Uncategorized – Investor Network

Pipeline – Private Equity 18-03-24

Growth capital and private equity

Pipeline – Wining Strategies

“One prays for miracles but works for results” – Saint Augustine

“Good intentions are nice, but it is the hard work behind the strategy that moves mountains” – JD Morris

PIPELINE

• Helix, a provider of DNA-powered products, raised $200 million in Series B funding. DFJ Growth led the round and was joined by investors including Illumina, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mayo Clinic, Sutter Hill Ventures and Warburg Pincus. – Let our SEA program help you fast track with DFJ, Kleiner Perkins and Illumina.

• Aurora Innovation, a self-driving vehicle startup, raised $90 million in funding. Investors include Greylock Partners and Index Ventures. Read more at Fortune.

• Mist, a Cupertino, Calif.-based maker of a self-learning wireless network powered by artificial intelligence, raised $46 million in Series C funding. Kleiner Perkins led the round, and was joined by investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, GV, NTT Docomo Ventures and Dimension Data.

DISCLAIMER: This information is provided by AP, Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, preqin, Reuters, TechCrunch, VentureBeat, Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and other 3rd party sources. Please check with the company website as this a beta blog and will not be updated.

Happy Networking & Investing,

Investor Network

Pipeline PE – Back to basics

We are back to basic of posting deals. Still in BETA and still just for fun!

We are still looking to work with Management Buy-Outs and deals with great than $4 million EBITDA.

Here are a few deals that closed:

• HG Capital will sell Iris Software Group Ltd, a U.K.-based provider of accounting and payroll software, in a deal that could value the software company at over 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion), according to SkyNews.

• Cerberus Capital Management LP agreed to buy Bluestone Holdings Australia. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but media reports peg the sale at approximately $103 million.

• Francisco Partners agreed to buy a majority of Discovery Education, a Silver Spring, Md.-based provider of digital content for students, from Discovery Communications Inc for $120 million.

• Catalyst Development, which is backed by Livingbridge, acquired Knadel, a London-based investment management consultancy. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

• A consortium of unnamed private equity firms acquired PhishMe, a Leesburg, Va.-based provider of phishing defense solutions. The deal values PhishMe at $400 million. PhishMe is rebranding as Cofense.

• M&Q, a portfolio company of Capital Partners, acquired Flavorseal, an Avon, Ohio-based food packaging company. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

• Parthenon Capital Partners invested in RedCard, a St. Louis, Mo.-based provider of claims communications, payments and enrollment solutions to healthcare providers, payors and members.

• L Squared Capital Partners invested in United Scope, a provider of microscopes and related accessories. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

• Butterfly acquired Modern Market, a farm-to-table fast casual restaurant company. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Happy Networking and Investing,

Investor Network

Pipeline and Rest

We are developing some interesting ideas for 2018 Beta of “Investor Network” and also taking a little rest this week!

santa-resting

Pipeline Venture Capital 2017-12-18

Just for fun as the blog is on hold!

One of our friends has an amazing popcorn deal that has raised more than $5 million and has buyers already talking to them!

Popcorn??? Hershey agreed to buy Amplify Snack Brands, the owner of Tyrell’s potato chips and SkinnyPop popcorn for $921 million.

FYI: We are still looking at Unicorn deals and Moonshot deal, but we love EBITDA deals!

JD meeting with friends at The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe (false Unicorn sighting)

PIPELINE ( Venture Capital )

• Virgin Hyperloop One, a Los Angeles-based tubular transit system startup, agreed to raise $50 million in funding, according to Axios. Investors include Caspian Venture Capital and DP World. Read more.

• Leadspace, a San Francisco and Tel Aviv-based B2B audience management platform for marketing and sales, raised $21 million in Series C funding. Arrowroot Capital and Jerusalem Venture Partners led the round.

• Huddly, an Oslo, Norway-based developer of a easy-to-use video collaboration technology, raised $10 million in Series C funding. Graham Williams led the round.

• Spotlite recently raised more than $10 million from Sequoia Capital China and BlueRun Ventures. The plan is to use the funding to build out the product, make key hires and expand its marketing and advertising efforts.

• Univercells, a Belgium-based provider of biomanufacturing solutions, raised $3.56 million in Series A funding. The investors included Takeda Ventures Inc.

• Aunt Fannie’s, a Portland-based CPG company focused on microbiomic cleaning products and pest solutions, raised $2.375 million in Series A. Investors include Monica Nassif, David Charne, and Stuart Erickson.

• Reniac Inc, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of intelligent data-aware architecture for applications, servers, and data stores, raised funding of an undisclosed amount from Intel Capital.

Happy Investing & Networking,

Start Business with your kids

The BETA blog is on hold until 2018! These posts are just for fun!

START A BUSINESS WITH YOUR KIDS

My wife supported our kids starting a Poshmark account and learning everything. The even has a very small EBITDA already! It took them 24 hours to launch and 48 hours to start making cash! Here is the URL:

https://poshmark.com/closet/cjsonline

Sound great! However, Ryan with “Ryan ToysReviews” started at 4 years old and is making $11 million gross on YouTube. The are both a far cry from a lemonade stand, but let us be honest that moms do most the work to make a lemon stand.

More about Ryan ToysReviews URL:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/12/11/6-year-old-made-11-million-in-one-year-reviewing-toys-on-you-tube/?utm_term=.93514e2569ba

Look at helping your kids start an online business today! Time for Santa to take some time off!

santa-resting

Happy Networking and Investing,

JD Morris

Beyond Listening & Pipeline 2017-11-13

BEYOND LISTENING: “The most important thing in pitches is hearing what is not said.” – JD Morris

ACTION TO RESULTS: What are you hiding from yourself or your partners in your business plan or pitch. Address this issue in a backup slide or take you partners out to lunch to have a long talk about can this issue be addressed! – riseSEA Analysis Program

BusinessAnalysis

PIPELINE (IPO Focus)

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals, a Crestwood, Kentucky-based company raised $150 million in an offering of 10.7 million shares at $14 a piece. In 2016, the company posted loss of $27.1 million. Morningside Venture Investments(28% pre-IPO), Potentia Holdings(9.9%), and venBio Funds(9.4%) back the company. Citigroup and J.P. Morgan are underwriters in the deal. The company plans to list on the Nasdaq as “APLS.”

• Luther Burbank, a Santa Rosa, Calif.-based residential loan-focused bank, filed for an $150 million IPO. In 2016, the company posted income of $52.1 million and assets of $5.1 billion. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods and Sandler O’Neill + Partners are joint bookrunners in the deal. The company plans to list on the Nasdaq as “LBC.”

• Erytech Pharma, a Lyon, France biotech developing cancer treatments, raised $109 million in an offering of 4.7 million ADSs at $23.36 a piece. In 2016, the company, posted revenue of $4.9 million and loss of $25.7 million. Baker Bros Advisors(15.4% pre-offering) and Auriga Partners (9.8%) back the company. Jefferies, Cowen & Company, and Oddo BHF are joint bookrunners in the deal. The firm plans to list on the Nasdaq as “ERYP.”

• Bandwidth, a Raleigh, N.C.-based API software company, raised $80 million in an offering of 4 million shares at $20 a piece, the low end of its range. In 2016, the company posted revenue of $152 million and income of $22.4 million. The company is backed by Carmichael Investment. Morgan Stanley, KeyBanc Capital Markets, Baird, Canaccord Genuity, and JMP Securities are underwriters in the deal. The company plans to list on the Nasdaq as “BAND.”

• Quanterix, a Lexington, Mass.-based protein detection test maker, filed for a $57.5 million IPO. In 2016, the company posted revenue of $17.6 million and loss of $23.2 million. ARCH Venture Partners(21.8% pre-offering) and Bain Capital(12.7%) back the company. J.P. Morgan and Leerink Partners are joint bookrunners in the deal. The company plans to list on the Nasdaq as “QTRX.”

• PPDAI Group, a Shanghai, China-based peer-to-peer lending platform, raised $221 million in an offering of 17 million shares at $17, within its range. The company posted revenue of $175.1 million and loss of $8.7 million in 2016. Backers include Sequoia Capital China(25.5% pre-IPO) and Lightspeed China Partner(10.4%). Credit Suisse and Citi are underwriters in the deal. The company plans to list on the NYSE as “PPDF.”

Happy Networking & Investing,