What's going on in the late-stage funding market these days? The pithy answer: Not much. Startups on Carta raised just 39 rounds at Series D or later in Q1 of this year, the second-lowest quarterly total since the start of 2019. Late-stage check sizes also got smaller in Q1, continuing recent trends. The median Series D round was 78% smaller than its recent peak in 2021, and the median round at Series E or later was 72% smaller. I recently spoke to both Jonathan O'Connell, a partner at Crowell & Moring and Moring, and Adam Nash, a longtime angel investor, tech executive, and the current CEO of Daffy, to get some expert opinions on the slow start to the year. One theme? The ongoing slowdown in IPOs is depressing late-stage deals. With fewer companies going public, VCs are less optimistic they'll get a quick return on a late-stage investment. Thus, they're writing fewer checks. “A lot of late-stage investing is based on the idea of a relatively short timeline to liquidity,” Adam told me. A big thanks to both Adam and Jon for taking the time to talk. Here's my full story on the current late-stage lull: https://lnkd.in/g86Qt_zU
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Check out this article from Carta on late-stage venture deals which I contributed to. Crowell & Moring
What's going on in the late-stage funding market these days? The pithy answer: Not much. Startups on Carta raised just 39 rounds at Series D or later in Q1 of this year, the second-lowest quarterly total since the start of 2019. Late-stage check sizes also got smaller in Q1, continuing recent trends. The median Series D round was 78% smaller than its recent peak in 2021, and the median round at Series E or later was 72% smaller. I recently spoke to both Jonathan O'Connell, a partner at Crowell & Moring and Moring, and Adam Nash, a longtime angel investor, tech executive, and the current CEO of Daffy, to get some expert opinions on the slow start to the year. One theme? The ongoing slowdown in IPOs is depressing late-stage deals. With fewer companies going public, VCs are less optimistic they'll get a quick return on a late-stage investment. Thus, they're writing fewer checks. “A lot of late-stage investing is based on the idea of a relatively short timeline to liquidity,” Adam told me. A big thanks to both Adam and Jon for taking the time to talk. Here's my full story on the current late-stage lull: https://lnkd.in/g86Qt_zU
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Finance Graduate | Aspiring Finance Professional | Seeking Consulting, Project/Product Management, and Financial Analysis Roles | Ex Apple Employee
Within my time at Venture Institute and covering Limited Partners, I've gained a profound understanding of the nuances between right and wrong approaches when selecting the Limited Partners (LPs) for your fund. It's fascinating to observe the striking parallels between the dynamics of General Partners (GPs) and LPs, which closely resemble the meticulous investor selection process that startups undergo. I used to hold the misconception that LPs wielded minimal influence, but I've come to realize that the opposite is true. Much like investors in startups, LPs possess the capacity to expedite investment timelines and provide feedback, albeit sometimes without actionable insights. In reflection, I find the intricate relationship between GPs and LPs remarkably similar to the interactions between startups and their investors. A notable revelation about LPs is the extent to which they function as the VC Firm's exclusive clientele. It's worth pondering – despite contributing capital to the firm, the underlying expectation is a staggering 5x to 10x return within a relatively short span of 7-10 years. Essentially, you're delivering a product, represented by the anticipated return on investment. #PrivateEquity #InvestorRelations #StartupInsights
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🚨 Founders Alert! 🚨 Carta recently released some positive news to the startup community! Q2 2023 saw a rebound in venture funding on Carta, with startups raising $15.4 billion, up 26% from Q1. However, it's still down 58% YoY. Nearly 20% of rounds were down rounds, a high in five years. Late-stage deals are recovering, with counts up at Series B and beyond for the first time since Q3 2021. Regional shifts in funding were noticed, with West's share dropping to 44.3%, and Northeast claiming 29.9%. Employees exercised only 26% of vested options, continuing a six-quarter decline. The market shows signs of stabilization but is still far from the highs of recent years. What does it mean for founders? Click here ➡ https://lnkd.in/ebqjiXV5
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Today, let's appreciate the leading Venture Capital firms in Europe. Each of these companies brought to success thousands of startups and inspired a whole lot more to come into existence. Index Ventures helps entrepreneurs turn bold ideas into big-income businesses. Seedcamp invests early in founders attacking global markets. Alven Capital has a great successful track record. Elaia Partners works with digital and deep tech startups. Lakestar looks for technology companies led by exceptional entrepreneurs. Dawn Capital focuses on investing in the enterprise software and FinTech sectors. Entrepreneur First does everything - from gathering talented individuals to helping them start a company and raise money. AlbionVC supports visionary founders with early-stage B2B software and healthcare leaders. Notion Capital focuses on technology and cloud computing markets. Nine Point Eight Capital makes early-stage investments related to SaaS and digital marketplaces. Be my guest and tag any VC firm that isn’t mentioned above if you feel that I’ve left someone out ⬇ #venturecapital #venturecapitalist #startupfunding #b2b
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📣 Join us LIVE today! 📣 It's almost time: our webinar on "How Family Offices Invest in Startups and VCs" will kick off today at 1:30 PM ET. 🎉 If you've already registered, get ready for an insightful discussion on how family offices approach investing in startups and VCs. 💡 Haven't secured your spot yet? There's still time! Register now: https://lnkd.in/ewrvP94t If you can't join us live, don't worry! Register anyway, and we'll send you the recording. 📹 See you soon! 😊 #FamilyOffices #StartupInvesting #VCInvesting #Webinar #VyzerEvents
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| MBA | PMP | Fortune's 40under40 Italia | Corporate Venture Capital Fund Analyst at Stellantis Ventures
I'll share a point of view on startups valuation using some some great insights from Peter Walker - Carta's State of Startups 2023. Digging into the data, there's a clear pattern in how valuation change at different funding stages. Here's my simple explanation for that: - Early Stages: It's more about what investors feel and the current market mood. Since fewer investors are involved, their opinions can really define how much a startup is worth. - Later Stages: For grown-up companies, it's less about feelings and more about the hard numbers. Things like discounted cash flow and solid business plans play a bigger role in deciding their value. So, early on, it's venture capitalists calling the shots, but later, it's all about the business basics. Would you agree with that? #StartupGrowth #InvestmentBasics #Valuation #VentureCapital #BusinessAnalysis
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The late-stage funding lull is lingering. At Series D and later, the number of venture investments on Carta was down 43% on a year-over-year basis in Q2. Compared to the prior quarter, things are picking back up. Most of that Q2 recovery took place at Series D, where deal count more than doubled. Founders and startups surely hope that the Q1 plunge in activity will prove to be an anomaly. Good stuff from Adam Lewis in his recent story looking at the state of the late-stage funding market, which is still very much in recovery mode after the recent venture downturn.
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Seed VCs are smartly launching 'pro rata' funds to hold their own against the major players during later-stage funding ensuring early backers can keep their seats at the table, benefiting both founders and investors. This strategic move is shaking up the VC scene, proving that size isn't everything in the pursuit of startup success. #VentureCapital #StartupFunding #Innovation
Seed VCs are turning to new ‘pro rata’ funds that help them compete with the big firms
https://techcrunch.com
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💸 One of the biggest benefits I've found since joining Antler is how much of a one-stop-shop we can be with respect to funding. We're not just the Residency program, we're there and willing through seed, Series A and beyond. James McClure speaks to this much more eloquently than me in the article.
Decoding VC speak is often tough - many founders will hear a combo of “Come back to us when you have more revenue” or “Let me know once you have a lead investor” Much of this means “Tell me when it’s safe enough for me to make a decision because someone else has done the hard work” I talk about this and more in an article for our friends at Startup Daily https://lnkd.in/gnFvGFy8
Antler boss says: 'you can count the Australian VCs writing first cheques at MVP who keep investing to Series A on one hand'
https://www.startupdaily.net
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From Techcrunch: The 7 best way to lose money as an angel investor ------------------------------- Investing at the earliest stages of a company is a high-risk activity, even with perfect information and context. #techcrunch #startups #breakingtechnews
News from Techcrunch
https://techcrunch.com
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2moYou're definitely one of my best follows in such a short time this year. Glad we met, Kevin, this is really insightful.