The Persistence And Future Promise Of Venture Capital Through A Global Pandemic

The global pandemic defined and drove the unprecedented year of 2020 – and in turn, record-breaking results in terms of capital raised, dollars invested and exits. Although the pandemic initially dampened VC activity, businesses began to quickly adapt to the changing consumer landscape, spurring a huge comeback for VC in the second half of the year, with particularly robust activity in the healthcare and technology sectors. And, of course, this took place amidst not only a global pandemic, but also an economic recession, social and racial unrest, and a contentious U.S. election. READ MORE

Want To Take Your Company Public? Here Are Your Options

For startups making an exit onto the public markets, traditional IPOs were king until about 2019, when direct listings became the popular alternative, thanks to companies like Spotify and Slack. Then, SPACs stole the limelight in 2020 and these special purpose acquisition companies became the other alternative that more startups began to consider.

Those three routes to the public market — IPO, direct listing and SPAC — are still the main paths for a company to go public, but there are other ways for a business to end up on a public stock exchange in the U.S. as well. Each has its pros and cons, and while traditional IPOs are still seen as the “default,” they’re not the only option. READ MORE

Private equity and venture capital professionals predict huge growth in eVTOL market

The research was commissioned by Horizon Aircraft, the advanced aerospace engineering company that has developed the Cavorite X5, the world’s first eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing) that can fly the majority of its mission exactly like a normal aircraft. 

The findings also reveal that in 30 years’ time, 36 per cent of private equity and venture capital professionals interviewed said they expect the urban air mobility market to generate revenues of around USD90 billion a year, but 46 per cent believe it will be more than this.  READ MORE

Venture Capital's responsibility to women

If you are the founder of a startup and you are also a woman, this note interests you. Being a woman today is a great privilege and more so when culturally, socially and economically you have broken those role patterns marked by gender. That is to say, those that involve equality between men and women and that is that, although we live in the 21st century, there is a great gap on the subject that encompasses all cultures, societies and even industries. Venture Capital is not excluded from this problem. READ MORE

Inside the US’ epic first-quarter venture capital results

It’s no surprise that the venture capital market was incredibly active in the United States during the first quarter of 2021, but precisely how strong has only recently become clear. This morning, we’re digging into the data.

According to a report from PitchBook, venture capitalists unleashed a wave of capital in the first three months of the year. So much, in fact, that funding in the United States nearly doubled compared to the same quarter of 2020. READ MORE

IPO vs SPAC vs direct listing: Explaining Wall Street's hot trends

Not too long ago, most big startups looking to debut on Wall Street chose to sell new shares through an initial public offering. But IPOs are no longer the only viable way for a privately held companies to start trading their stock.

Many high-profile businesses are increasingly using so-called blank check mergers with special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, to go public. READ MORE

SPACs May Cast Wider Net As Competition For Targets Increases

Electric vehicle and greentech companies have proven to be the sweethearts of the SPAC universe thus far when it comes to merger targets, but the question remains: where could they look next?

In the last 15-plus months, more than 550 special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, have gone public. Of those, more than 400 are still actively seeking their target, according to SPACInsider. While not all of those SPACs are looking solely at tech, the sector has proven  popular with the new financial tool. READ MORE

Hot SPAC Market Could Freeze After Potential SEC Rule Change

The Securities and Exchange Commission could be taking a fire extinguisher to the red hot SPAC market.

After a record-breaking 2020, the SPAC market is booming in 2021. In the first three months of 2021, PwC reports that about 300 SPACs have hit the public markets, raising nearly $90 billion in cash, more than all of last year’s record volume. But the high-flying industry could come to a temporary halt. The reason? A potential change in accounting for some SPACs demanded by the SEC.  READ MORE

Let’s talk about gaslighting and fundraising

“Most of the startups I give advice to about how to raise venture capital shouldn’t be raising venture capital,” an investor recently told me. While the idea that every startup isn’t venture-backable might run counter to the narrative to the barrage of funding news each week, I think it’s important to double click on the topic. Plus, it keeps coming up, off the record, on phone calls with investors! READ MORE

Fighting climate change with venture capital is different this time

Silicon Valley got a black eye a decade ago when its big venture capital foray into expensive and nascent cleantech didn’t pan out—but its recently renewed interest in a wider scope of technologies that can tackle the climate crisis could be different this time around.

Why it matters: Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, and the tech industry’s innovation could be a powerful tool to stem it. READ MORE