Entrepreneurs and their investors have largely adopted a wait-and-see approach to a possible economic downturn. Why slash burn rates and hold back growth if a softening of business conditions is several years off? Nobody wants to see rain clouds when the sun is shining. So proposals to forgo expansion don’t gain traction. “It’s a hard […]
Social Capital’s Chamath Palihapitiya demonstrated dramatic flair in October when he labeled venture capital a “bizarre Ponzi balloon” and vowed to sit on the sidelines. Palihapitiya, in truth, may not be the one to offer the industry a didactic scolding, having witnessed the near disintegration of his firm. But he has a point. A deluge […]
A little more than a year ago, bitcoin was at an all-time high and flirting with $20,000. As of late Tuesday, Nov 27, it was trading at about $3,800, less than a fifth of where it was. Initial coin offerings have followed a similarly tortured path. Capital raised in the third quarter fell by roughly […]
By Mike Geldart, Excellere Partners The declaration was radical and to the point: “Eighty percent of what doctors do should be and will be done by machines using AI.” As legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla uttered those words at a recent healthcare conference, I looked around the room full of doctors, healthcare executives, […]
With tens of billions of dollars chasing unicorns and unicorn wannabes, venture capital is in an evolving world. Deal competition is up, valuations have soared, investor differentiation consumes more time and exit timelines stretch for extra years as capital extends the private-company runway. Firms that cut their teeth at a time of capital scarcity find […]
For nearly the second year in a row, larger venture funds outperformed smaller ones in 2017, a reversal brought on by an improving IPO market. What’s more, the gap between the two groups widened toward the end of the year. And with the IPO market chugging along in 2018, the divergence could have continued at […]
Venture investing in real estate and property tech companies dropped in activity and plunged in dollar volume in October, according to RE:Tech. The research organization reported deals decreased 20 percent to 36 in October from 45 in September. Meanwhile, the funding amount into real estate tech companies sank 76 percent to $661.4 million in October […]
The U.S. Congress this summer overhauled the way the nation reviews foreign investments by adopting the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act, signed in August. The act’s first step is a pilot program that went into effect Nov. 10. Venture investors could find themselves part of the pilot, whether they want to be or not. […]
Buyout firms have shown a heightened interest in technology deal making this year, with a record-pace 1,079 buyout-backed transactions globally through mid-November. Looking ahead, activity appears unlikely to slow, barring an economic downturn, with the industry holding $190 billion of available capital and new fundraising maintaining relatively strong momentum. With six weeks remaining to 2018, […]
By Jeff Howard and Michael Gruber, Salveo Capital As the cannabis industry takes shape, the market’s momentum has been punctuated every few weeks by news of celebrity enlistments, ranging from the obvious, such as Willie Nelson, to the unexpected, John Boehner. While it may not capture the public’s imagination, the steady march of Silicon Valley […]