Tag: “Revolution Medicines”

17 February 2020 – Revolution Medicines Goes Public in $238m Offering

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Big News

It’s been a good week for healthcare flotations, with Revolution Medicines following in the footsteps of successful IPO closures by Schrödinger and Beam Therapeutics by going public in a $238m offering that represented an increase in size of almost 50% from when it first set the range earlier this month. The precision oncology therapy developer’s shareholders include Sanofi, which took its stake when Revolution bought subsidiary Warp Drive Bio in an all-share deal in late 2018.

Beam Therapeutics itself followed another GV portfolio company, Schrödinger, in closing an upgraded initial public offering. The genomic drug developer has secured a total of $207m, its shares having risen more than 47% since it floated last week. That’s after Beam floated at the top of its range in an expanded offering.

Schrödinger had capped one of the most successful IPOs in recent months, closing the offering at $232m after the underwriters took up the greenshoe option, following an increase in share price of more than 60%. The computational software provider had already floated above its range last week, less than a year after a series E round featuring GV and WuXi AppTec.

Diversified entertainment producer Skydance Media raised a nine-figure amount from Tencent two years ago, and the corporate has returned for a $275m round that reportedly valued Skydance at $2.3bn. The round also featured a new strategic partner, the Korea-based CJ Entertainment and Merchandising, which is fresh from its triumph at the Oscars with Parasite. Skydance produces film, TV and games and is also developing animation projects.

Deals

Cross-border payment service Flywire has secured $120m in a series E round led by Goldman Sachs at a $1bn+ valuation that took its total funding to more than $260m. The deal supported Flywire’s acquisition of healthcare payment-management platform Simplee, which had raised more than $36m in funding from investors including American Express Ventures.

Outset Medical obtains $125m

Rebel Foods is one of the fastest growing companies in the relatively nascent virtual kitchen sector and is looking to raise $100m to $150m at a $1bn valuation. That prospective valuation would almost double that at which Gojek and Sistema invested a few months back, and the news comes on the heels of a $60m round for another cloud kitchen manager, Kitopi, earlier this month.

Cox Enterprises has contributed to a $126m series F round for Iora Health that pushed the primary healthcare provider’s overall funding to about $350m. Health insurance provider Humana and corporate venturing unit GE Ventures are among Iora’s earlier investors, and the cash will fuel an expansion beyond the 48 practices the company currently runs.

Meditation-aid app developer Calm raised funding at a $1bn valuation last year but it isn’t the only sizeable player in the mindfulness services sector. Headspace has secured $93m($53m in equity financing, $40m in debt) in a series C round featuring Chernin Group and Bennett Coleman & Co’s Times Bridge subsidiary, having bumped up its customer base to 2 million paying subscribers. It’s now raised $169m in total.

Funds

Carta to compete in corporate venturing

Parkwalk kicks off $260m fund

Al Faisaliah aligns with Nuwa Capital

Exits

Essential looked like a promising bet when it first emerged under the stewardship of Android creator Andy Rubin, promising a high-grade smartphone that would function as an alternative to established brands. It raised $300m from investors including Tencent, Amazon Alexa Fund, Foxconn and Access Technology Ventures at a valuation of up to $1bn in 2017, but announced yesterday it is closing operations following poor sales of its debut product. No word on the fate of GEM, the next iteration of phone it was developing.

Brandless ends operations

Etix Everywhere heads to Vantage point for acquisition

Infosys has agreed to buy sales services provider Simplus in a deal indicated by a regulatory filing to be $250m. Simplus had raised a fraction above $40m and Salesforce Ventures had been an investor in the company since its 2016 series A round. Infosys had already acquired another Salesforce Ventures portfolio company, Fluido, for $76m in 2018.

Hollar attracts Five Below for acquisition

Speaking of M&A deals, EDF has acquired a majority stake in electric vehicle charging system developer Pod Point in a deal reportedly sized at about $130m. The deal was struck through an agreement with existing Pod Point shareholder Legal & General, which made a strategic investment last May and which is increasing its stake from 13% to 23% in the latest transaction. A corporate VC investor partnering another business to take a majority share isn’t something you see that often, but it does make strategic sense.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

10 February 2020 – Netskope Gains $340m in Round Led By Sequoia Capital Global Equities

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Big Ones

Sequoia Capital Global Equities has led a $340m round for cloud security platform developer Netskope at a valuation of near $3bn. Netskope has now raised $740m altogether from investors including Dell Technologies Capital. Given the propensity of cybersecurity companies to be acquired, the unit – which has already scored exits from Packet and Big Switch Technologies this year – must feel good about that increased valuation.

Lots of Japanese financial services firms are active in the country’s venture capital space but SBI Group is one of the most strategic, having also backed international fintech developers such as Ripple and CurrencyCloud. It also raised a mid-nine figure amount for an AI and blockchain fund last year, and is now targeting $920m for a new vehicle called the 4+5 Fund.

Cybersecurity continues to be one of the most reliable areas for M&A exits and the latest case is Emailage, an email security software provider that has agreed to an acquisition by LexisNexis Risk Solutions, reportedly for around $480m.

And in crossover news, another exit… Harvard University-founded genomic medicine developer Beam Therapeutics looks set for one of the most successful of recent months, floating at the top of its range in an upsized IPO that will net it $180m.

Deals

SoftBank Vision Fund has provided another $150m for Indian childcare product retailer FirstCry, following on from a similarly sized investment a year ago and doubling its series E round to $300m.

GV’s latest investment involved it leading a $100m round for Verana Health, the operator of a software platform that pools clinical and life sciences information from a range of databases. The Alphabet-owned unit had already led Verana’s last round, a $30m series C 18 months ago, and it forms part of what’s becoming an increasingly lucrative healthcare technology stable.

Moda Operandi, the operator of an e-commerce marketplace for luxury goods, has secured $100m in debt and equity financing, increasing its equity funding to $345m in the process. The company, whose earlier investors include Advance Publications and LVMH, is one of several e-commerce entities to target the high-end market.

JenaValve Technology is moving its transcatheter aortic valve replacement prosthesis towards full regulatory approval in the US and has raised $50m from investors including Legend Capital to fund that journey. Legend Capital also took part in the company’s last publicly disclosed round, a series C that closed at $99m nearly five years ago.

Sendoso, the operator of a platform that combines software and warehousing services to help businesses with their postal marketing, has received $40m in funding from investors including logistics real estate manager Prologis. The round was led by Oak HC/FT and it boosted the company’s overall funding to more than $54m.

Exits

Qorvo has agreed to acquire Decawave, an indoor positioning technology developer that had raised about $60m from investors including ST Electronics and LG, for a reported $400m in cash. The deal was announced alongside semiconductor technology producer Qorvo’s purchase of another company, for a total of $500m.

Schrödinger, which provides chemical simulation software enabling drug developers to more precisely analyse molecules, floated above its range to raise $202m. The GV and WuXi AppTec-backed company then saw its shares shoot up 68% on their first day of trading.

Cancer therapy developer Revolution Medicines has set the terms for its initial public offering and will raise $150m if it floats at the mid-point of its range, $160m if it floats at the top.

Passage Bio, a University of Pennsylvania-linked drug developer that – by a bizarre coincidence – has also raised $226m, has filed for its own IPO, setting a $125m target.

Casper Sleep on the other hand has had some of the worst pre-IPO publicity since, well, WeWork, with onlookers pointing to steady losses and what’s perceived as an (ahem) relatively sleepy corner of the consumer products sector. The Target-backed mattress and bedding brand raised a sliver over $100m, floating at the bottom of an already slashed price range at less than half the $1.1bn valuation at which it last raised funding. Ouch.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

27 January 2020 – Tokopedia Approaches Close of $1.5bn Round

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

The Big Ones

Tokopedia is already one of the biggest companies to have emerged from Southeast Asia’s increasingly vibrant startup scene, but it is reportedly approaching the close of a $1.5bn round that would include existing investors SoftBank and Alibaba. The round is set to value the e-commerce marketplace at $8bn to $9bn and be led by a $500m investment from Singapore’s Temasek.

UCloud is one of several Chinese companies to have gone public in recent days (for some more, look below), raising $284m in an initial public offering on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Star Market. The cloud services provider counts Bertelsmann Asia Investments among its backers and reportedly landed on Star Market because it allows a dual-class share structure for listed companies, meaning founders can retain substantial voting rights post-IPO.

There have been cases of some prominent corporate investors putting together dedicated impact or diversity-focused funds in recent years but it seems as if this might be a trend that’s picking up steam. Citi and Nestlé have both made steps to join in, Citi putting up $150m for a vehicle called Citi Impact Fund which is tasked with backing companies with a positive impact on society, while Nestlé has earmarked approximately $258m for a fund that will invest in startups operating in the sustainable packaging space.

In crossover news, Skylo Technologies, a Stanford spinout, has emerged from stealth with $116m, $103m of which was recently raised in a series B round led by SoftBank. Stanford spinout Skylo has developed an internet-of-things system designed to work in remote areas while utilising off-the-shelf cellular network components in order to offer a more affordable service.

Deals

GoPuff has not been a big name on the startup scene despite reports that it had raised money at a $1bn valuation in late 2018, but the snack delivery service received $750m six months ago, in a round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, it has emerged.

Berkshire Grey, a US-based robotic fulfilment systems developer, may have come out of stealth 13 months ago but when it came to funding, the company has continued to fly under the radar. That’s now changed, to a degree, with a $263m series B round led by SoftBank.

Two weeks ago, a regulatory filing told us that Mastercard-backed AvidXchange had secured $130m in fresh funding from two unnamed investors, but it looks like the company was much further ahead in discussions: it’s actually raised $260m in funding – though it’s only revealed TPG Sixth Street Partners as an investor. Notably, AvidXchange has been around much longer than most companies we come across in the daily newsletter, having been founded in 2000 and already clocking 5,500 clients for its automated invoicing and payment processing platform.

Doing even better when it comes to a large customerbase is AppsFlyer, a marketing platform that serves more than 12,000 brands including many well-known companies, such as eBay, Macy’s and HBO. That alone was likely reason enough for Deutsche Telekom Capital

The meat alternatives sector is one that’s really picking up pace on the funding side, though most of the capital has so far gone to plant-based meat substitute developers. However, Memphis Meats is pursuing meat that is grown directly from cells and has raised $161m in a series B round co-led by SoftBank.

Qonto has raised almost as much, $115m, in a series C round it claims is the largest ever for a French fintech company. Tencent co-led the round with DST Global, and the business banking platform developer is seeking a full European licence while boosting its staff numbers from 200 to 300.

Electric scooter and bike rental service Bounce has secured $105m in series D funding from investors including Qualcomm Ventures at a valuation that sits around the $500m mark.

Goldman Sachs has invested in cloud cybersecurity platform developer Sysdig as part of a $70m series E round that increased its overall funding to more than $200m. US-headquartered Sysdig disclosed the round, which was led by venture firm Insight Partners, on the same day as the launch of a dedicated Japanese subsidiary that comes in the wake of offices opening in Spain and Italy.

Elsewhere in Asia, LivSpace has lifted its latest funding round to $60m as it moves towards the close of a round reportedly expected to reach $90m to $100m next month. The interior design services marketplace reportedly boasts Ikea franchisee Ingka as an investor, the company having invested an amount between $10m and $15m in the company last May that looks as if it could have been part of the ongoing round.

Funds

MassMutual Ventures, US-based insurance firm MassMutual’s corporate venture capital arm, has launched a $100m Southeast Asia fund, bringing the unit’s overall capital under management to $350m. Founded in 2014, MassMutual Ventures invests in areas such as fintech, digital health, cybersecurity and enterprise software.

Exits

Uber divested several regional services prior to going public, through mergers with local operators that gave them sizeable stakes in the buyers. Now it looks to be repeating the trick with its Uber Eats food delivery business. The company has sold its Indian Uber Eats operation to food listings and ordering platform Zomato in a transaction that gave it a 10% stake. Considering Zomato is raising money at a reported $3bn valuation, that isn’t a bad chunk of change.

Revolution Medicines, a US-based cancer treatment exploiting research from multiple universities, has filed for a $100m initial public offering on the Nasdaq Global Market. Revolution was established by biotech company builder Third Rock Ventures and co-founded by Martin Burke from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Michael Fischbach from Stanford University and Kevan Shokat from University of California, Berkeley. Sanofi is also in line for an exit here, as the pharma company obtained series B shares in Revolution Medicines when the latter acquired US-based genomic medicine developer Warp Drive Bio, which was co-founded by Sanofi, in an all-share deal in 2018.

E-commerce firm Mercari has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to acquire Origami, the developer of QR code-based mobile payment app that will be integrated into the Merpay platform Mercari launched in 2017. Origami had raised $88m in funding and typically for a Japanese company, it had a substantial amount of corporate backers including SoftBank, KDDI, Nihon Unisys, Mitsui Sumitomo Card Company, Union Pay International, JCB, Credit Saison and several banks.

“Funky Chunk” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0