The quarterly data suggest a possible slowing of momentum in Canada's venture market, compared with the robust activity reported in the year's first half.
Venture investing slumped in the third quarter as money going to U.S.-based startups fell 32 percent, which was led by a big drop in late-stage financings. The quarter saw $15 billion go to 1,810 deals, the smallest sum since the start of 2014, according to PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association. It is a significant […]
Canada’s top 10 third-quarter venture financings attracted more than C$329 million ($250 million) from investors, down 30 percent from the C$470 million ($358 million) that went into the top 10 deals in the same quarter a year ago. The estimate is based on PE Hub Canada‘s list of the largest deals announced from July through September, […]
Venture capitalists in the United States raised substantially more than they invested in the third quarter as the investment pace slowed sharply and fundraising activity rose. The shift of fundraising exceeding investing has been somewhat unusual in the past five years, according to data from Thomson Reuters. In only three of the last 23 quarters […]