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| Here’s a look at today’s VC briefing. - Blue Owl acquires $1B funds from Cowen Healthcare Investments
- A16z to raise $3.4B early-stage and seed funds
- Northern Gritstone closes fund at £312M
Thank you. Karan
p/karan-chafekar | |
| 1 | | Blue Owl Capital is set to acquire $1B in funds from Cowen Healthcare Investments. The move will help the firm expand its presence in the life sciences sector. Blue Owl will also scoop up Cowen's seven-person life sciences investment team, including three partners. Blue Owl will rename the division to Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities. More: - The New York-based alternative asset manager Blue Owl has already invested $14B in the sector, according to co-CEO Marc Lipschultz.
- Blue Owl is optimistic about the sector's prospects, believing that life sciences and biopharmaceuticals sectors could match the investment pace seen in information technology over the past two decades.
Zoom out: - Earlier this year, Canada's Toronto-Dominion Bank acquired Cowen Investment Management, the parent organization of Cowen Healthcare.
- Cowen Healthcare has raised four funds to date, the last of which closed at $550M earlier this year.
- The firm has backed 60 companies to date and managed 30 IPOs.
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| 2 | | Andreessen Horowitz is gearing up to raise $3.4B for its next core early-stage and seed funds, per Axios. What the numbers say: The firm will reportedly launch the fund by the end of this year, with a final close expected in the first half of 2024. A16z may also raise new growth, crypto, and biotech-focused funds in 2025, per Axios. 
Why it matters: A16z's new fund represents just a 17% step up over its predecessor, which closed at $2.5B. The firm's eighth flagship fund was 92% larger than its predecessor $1.3B fund from 2020. The step-up for a16z's newest fund is in line with the median 19.6% step-up seen for U.S. funds this year. Median step-up values have more than halved from last year's values of 51.4%. Where to see the impact: News of a16z's new fund comes as several established fund managers are postponing their fundraising or lowering the target amount due to economic headwinds. New funds launched by Lux Capital and Felicis Ventures have lower targets than their respective previous funds. Founders Fund halved the fund's target from $1.8B to $900M. Insight Partners lowered the target for its next fund from $20B to $15B. Meanwhile, Tiger Global is struggling to raise fresh funds and has also reduced its target. | | | |
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| 3 | | British VC firm Northern Gritstone closed its latest fund at £312M ($378M) to back tech spinouts and startups from Leeds, Manchester, and Sheffield. The firm has already backed 15 startups, including photonic coating spinout AssetCool and photonic chip firm Optalysys. More: - Local pension funds, including South Yorkshire Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, Merseyside Pension Fund, and East Riding Pension Fund, contributed £150M ($181.8M) capital.
- Institutional investors contributing to the fund include M&G, Columbia Threadneedle, British Patient Capital, Lansdowne Partners, and Bruntwood.
- British Patient Capital contributed £30M (£36.4M) to the fund earlier this year.
Zoom out: - The news of the fund comes as the local government has urged local pension funds to increase their capital allocation to venture funds and technology startups amidst concerns of a lack of liquidity in capital markets.
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| 4 | | Tech-focused VC firm Flashpoint VC is looking to raise a $150M direct secondaries fund in partnership with growth investor Roman Ivaniuk, the founder of BrightOne Capital. The new fund will invest in direct secondary opportunities in growth-stage European companies. More: - Per general partner Michael Szalontay, Flashpoint has been investing in direct secondaries since the launch of its flagship VC vehicles.
- The firm takes a data-driven approach to secondary investing, tracking more than 15,000 companies via its database.
- With the new fund, Flashpoint will take up stakes in companies with annual recurring revenue of $30M to $150M.
- Flashpoint's debut secondary fund closed at $48M in 2020 and typically invested in companies with an ARR of $10M to $50M.
- The firm will set aside 40% to 50% of the capital from the new fund for follow-on investments.
- The firm has nearly $400M in assets under management and typically invests in Europe and Israel-based companies that are looking to grow in the U.S. or Western Europe.
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| 5 | | Venture accelerator Nex Cubed partnered with non-profit HBCU.vc to launch a new venture scouting program. The program aims to address the lack of diversity in VC by empowering scouts from diverse backgrounds and providing them with resources and investment opportunities to build a career in the VC industry. More: - Nex Cubed's CEO Marlon Evans said, "Instead of reinventing the wheel and setting up a separate program targeted at HBCUs, we decided to team up with HBCU.vc and provide them with an opportunity to go beyond their fellowship program to provide their fellows with real-life experiences working with a VC firm."
- Nex Cubed recently launched a $40M fund to invest in startups founded by entrepreneurs from Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Zoom out: - Per a survey done by NVCA and Deloitte, only 4% of U.S. venture capital partners are Black.
- Black women represented just 1% of investment partners in 2022.
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| 6 | | Today's Funding: Biotech - MapLight Therapeutics, a biopharma company making novel therapeutics to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders, closed its Series C funding round at $225M. The funding was provided by Novo Holdings, 5AM Ventures, Cowen Healthcare Investments, and other investors.
- SkyCell, a Swiss biopharma startup that offers temperature-controlled hybrid containers and technological solutions for global pharmaceutical supply chains, raked in $57M in fresh funding led by Catalyst.
Energy - Renewable energy certification solutions provider Redex Group bagged $10M in Series A funding led by Aramco Ventures.
IoT - Highland Europe led a $22M funding round into IoT technology and solutions startup Wirepas. Amalfi, IQT, ETF Partners, KPN Ventures, Vito Ventures, and Vesa Laisi participated in the round.
PropTech - Renter management software developer Funnel Leasing closed its Series B-2 funding round at $32M. RET Ventures led the funding round, joined by Trinity Ventures.
Wellness - Skin and personal care brand Mamaearth's parent company, Honasa Consumer, secured $92M capital from a pre-IPO round provided by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Fidelity, Norges Bank, Invesco, Goldman Sachs, Franklin Templeton, DSP, and others. The firm is expected to open its IPO this week, pricing shares between $3.7 to $3.9 apiece.
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- Life sciences investment group Abingworth raised $356M in capital for its Clinical Co-Development Co-Investment Fund to fund late-stage clinical bio-pharma programs.
- SYN Ventures held the first close of its new fund at $75M that will invest in seed-stage cyber companies in Israel.
- Metaverse and gaming-focused VC firm Animoca Brands is set to receive a $50M investment from Saudi Arabia's NEOM Investment Fund.
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INSIDE VENTURE CAPITAL LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Analyst | | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot. | | This newsletter was edited by Aaron Crutchfield | |
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