The pandemic is affecting communities differently, underscoring racial, ethnic and income disparities. It is also affecting groups of workers differently, with essential workers at much greater risk of infection. The events of 2020 revealed that, despite all the economic progress throughout the world since the end of World War II, there are still many people being left behind. READ MORE
Hundreds of startups go public every year. Only 20 have ever been founded and led by women.
2020 was a record year for initial public offerings in the US, with 442 logged as of December 14. Yet only five of those were companies founded and led by women, according to research by Business Insider and information provided by Nasdaq.
Historically, only 20 women have ever founded and led a company through to an IPO. READ MORE
Startup Founder Conflict: Can You Get Ahead Of It?
Two cool-headed startup founders enter a bar to escape the grind and casually work through a thorny issue. The Macbooks are open, the beer is flowing and the positive body language suggests a resolution may be close. Suddenly, an audible argument breaks out between them — voices are raised and the commotion creates a stir in the bar. A table is flipped before the pair is escorted outside with the police waiting at the curb. READ MORE
2020 changed America's startup landscape
Venture capitalists have been historically reluctant to invest in startups based too far from home, thus making it it easier for "good ideas" to get funded in the Bay Area or the Acela corridor than anywhere else. 2020 may have finally changed that dynamic. READ MORE
Why Miami Is The Next Hot Tech Hub
As more entrepreneurs and investors relocate from traditional tech hubs to emerging startup ecosystems, Miami—with its tropical climate, diverse population and lack of state income tax—has suddenly become a tech hot spot. READ MORE
SPACs face increasing hurdles in race to get deals done
An exclusive club of SPACs backed by private equity, venture capital and hedge fund titans may have a New Year's resolution: Deploy tens of billions of dollars, upend the conventional IPO and deliver huge returns with modest risk.
And they have less than two years to make it all happen. READ MORE
5 questions about 2021’s startup market
Welcome to 2021, a year that could extend 2020’s startup market disruptions and excesses — or change patterns that previously performed well for early-stage tech companies and their investors.
As we turn the page, I have a number of questions worth raising as we muck into 2021.
Each relates to a 2020 change that is expected to persist, by either the general market or those bullish on startups. I want to know what would need to change to shake up what became the new normal last year. After all, it’s precisely when it feels like nothing could shake up a downturn (or a boom) that things often do. READ MORE
Private Equity Turns to $3 Trillion in Untapped Value for Loans
Private equity firms on the hunt for capital are increasingly turning to specialty lenders for financing and providing a valuable asset as collateral: stakes in their funds.
The buyout industry has about $3 trillion of unrealized value on its books, according to Preqin. And it’s tapping that to land loans for bolt-on deals, to refinance debt or bail out struggling companies in their portfolios. READ MORE
5 Venture Capital Deals That Signal Major Trends for 2021
Venture capitalists are supposed to be investing in tomorrow's companies, today. And despite the pandemic, they plowed plenty of money into startups this year: While investment slowed down dramatically in the spring, VCs invested $36.5 billion in the third quarter of 2020, a seven-quarter high. Here are a five deals that shed some light on what the next year might look like--for entrepreneurs, their customers, and their backers. READ MORE
The big question on every startup’s mind for 2021
My big question for 2021, and the one that is on every startup’s mind, is how will a cataclysmic event such as a global pandemic show up in post-pandemic innovation? I think we’re in the early innings of seeing what ‘aha moments’ have materialized into companies. And we won’t know the pandemic’s true impact on our psyches until the dust settles and we have an opportunity to reflect. READ MORE
Moderna’s Vaccine Is A Startup Triumph
With the first doses of Moderna’s vaccine rolling out to frontline workers across the country, it’s easy to forget that the company behind this crucial tool toward ending the pandemic is itself little more than a startup.
To deliver a vaccine for mass inoculation with 94.5 percent efficacy in clinical trials in under 11 months is obviously in itself an astonishing achievement. READ MORE
Private capital hungry for companies hoping to make up 'lost year'
Private equity investors face a feeding frenzy for companies unaffected or even buoyed by the pandemic. Many are targeting different kinds of companies for potential deals, investment specialists said this week in a podcast by global advisory firm Dechert LLP. READ MORE
SPACs 101 FAQ: A Primer On Today’s Hottest Exit Strategy
SPACs, shorthand for special purpose acquisition companies, have become this year’s most popular alternative option for private companies to access the public capital markets and become publicly traded. Earlier this year, capital market experts declared 2020 a banner year for SPACs. The latest numbers from DealPointData back the claim. As of Nov. 30, 2020, SPACs raised more than $64.35 billion in 203 IPOs, more than five times the amount SPACs raised—$12 billion in 38 listings—in all of 2019, also a record year. READ MORE
These Were The Largest Funding Rounds of 2020
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, many speculated there would be a slowdown in funding for the remainder of 2020. But while the markets felt the initial shock of the pandemic, funding picked back up and several companies were able to raise billion-dollar rounds. READ MORE
Venture Investors Turn To AI To Find Deals
From medicine to retail to the auto industry, there are few industries in tech that have not been changed or disrupted by artificial intelligence.
Now, some of the people investing in those sectors are using AI to figure out where to put their money next. While that may seem like an obvious use of AI and machine learning, it’s been something most VCs have been slow to adopt. READ MORE
Investors Say These Enterprise Software Sectors Will Likely Remain Hot in 2021
In Pascal v. Czerwinski et al, the Delaware Court of Chancery considered whether disclosures in Columbia Financial’s 2019 proxy statement related to the adoption of an equity incentive plan, or EIP, were adequate. The directors of the company granted awards to themselves as compensation for past efforts to take the company public. READ MORE
2020 PitchBook Private Equity Awards
Private equity firms have long touted their ability to make savvy investments when the economy is disrupted. But the industry has never experienced anything quite like 2020.
Whether it was conducting fundraising roadshows over Zoom or embracing less-common investment strategies (hello SPACs!), the industry had to adapt. And adapt it did, with firms using their own considerable cash piles to keep struggling portfolio companies afloat while simultaneously making new investments. READ MORE
SEC Announces A New Dawn For Startups Seeking To Raise Capital
Amidst a challenging year for global business, the SEC is stepping up to the plate with a groundbreaking ruling for private companies seeking to raise capital. On November 2, 2020, the Commission voted 3-2 in favor of amending its rules in order to "harmonize, simplify, and improve the multilayer and overly complex exempt offering framework." READ MORE
Equity Monday: No, tech news doesn’t stop over the holidays
Hello and welcome back to Equity, TechCrunch’s venture capital-focused podcast where we unpack the numbers behind the headlines.
This is Equity Monday, our weekly kickoff that tracks the latest private market news, talks about the coming week, digs into some recent funding rounds and mulls over a larger theme or narrative from the private markets. You can follow the show on Twitter here and myself here — and don’t forget to check out the first of our two holiday eps, the last one talking to VCs about what surprised them in 2020. READ MORE
Cybersecurity To Remain Hot In The New Year
Despite a pandemic that raged around the globe for the better part of the year, the cybersecurity market retained investor interest in 2020 and many in the sector expect next year to be no different. READ MORE