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Venture-backed Exit Activity Eclipsed Annual Record Surpassing $200 Billion In Only Three QuartersSEATTLE, Oct. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Venture-backed exit activity stabilized in the third quarter of 2019 after a surge in the second quarter; however, the steady flow of exits has pushed year-to-date exit value over $200 billion for the first time, surpassing the annual record following just three quarters of the year, according to the PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor, the authoritative quarterly report on venture capital activity in the entrepreneurial ecosystem jointly produced by PitchBook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), with support from Silicon Valley Bank, Perkins Coie and Shareworks. Outsized liquidity events continue to be a dominating trend across VC, with exits over $100 million making up 98.7% of value so far this year. Total venture capital investment has reached $96.7 billion through the first three quarters, which puts 2019 on pace to be the second-highest year for venture capital investment behind last year's record totals. Late-stage dealmaking has continued its strong momentum from the past couple years, showing no signs of slowing down. 185 mega-deals ($500+ million) have already been completed so far this year, nearly reaching 2018's full-year total and accounting for 43% of total VC investment value. Interest in female-founded startups continues to increase, with 2019 pacing to be a record year of VC activity. Investor confidence in VC continued as fundraising has shifted towards increasingly larger funds since 2012. Mega-funds continued to close at lofty levels, with 15 funds completed so far this year and nearly a dozen open funds expected to close soon, laying the foundation for large masses of capital deployment to continue in the years ahead. To download the full report and data packs, please click here. PitchBook and NVCA will also be hosting a webinar in partnership with Silicon Valley Bank, Perkins Coie and Shareworks, on October 29, 2019 from 9:00 – 10:00 am PDT. Please click here to register. "Many of the trends we've seen in the private markets over the past few years persisted through the first three quarters of 2019 as ever-growing sources of capital continue facilitating larger VC rounds and driving investment totals higher across the VC environment," said John Gabbert, founder and CEO of PitchBook. "Most notably this year, exit activity and the IPO market specifically has been squarely in the spotlight. With 67 completed VC-backed IPOs, exit value has already surpassed the annual record in only three quarters of the year." "Venture-backed exits remain the big story of 2019, with record IPO activity sending strong signals to the industry around the opportunities and returns offered by portfolio companies entering the public markets, which is such an important part of the venture life cycle. However, challenges for venture-backed companies going public continue, some of which hit the spotlight in 3Q before and after companies listed," said Bobby Franklin, President and CEO of NVCA. "At the same time, increased CFIUS scrutiny on the startup ecosystem is likely to affect M&A (and investment) sentiment from foreign investors. Nevertheless, a robust fundraising and investment environment continues, which coupled with realized returns from large exits, means LPs will be looking to cycle capital back into the ecosystem.">
3Q 2019 saw $35.4 billion exited across 189 transactions, bringing year-to-date total exit value over $200 billion for the first time, another milestone for 2019's record year in VC exits. Exit totals in 3Q fell short of prior quarters due in part to a lack of exits over $10 billion. Perhaps most notable is an exit missing from the dataset, with WeWork postponing its planned IPO following negative feedback from potential investors. Datadog's IPO was the largest exit of the quarter, valuing the app monitoring software company at $7.2 billion pre-money. Acquisition activity remained a constant factor within the VC ecosystem, serving as an important exit route for smaller and midsized exits. The largest acquisition this quarter was Merck's purchase of Peloton Therapeutics for $1.1 billion, which came the day before the company's planned IPO. The historically slower pace of high-growth IPOs in the last couple of years has allowed demand for these companies to build, leading to an open IPO window over the past few quarters where 67 VC-backed companies have exited via an IPO year-to-date. 2019 currently holds the record for IPOs as a proportion of all exit value (82.0%), sustained by a group of completed unicorn public debuts in 3Q that included Peloton Interactive, Cloudflare, 10X Genomics, Livongo and Medallia. Investment Activity Fundraising Activity The full report will include the following components:
To download the full report, click here. About PitchBook About National Venture Capital Association Katherine Andersen, Head of Life Science and Healthcare Relationship Banking, Silicon Valley Bank Ryan Logue, Head of Business Development and Innovation, Shareworks View original content to download multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/venture-backed-exit-activity-eclipsed-annual-record-surpassing-200-billion-in-only-three-quarters-300934414.html SOURCE PitchBook |