Mega-rounds now account for nearly half of the venture dollar flow
By Zac Zavos | September 9, 2019
Venture capital in the States is back to the levels of 1999. But the gain is not evenly spread: the traditional VC market has only grown 14% per year and mega-rounds now account for nearly half of the dollars in the industry. Consider the data: a whopping $40 billion came from deals of $100 million or more. $40 billion…
So what is behind the mega-round? It’s simple value capture from public markets to private markets. This is a profound change that has material impacts to every investor. Liquidity is pushing back from 3 (Amazon) – 6 (Google) years to more like 10 – 12 now. This means fewer exits for VC firms in the shorter term. But now companies list with many billions in market cap. And the gain has been held by venture investors, not the public market.
Were Google, Salesforce and Amazon to have stayed private for 12 years (today’s IPO benchmark) an addition $200 billion would have been captured in the private markets. Read more on Both Sides of the Table.
By Zac Zavos | September 9, 2019
Venture capital in the States is back to the levels of 1999. But the gain is not evenly spread: the traditional VC market has only grown 14% per year and mega-rounds now account for nearly half of the dollars in the industry. Consider the data: a whopping $40 billion came from deals of $100 million or more. $40 billion…
So what is behind the mega-round? It’s simple value capture from public markets to private markets. This is a profound change that has material impacts to every investor. Liquidity is pushing back from 3 (Amazon) – 6 (Google) years to more like 10 – 12 now. This means fewer exits for VC firms in the shorter term. But now companies list with many billions in market cap. And the gain has been held by venture investors, not the public market.
Were Google, Salesforce and Amazon to have stayed private for 12 years (today’s IPO benchmark) an addition $200 billion would have been captured in the private markets. Read more on Both Sides of the Table.