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Public market stock prices are undoubtedly impacting private valuations.
UiPath’s initial public offering is the latest sign that sky-high tech valuations are moderating. On Tuesday, the company raised roughly $1.3 billion in an offering of 24 million shares (about 60% being offered by insiders) priced at $56 apiece, valuing the business at about $29 billion ($31 billion on a fully-diluted basis).
While the IPO is set to make its early investors and founders a fortune, it’s a reduction in valuation for the startup that was last crowned with a $35 billion price tag in February. Coatue Management and Alkeon Capital Management led that round in the company, which automates repetitive office tasks.
The Romania-founded company, which grew revenue by 81% in its last fiscal year to $607.6 million, reportedly factored in the recent dip in software stocks in pricing its offering. Shares of cloud company Snowflake are down about 31% since its IPO, for instance.
It’s not the first time the company has taken in less capital than it potentially could have. Back in a different age, in what feels like eons ago, the SoftBank Vision Fund offered $1 billion to invest in the company. UiPath CEO Daniel Dines turned the offer down over the high level of dilution and board control, instead opting to raise $225 million from CapitalG and Sequoia in a deal that valued the business at $3 billion, per Forbes.
BUT THIS IS STILL RED-HOT: Social media startups are still very much vying to be the next big thing. Discord, best known for its gamer population, has reportedly halted talks to be acquired by buyers including Microsoft, per the Wall Street Journal. The talks valued Discord at $10 billion minimum—but the company is seeking to stay independent. Another social-media platform, Clubhouse, was also said to be in talks to be acquired by Twitter—only to raise funding at a $4 billion valuation instead.
Lucinda Shen
Twitter: @shenlucinda
Email: [email protected]
VENTURE DEALS
- ActiveCampaign, a Chicago-based customer experience platform, raised $240 million in Series C funding, valuing it at over $3 billion. Tiger Global led the round and was joined by investors including Dragoneer, Susquehanna Growth Equity, and Silversmith Capital Partners.
- Misfits Market, a Delanco, N.J.-based online grocer, raised $200 million in Series C funding. Accel and D1 Capital led the round and were joined by investors including Valor Equity Partners, Greenoaks Capital, Sound Ventures, and Third Kind Ventures.
- Deel, a San Francisco-based payroll company, raised $156 million in Series C funding. The YC Continuity Fund led the round and was joined by investors including Andreessen Horowitz and Spark Capital. Dara Khosrowshahi, Lachy Groom, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Jeff Wilke, and Anthony Schiller also participated in the round valuing it at $1.3 billion.
- Digital Asset, a New York-based maker of a multi-party application platform, raised over $120 million in Series D funding. 7RIDGE and Eldridge led the round.
- BlaBlaCar, a French carpooling startup, raised $115 million (€97 million). VNV Global led the round.
- Hive, a A.I. Data training company, raised $85 million in Series D funding valuing it at $2 billion. Glynn Capital led the round and was joined by investors including General Catalyst, Tomales Bay Capital, Jericho Capital, and Bain & Company.
- Deliverect, a Belgian maker of software to connect delivery companies directly to restaurants’ POS system, raised $65 million in Series C funding. DST Global Partners and Redpoint Ventures led the round and were joined by investors including OMERS Ventures, Newion, and Smartfin.
- RapidAPI, a San Francisco-based API platform, raised $60 million in Series C funding. Green Bay Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Stripes.
- FintechOS, a Romanian platform for banking and insurance companies, raised €51 million ($61.5 million) in Series B funding. Draper Esprit led the round and was joined by investors including Earlybird, Gapminder Ventures, Launchub and OTB Ventures.
- ExecOnline, a New York-based online leadership development company for enterprises, raised $45 million in Series D funding. OMERS Growth Equity led the round and was joined by investors including Kaplan, ABS Capital Partners, NewSpring, and Osage Venture Partners.
- AppOmni, a San Francisco-based provider of security management, raised $40 million in Series B funding. Scale Venture Partners led the round and was joined by investors including Salesforce Ventures and ServiceNow Ventures.
- Aisera, a Palo Alto-based automation startup, raised $40 million in Series C funding. Icon Ventures led the round World Innovation Lab and existing investors True Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Webb Investment Network, and Sherpalo.
- Seed Health, a Los Angeles-based microbial sciences company, raised $40 million in Series A funding. The Craftory led the round and was joined by investors including ARTIS Ventures, GISEV, Founders Fund, and 8VC.
- Proximie, a London-based company focused on digitizing operating and diagnostic rooms, raised $38 million in Series B funding. F-Prime Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Questa Capital, Eight Roads, Maverick Ventures, Global Ventures, BECO Capital, and Cedar Mundi Ventures.
- Welcome Tech, a Los Angeles-based platform for immigrants, raised $35 million in Series B funding. Investors included TTV Capital, Owl Ventures and SoftBank Group Corp’s SB Opportunity Fund, Crosscut Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Next Play Capital, and Owl Capital.
- Aleo, a San Francisco-based platform for private applications, raised $28 million in funding. Andreessen Horowitz led the round and was joined by investors including Placeholder VC, Galaxy Digital, Variant Fund, and Coinbase Ventures.
- RippleMatch, a New York-based career recruiting platform, raised $23.5 million. Invus Opportunities led the round and was joined by investors including Renegade Partners and Gaingels as well as G20, Work-Bench, Alleycorp, Bullpen Capital, and Accomplice.
- Era Software, a Seattle-based maker of software for enterprises, raised $15.3 million in Series A funding. Playground Global led the round.
- NYMBUS, a provider of banking technology, raised $15 million from Financial Services Capital.
- Biomicrogel Group, a U.K.-based biotech focused on cleaning water and hard surfaces, raised $13 million. Gregory Berenstein led the round.
- Class, an edtech startup that integrates with Zoom, raised about $12.3 million. Investors include Salesforce Ventures, Sound Ventures, and Tom Brady.
- Synthesia, a London-based A.I. Video generation platform, raised $12.5 million. FirstMark led the round.
- Pragma, a California-based developer of infrastructure for online live games, raised $12 million in Series A funding. David Thacker at Greylock led the round and was joined by investors including Zynga founder Mark Pincus, Oculus founder Nate Mitchell, Cloudera founder Amr Awadallah, Upfront Ventures, and Advancit Capital.
- Injective Protocol, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based decentralized derivatives exchange, raised $10 million. Investors included Pantera Capital, BlockTower, Hashed, Cadenza Ventures, CMS, and QCP Capital.
- Code Biotherapeutics, a Hatfield, Pa.-based gene therapy company , raised $10 million. 4BIO Capital and UPMC Enterprises led the round and were joined by investors includin g CureDuchenne Ventures, JDRF T1D Fund, New Enterprise Associates, and Takeda Ventures.
- RazorMetrics, an Austin-based drug spend savings platform for employers and health plans, raised $6 million in Series A funding. Sopris led the round.
- Aloe Care Health, a New York City-based startup focused on voice-activated eldercare solutions, raised $5 million in seed funding. Investors include City Light, Laerdal’s new Million Lives Fund, the Springbank Collective, and Drumbeat Ventures.
- Causal, a maker of a spreadsheet app, raised $4.2 million in seed funding. Accel led the round and was joined by investors including Coatue, Passion Capital, Verissimo Ventures, Naval Ravikant, and Varadh Jain.
- Leo AR, an augmented reality company, raised $3 million in seed funding. Great Oaks Ventures led the round and was joined by investors including Dennis Phelps of IVP, betaworks, Deutsche Telekom, and Quake Capital.
- Kuleana, a San Francisco-based maker of plant-based tuna, raised $3 million in seed funding. Investors include Y-Combinator, Astanor, GoodSeedVentures, Cruise Founder Kyle Vogt, BigIdeaVentures founder Andrew Ive and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian.
- Fintor, a San Francisco-based fractional real estate investing mobile app, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. Investors included 500 Startups, Hustle Fund, Ankur Nagpal (Teachable Founder), Jonathan Wasserstrum (SquareFoot Founder) and Manny Khoshbin ( Influencer).
- SplitSpot, a Boston-based flex-lease room based platform, raised $2 million. Investors include York IE and One Way Ventures.
- Mindgram, a European platform for mental wellness, raised €1.9 million in pre-seed funding. Market One Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Pamoja Capital.
- JOKR, an e-commerce platform, raised an undisclosed amount of funding. HV Capital led the round and was joined by investors including Tiger Global, Softbank, and Market One Capital.
PRIVATE EQUITY
Vista Credit Partners led a $223 million round of financing in Rocket Lawyer, an online legal service.
- Katena Products, a portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, acquired ASICO, a Westmont, Ill.-based precision ophthalmic instrument market. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- American Pacific Corporation, backed by AE Industrial Partners, made a minority investment in Frontier Aerospace, a Simi Valley, Calif.-based space propulsion industry. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- KKR invested in MetroNet, an Evansville, Ind.-based telecom and fiber company. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Good Sportsman Marketing Outdoors, a portfolio company of Gridiron Capital, acquired Plano Synergy’s hunting accessories and archery brands from Pure Fishing. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Luminate Capital Partners invested in Axonify, a Canada-based employee training software maker. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- PSG invested in Kenect, a Pleasant Grove, Ut.-based provider of business texting and communications technology. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- TPG Growth invested in Implantable Provider Group, an Atlanta-based surgical cost management software maker. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
- Serata Capital Partners and Landon Capital Partners invested in Fusion92, a Chicago-based marketing agency. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
EXITS
- Stone Point Capital agreed to acquire Consilio, a Washington D.C.-based provider of review, risk management, and legal consulting services, from GI Partners. Financial terms weren't disclosed.
OTHER
- Canadian National Railway Co. Offered to acquire Kansas City Southern (NYSE: KSE), a U.S.-based railway network, for $30 billion. Canadian Pacific Railway agreed previously to acquire Kansas City Southern for about $25 billion.
IPOS
- Endeavor Group Holdings, the entertainment agency behind the Ultimate Fighting Championship, revitalized its IPO plans and is seeking to raise $511 million.
F+FS
- NexPhase Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, closed NexPhase Capital Fund IV with $544 million.
- Northlane Capital Partners, a Bethesda, Md.-based private equity firm targeting investments in healthcare and business services closed Northlane Capital Partners II with $408 million.
- Inovo, a London-based venture capital fund investing in technology startups across Poland and Central & Eastern European region, closed Inovo II, at €54 million ($65 million).
- Digital Alpha Advisors, a San Francisco-based digital infrastructure-focused investment firm, closed its second fund with $1 billion.
PEOPLE
- Thoma Bravo, a private equity firm, hired Adam Solomon as a principal on the firm’s Explore Fund team.
- Night Ventures, a venture fund backed by Youtuber MrBeast’s management company, named Ben Mathews as a general partner. Mathews was previously a vice president at Bessemer.
