The Thanksgiving Issue - Announcing SignalRank Corporation

More new startups valued at $10 billion or above have been minted in 2021—far more than in any prior year, and double the number created in 2020, which set the previous record for new “decacorns,” as these highly valued companies are known. All told, 30 companies have been newly valued at a decacorn valuation in 2021 so far, Crunchbase data shows.

As Sequoia changes its model, other permanent-capital VCs weigh in 

The decision by Sequoia to become a registered investment adviser (RIA) and move to a “singular, permanent structure,” in its own words, landed with a splash in the U.S. venture capital market. But perhaps it shouldn’t have made quite as many waves as it did.

Sequoia was not the first United States-based venture capitalist to opt for RIA status, and it was also not the first venture capitalist that The Exchange tracks that moved to a more permanent-capital model. The combination of becoming an RIA and moving to a capital pool that isn’t beset with artificial return windows may be notable in the United States, but we’ve seen examples of this elsewhere.

To better understand what Sequoia is up to, The Exchange reached out to a number of publicly listed venture capital groups from the United Kingdom: We chatted with Augmentum Fintech COO Richard Matthews, Molten Ventures partner Vinoth Jayakumar and Forward Partners Managing Partner Nic Brisbourne. We’ve spoken to them before, when we previously explored the advantages and costs of VCs moving to listed status.

The solo GP’s rise in Europe: Why venture capitalists go solo  Sifted

VCs tend to hunt in packs. But occasionally, investors splinter away to raise funds on their own — becoming so-called lone wolf VCs.

Solo VCs in the US have gained prominence in recent years for their agility and speed, and — unlike super angels — for taking part in late-stage rounds.

Now, the “one-person VC party” is gaining traction in Europe, fuelled by a competitive funding environment.

Earlier this year, British podcaster-turned-investor Harry Stebbings raised $140m for his fund 20VC, creating the biggest solo general partner (GP) account in Europe. Other solo capitalists in Europe include Rodrigo Martinez (ex-Point Nine) at HelloWorld and Nico Wittenborn (also ex-Point Nine) at Adjacent.

The latest to join break ranks and start a solo fund is former Lakestar partner Manu Gupta, who recently founded Blue Lion Capital, he confirmed to Sifted.

While Gupta has a partner who will manage the operations side of the portfolio, Gupta will be the primary investment and fundraising brain.

Blue Lion will be a micro tech fund focused on Europe and the US, Gupta confirmed. He declined the share the amount raised but said prospective, high-profile investors were finalising their due diligence.

Pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, endowments and other institutional sources of capital used to shy away from cryptocurrencies over concerns about their use in illicit activity. Those reservations increasingly seem to be dissipating.

The latest example comes from Pantera Capital, one of the first investment firms to focus exclusively on blockchain and cryptocurrencies. The firm, led by Tiger Management alum Dan Morehead, has raised $600 million for its fourth venture fund, according to a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Roughly 75% of the capital for the new fund is from institutional sources such as endowments, this person said. That’s a change from the firm’s $175 million vehicle raised in 2018, which was funded mainly by individuals, including newly wealthy crypto investors.

Tiger Global’s leader, Chase Coleman, began professional life at a fund that prioritized flexible thinking and a meritocratic structure. One Tiger employee said of Robertson, “He can look at a long list of numbers in a financial statement he’d never seen before and say, `This one is wrong.‘ And he’d be right.” Such acuity originates from natural talent but only flourishes with sufficient experience.

VC Firm Hambro Perks Eyes First London SPAC Listing Under New Rules  Bloomberg

U.K. venture capital firm Hambro Perks Ltd. aims to raise 140 million pounds ($187 million) listing a special purpose acquisition company in London, in what could be the market’s first major blank-check offering since overhauling its rules.

Hambro Perks Acquisition Co. plans to sell 14 million units at 10 pounds apiece, it said in a statement Tuesday. Each unit represents one share and the right to receive half a warrant. It will seek to merge with a late-stage technology-enabled company, with a focus on firms from the U.K. and Europe, according to the statement.

A fascinating place in which this is playing out today is how food delivery companies, such as DoorDash and UberEats, are creating relationships with customers that are ongoing, on the backs of the restaurants desperate enough for business to yield control of their customers to the digital giants. Some of the most powerful business models in use today depend on the fact that it is inconvenient, expensive or time-consuming for customers to switch to another provider.

Our Head of Talent Alex Lewis shares insights, with collaboration with Felix Martinez and Kate McGinn from our team, on what Seedcamp’s high-level due-diligence process is for vetting and assessing founding teams. In this blog post, he lays out five traits we look out for when speaking with founders. “ In real estate, the three […]

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