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| Hey Insiders, We've got some exciting updates for you on this Thursday's edition of Inside VC. - Better.com is making its public debut through a SPAC.
- Tiger Global is looking to sell off an AI investment.
- Institutions continue to express concerns about overvalued VC portfolios.
If you find this newsletter useful, please share it with your friends and colleagues. Thank you. Robel
p/Robel-Kelkile | |
| 1 | | Qatar's sovereign wealth fund announced it will invest $1B in India's largest retail chain, Reliance Retail. The move will value Reliance at $100B. More: - Reliance Retail operates over 18,000 stores, including digital platforms, selling various electronics, fashion, and food products.
- Qatar Investment Authority's investment will secure a 0.99% stake in the company.
- In 2020, the company received $6B from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and KKR at a $62.4B valuation.
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| 2 | | 
What happened: A survey conducted by Preqin, which encompassed 178 institutional investors, found that 68% believe their venture capital portfolios are overvalued. Moreover, 5% of the surveyed intend to reduce private capital holdings next year, while 26% aim to increase their investments. Why it matters: The survey outcomes shed light on the prevailing sentiment among institutional investors regarding the valuation of their investment holdings, underscoring broader concerns about valuations. | | | |
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| 3 | | Venture capital investment in Europe dropped by 61% in the first half of 2023. The move promoted the European Union's development bank and five EU countries to pledge $4.1B to support the tech sector. More: - Funding scarcity has led startups to cut costs and reduce growth plans.
- Earlier this year, Glovo, a food delivery firm in Spain, reduced its headcount by 7%.
- Turkey's delivery startup, Getir, also announced a layoff of approximately 2,500 employees, making up nearly 11% of its staff.
- Amid capital shortages, alternative methods like angel investing, government funds, and corporate partnerships are gaining more traction in the region.
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| 4 | | Tiger Global is nearing an agreement to sell a portion of its stake in OpenAI competitor Cohere. The investment firm seeks to offload a 2.1% stake at a $3B valuation. More: - Candian-based Cohere specializes in developing large language models to enhance human-machine interactions for companies.
- Post-sale, Tiger is expected to retain approximately 5% ownership in Cohere.
- Cohere raised $270M in a Series C funding round, which included investors like NVIDIA, Oracle, and Salesforce's venture capital arm, valuing the company at $2.2B.
- The move comes as the company marked down the value of its investments across its venture capital funds by 33% since December 2022.
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| 5 | | The SEC has approved new regulations for private funds, aiming to enhance oversight and reporting requirements. The rules impact private fund operations regarding reporting, disclosures, and compliance. More: - The revised fund adviser rule mandates increased disclosures for registered private fund advisers, which include private equity and venture capital managers.
- Advisors must disclose transparency about compliance costs and preferential deals offered to significant investors.
- In some instances, funds that offer preferential deals to some investors will need to make it available to all others.
- The rule will only apply to investments made after the transition periods, aiming to avoid altering existing arrangements.
- Advisors will have a year to implement the rule, while those managing under $1.5B have 18 months for specific provisions.
- The SEC noted the goal was to improve transparency and accountability in the operations of private funds.
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| 6 | | Online mortgage lender Better.com will debut on the Nasdaq Capital Market, pricing its stock at $10 per share. As part of going public, the company secured $565M in fresh capital, with investments from SoftBank affiliates and NaMa Capital. More: - The company will debut under the ticker symbols "BETR" and "BETRW" through a merger with SPAC Aurora Acquisition Corp.
- Better.com CEO Vishal Garg had noted he would be personally liable for the SoftBank loan and cited potential risk to the stock price if he was forced to liquidate his Better.com shares.
- Better.com has faced financial challenges, reporting a Q1 net loss of $89.9M and undergoing significant workforce reductions, which included slashing about 91% of its workforce over an approximately 18-month period.
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- Former executives from Pear Therapeutics launched a new venture capital firm with Bob Langer as an advisor.
- Veda VC announced it closed a $30M fund.
- Assembly Ventures closed a $76M mobility fund.
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INSIDE VENTURE CAPITAL LEADERBOARD (30 DAYS) |
 | Writer | | Born and raised in the Bay Area, Robel is passionate about all things tech, venture, and financial education. He has previously served both universities and state governments in their engagement strategy and tracking legislation. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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