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| Here's a look at today's VC briefing. - 💰 SoftBank reported its first quarterly profit after four quarters of losses
- 🔬 Three biotech startups have collectively raised $786M from IPO debuts this year
- 🇨🇳 Chinese VC firms are changing their investment strategy amidst rising tensions with the U.S.
Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | SoftBank Group Corp. reported its first quarterly net profit of $6.6B (985.5B yen) in Q4 2023 after four consecutive quarters of losses. Q4's profits represent a significant turnaround over the $4.9B (744.7B yen) loss reported in the same period a year ago. SoftBank's Vision Fund division reported an investment profit of $4B (600.73B yen). More: - SoftBank CFO Yoshimitsu Goto remains optimistic about the future outlook and market conditions.
- The Japanese investment firm's profits were primarily driven by a surge in valuations of TikTok owner Bytedance, robotics firm AutoStore Holdings, warehouse automation robotics company Symbiotic, and food delivery service DoorDash.
- While the firm benefited from a 22% surge in share prices of ride-hailing giant Didi Global and a 40% rally in share prices of semiconductor firm Arm, it wrote down its investment in WeWork to zero after the firm declared bankruptcy at the end of last year.
- The firm also booked gains of $1.825B from the T-Mobile U.S. shares it received as part of an agreement when T-Mobile acquired SoftBank unit Sprint Corp. in 2020.
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| 2 | | Biotech startups have had the strongest start to the year since 2021, with three IPO listings already completed so far in 2024. 
What the numbers say: The three biotech startups, ArriVent Biopharma, Alto Neuroscience, and CG Oncology, have collectively raised $786M from their IPO debuts this year, per Bloomberg. Biotech startups have defied the tepid IPO environment, with ArriVent, Alto Neuroscience, and CG Oncology witnessing share price gains of 22%, 36%, and 100%, respectively, over their debut prices. Where to see the impact: Two more biotech startups are gearing up for their IPO listings in the near future: Kyverna Therapeutics and Metagenomi. Both collectively expect to raise $410M from the listings scheduled for this week. HSBC Innovation Banking's managing director, Jonathan Norris, expects about 25 venture-backed U.S. and European biotech startups to debut this year. Norris said there will be "more later-stage than earlier companies with a focus on drugs that have opportunities for catalysts in the near-term." | | | |
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| 3 | | Chinese VC firms are shifting their investment strategies amidst escalating tensions with the U.S., Beijing's crackdown on tech firms, and an economic slowdown in China. The three key shifts noticed within the Chinese VC industry include a shift away from U.S. investors, a preference for domestic listings, and aligning investments with Beijing's governmental priorities. More: - Due to increasing scrutiny of U.S. investment in Chinese tech, U.S.-based limited partners dropped their share of investments into Chinese VC funds from 8.4% to 5.3% in 2023.
- This contributed to an overall dip in VC funds raised in China, with 2023 witnessing the lowest total since 2015.
- With the changing priorities of U.S. investors, Chinese VC funds had to look elsewhere, such as the Middle East and funds associated with local government.
- With "U.S. IPOs no longer being a viable exit strategy for China assets," local VC firms are urging portfolio startups to gear up for domestic listings, according to Prospect Avenue Capital's founding partner, Liao Ming.
- Instead of backing consumer-focused sectors, Chinese VCs are now aligning their investments with the local government's priorities, such as high-end manufacturing, renewable energy, and factory automation technology.
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| 4 | | Scion Life Sciences launched on Wednesday with an oversubscribed $310M debut fund. The firm intends to build about a half-dozen "durable" life sciences startups. The firm had initially set a target of $250M for the fund but extended it by another $60M due to strong investor interest. More: - Scion's strategy of equipping a handful of companies with significant resources and funding is similar to the approach taken by Flagship Pioneering and Arch Venture Partners.
- Scion is founded by former Apple Tree investors Aaron Kantoff and Sam Hall, and Petrichor's founder and managing partner Tadd Wessel.
- Kantoff co-founded RayzeBio, which Bristol Myers Squibb acquired last fall for $4.1B after the radiopharmaceutical startup raised $311M from its public offering.
- Hall said, "We have the ability to keep investing in and supporting our companies from the pre-formation seed stage with a couple thousand dollars, all the way through maturity, and can now invest $60M or more to an individual portfolio company over its life."
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| 5 | | Voyager Ventures closed its Voyager Partners Select I fund at $100M. The firm intends to back startups across North America and Europe working on accelerating global decarbonization. More: - The new fund's size is the same as Voyager's debut $100M fund from April 2022, which backed pre-seed to Series A startups.
- Voyager has backed 19 startups to date.
- With the new fund, Voyager will back Series A and Series B software, hardware, and biotech startups working on decarbonizing the global economy.
- Voyager has already backed three startups with the new fund: supply-chain emission tracking platform CarbonChain, microchip tech startup Intensivate, and truck carbon capture system developer Remora.
- Limited partners contributing capital to the new fund include Northwestern University and Novo Holdings.
- The firm has offices in San Francisco and New York, with plans to open an office in London in 2024.
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| 6 | | Today's Funding: Fintech - Fintech startup Platform Accounting Group bagged $85M in fresh funding led by Cynosure Group, with additional support from Swell Capital and Peery Capital.
- Accounting startup Pennylane cemented its unicorn status with a €40M ($43M) funding round from existing backers Sequoia Capital and DST Global.
Manufacturing - Daedalus, a German startup building AI-powered precision manufacturing facilities, raised $21M in Series A funding. Nokia-funded NGP Capital led the round, supported by existing investors Khosla Ventures and Addition.
Transportation - Autonomous vehicle startup Project 3 Mobility closed its Series A funding round at €100M ($107M). TASARU Mobility Investments, South Korean automaker Kia, and EV firm Rimac Group provided the funding.
Healthcare - Kleiner Perkins and OpenAI's Startup Fund co-led a $70M Series B funding round into healthcare startup Ambience Healthcare. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Optum Ventures participated in the round.
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- European VC firm Varsity emerged from stealth with €70M ($75M) commitments towards its debut fund. The firm hopes to close the fund at €150M ($161M) to invest in 30 European startups in finance, health, enterprise software, and climate sectors.
- Dutch investment firm Orient Growth Ventures closed its second fund at $90M. The firm will use the fund to invest in Indian and Southeast Asian startups.
- Cybersecurity-focused VC firm YL Ventures hired Justin Somaini as a full-time partner. Somaini held the chief information security officer title at Unity, SAP, Yahoo!, and Symantec.
- Early-stage VC firm Orios Venture Capital partially divested its stake in portfolio company Country Delight, which yielded a 45x return on the original investment.
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 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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