 IPOs and exits for VC-backed startups screeched to a halt in Q1’22, according to Pitchbook. U.S.-based companies only generated $33.6B in exit value over a mere 430 deals. That marks an 85% QoQ decrease in exit value after three consecutive quarters with an exit value of over $192B each. More: - The overall number of exits also fell by 44.8%.
- There were only 28 public listings in Q1’22 compared to 74 in Q4’21.
- M&A activity also fell to $9.5B across 224 deals, the lowest figure since Q3’20.
- Still, Crunchbase notes that, while the number of startups being scooped up by public companies was way down, the number of startups-to-startup acquisitions actually grew to 124 in the first three months of 2022 from 118 just a year earlier.
- The first quarter’s $70.7B in deal value represented the fifth-highest total in PitchBook’s database but still fell 35% from $95.4B in Q4’21.
- Mega-deal activity slipped with only 185 deals sized $100M+ or more closed, bringing in $36.6B
- Nontraditional investors participated in an estimated 1,823 deals valued at more than $52.5B. Deal numbers approached record levels in Q1’22, though deal value was slightly down QoQ.
- First-financing hit over 1,000 deals in Q1’22, meaning more companies raised their first institutional capital than any quarter prior to 2021.
- VC fundraising totaled $73.8B in commitments across 199 funds, already hitting 56% of 2021’s total year record of $131.5B.
- The average fund size reached a new high of $386.5M, with a slight decline at the median. Mega-funds ($500M+) represented 86.1% of total fund value.
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Critical Start, provider of a managed detection and response (MDR) service, raised $215M. The Plano, Texas-based company’s latest round came from Vista Equity Partners. It declined to disclose a valuation and withheld information about how much funding it has raised to date. More: - The 2011-founded cybersecurity outfit has only disclosed one previous round, a $40M investment from growth equity firm Bregal Sagemount in 2019.
- Critical Start has begun targeting midsize and large enterprise customers in an increasingly competitive market for MDR protection.
- According to a recent tally by Gartner, there were 40 major players in the space as of last fall.
- Founder and CEO Rob Davis reported that the company generated 400% growth in annual recurring revenue over the past three years.
- Its platform has key integrations with software from Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, Splunk, SentinelOne, and VMware.
- With a current headcount of 250 employees, Critical Start is aiming to grow its teams by 35% by the end of this year.
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 A message from EQUITYBEE When you leave a startup job, you only get 90 days to decide whether you’d like to exercise your options. NOT an easy decision. In fact, 55% of US startup employees give up on exercising their ESOs. Some aren’t aware of the potential. For others, the cost of exercising ($50K on average) is too steep. Exercising when the future of your workplace is uncertain can feel risky. Still, you don’t want to be that person who lost out big just because they didn’t have the foresight (or the budget). That’s why Equitybee can be great when there’s no clear exit in sight: The good part? You only need to pay Equitybee and the investors back in case of a successful exit. Yup, that’s right. Apply for funding
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Bengaluru-based Itilite raises $29M for its corporate travel and expense (T&E) management platform. The round signals that investors are confident that business travel will return in some form in a post-pandemic world. More: - The Series C round was led by Tiger Global and Dharana Capital and saw participation from Matrix Partners and Tenacity Ventures.
- The company has plans to expand aggressively in North America.
- Itilite’s platform is designed to integrate with existing enterprise systems.
- It provides travelers with personalized options informed by their preferences and past searches.
- The T&E space could be worth $17.4B by 2027, according to Grand View Research.
- In a 2014 analysis, one of Itilite’s competitors, T&E expense firm Certify, found that businesses lost $30,000 each on average due to expense fraud reports.
- Itilite currently has a 300-strong team and wants to double that figure by the end of the year. It has raised $47M in VC to date.
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Following Elon Musk’s surprise $43B offer to buy Twitter outright, several board members are reportedly considering a poison pill. According to Bloomberg, another option under consideration by board members is claiming that the offer is too low. Musk has said that his offer of $54.20 per share was his final and best. More: - Also commonly known as a shareholder rights plan, a poison pill would allow other shareholders the ability to purchase extra shares at a discount.
- That would dilute the stake of a shareholder contemplating a hostile takeover and is also a common response to activist investors.
- Twitter’s board met yesterday to review Musk’s proposal and determine if it was in the best interest of the company and all of its shareholders. It has yet to make a statement.
- Twitter’s stock fell 1.7% yesterday, indicating that the market has low confidence in the deal being completed.
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 A message from OUTREACH What Your Executive Team Really Thinks About Your Sales Numbers Your executive team hates surprises, especially when it comes to revenue. Unfortunately, sales forecasts built on guesswork can be inaccurate and put you at risk of delivering surprise outcomes. This has negative consequences across the business for quarters to come, leading to an ever-widening Sales Execution Gap that grows over time. If this invokes anxiety, you’re not alone. Watch this on-demand webinar now to get the inside scoop on how sales execution missteps impact a company’s numbers — and how you can fix it. Outreach’s CFO shares her first-hand view on partnering with sales leaders and leveraging data to drive go-to-market success. When organizations close the Sales Execution Gap and execute at their full potential, they win more deals with less effort and deliver a better customer experience. Watch On-Demand
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 Today’s Funding 💸 Biotech/Health - Iris Telehealth (Austin, Texas), telepsychiatry services for health systems and community health centers: $40M B led by Concord Health Partners, Columbia Pacific Advisors.
ClimateTech - Raptor Maps (Boston, Mass.), solar lifecycle management software: $22M B from MacKinnon Bennett, Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Blue Bear Capital, DNV, Buoyant Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Data Point Capital, ENGIE New Ventures.
Cybersecurity - Twingate (Redwood City, Calif.), solution for organizations to implement Zero Trust security: $42M B led by BOND, participation from WndrCo, 8VC, SignalFire.
Enterprise - Compt (Cambridge, Mass.), employee perk HR platform: $13M led by Battery Ventures.
- Greymatter.io (Alexandria, Va.), provider of an enterprise microservices platform: $7.1M A led by Elsewhere Partners.
- Speckle (London, U.K.), open-source platform to exchange and collaborate on architectural files: $5.5M Seed led by Frontline Ventures, Matrix Partners, participation from Foundamental, et al.
- Remio (San Francisco, Calif.), VR platform for remote team building and collaboration: $4.5M Seed led by Khosla Ventures, participation from Version One Ventures, The Venture Reality Fund, Moai Capital.
Foodtech - Mikuna Foods (Santa Barbara, Calif.), regenerative plant protein brand: $5.6M from various Olympic athletes.
Logistics - Shipium (Seattle, Wash.), supply chain coordination layer: $27.5M A led by Insight Partners.
- Backbone (San Francisco, Calif.), platform to enable companies to respond to supply chain disruptions by surfacing replacement options: $14M Seed from Nautilus Ventures, 12/12 Ventures, et al.
SocialTech - Beam Impact (New York, N.Y.), platform helping consumers find charities: $13.3M A from Ulu Ventures, HearstLab, Attentive, Brian Long, Andrew Jones, et al.
Transportation - Luup (Japan), shared micromobility: $8M Debt/Equity from Japan Finance Corporation, Mitsubishi HC Capital, Sumitomo Mitsui Finance Leasing.
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- LatAm funding plunged last quarter, but NFX thinks the region is on the rise. The firm points to compounding talent, many massively underserved markets, and the continent's relative linguistic homogeneity as big reasons to be bullish about its startup ecosystem.
- Pantera Capital plans to close its first Blockchain Fund in the next few weeks at $1.3B. That sum is over twice as large as the fund’s initial intended cap of $600M. The firm already has plans for its second blockchain-specific fund.
- Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce giant, has invested $116M in its online fashion retail arm Myntra, bringing the firm’s total investments in its various businesses to over $800M.
- Chinese internet portal Sohu wants to delist from Nasdaq after the SEC added to a list of companies that could be booted for failing to provide adequate auditing. That brings the number of companies impacted by the new disclosure regulations for foreign companies to 23.
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 |  | Inside VC's writer/curator Stephen currently lives in Berlin and is pursuing a Master's degree in philosophy. He otherwise spends his time trying his hand at recipes from India and Southeast Asia, escaping it all at the kickboxing gym, and offending aural sensibilities with his band. |  | | Editor | Aaron Crutchfield is based in the high desert of California. Over the last two decades, he has spent time writing and editing at various local newspapers and defense contractors in California. When he's not working, he can often be found looking at the latest memes with his kids or working on his 1962 Ford. | |
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