Hopes that it would become easier for startups to raise capital in 2023 were left unmet as the year ended.
The Exchange explores startups, markets and money.
New data from business database PitchBook paints a modestly dim picture of venture capital investment activity in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Per PitchBook’s preliminary count, startups in the U.S. raised 2,879 rounds worth about $37.5 billion in the fourth quarter — the lowest quarterly deal value since Q3 2019, and the lowest deal count since Q4 2017.
Across stages, venture capital investment activity in the United States is flagging, and this extends past aggregate figures — for example, we saw less total capital invested in U.S. startups last year than in 2020.
I don’t know that anyone expected such a massive deal to simply skate past regulators — particularly with all of the heat Amazon has received for privacy concerns and noncompetitive practices over the last decade.
At the same time, I don’t think too many of us assumed that we would be barreling into 2024 with this big, open question mark.
The deal has already been greenlit by a number of governmental bodies, but the process has felt drawn out at every step.
If you’re a regular Actuator reader, you likely already know my feelings about outside scrutiny of business practices (I’m generally pro), but I expected something definitive by now.
Amazon will be just fine, of course, but I can’t imagine this waiting game has been easy on iRobot, which underwent two rounds of layoffs in mid-2022 and early 2023.
Even without Adobe, things don’t look too bad for Figma CB Insights estimates that Figma is still worth between $8.3 billion and $9 billionA failed acquisition often spells doom for the target company.
But despite its $20 billion takeover by Adobe not going through, there are reasons to think that Figma will be just fine.
That the online design company will get a $1 billion termination fee from Adobe will help soften the blow.
So, “no, startups, you’re not getting a breakup fee unless it’s a sizable enough deal where there is antitrust risk,” VC Ed Sim wrote on X.
But in the Adobe-Figma deal, where both companies knew that this risk was front and center, even a $1 billion fee seems only fair compared to the uncertainty ahead.
Alteryx, an Irvine, California-based software company developing data science and analytics products, today announced that it’s agreed to be acquired by private equity firms Clearlake Capital Group and Insight Partners in a deal worth $4.4 billion.
Clearlake and Insight reportedly beat out Symphony Technology Group, another private equity firm, which Reuters reported several days ago had been vying for Alteryx.
The Clearlake-Insight deal, which includes debt, values Alteryx’s equity at around $3.46 billion, reports Reuters — a 29.1% premium over the company’s closing share price on Friday.
After raising tens of millions of dollars from VC firms including Toba Capital, Insight, Sapphire Ventures, ICONIQ Capital and Meritech Capital Partners, Alteryx went public on the NYSE in 2017.
Today, Alteryx stands out as an industry leader with a differentiated platform that scales data democratization in a governed manner,” Stoecker said.
Adobe and Figma ended their $20 billion acquisition dream this morning after regulators signaled it would continue to be rough going.
Figma still gets a $1 billion consolation prize as part of the deal, and as the leader in collaborative design, should land on its feet just fine.
Adobe put on a brave face in their public statement, but it has to be deeply disappointed with this outcome.
Figma, for its part, has not stood still since the deal was announced, proceeding and planning as the independent company it is.
If he is right, that’s precisely why Adobe wanted to buy the company because it saw that too.
Adobe’s $20 billion mega-bid to buy rival Figma is now officially dead, after the companies said today that regulatory pushback in Europe had caused them to put an end to the acquisition plans.
First announced in September last year, the deal was always going to attract regulatory scrutiny due to the size of the transaction and the fact that it took one of Adobe’s major rivals out of the picture.
Irrespective of that outcome, the two companies were already facing significant headwinds in Europe.
As a result of all this, Adobe will now have to pay Figma a termination fee of $1 billion, which was contractually payable in the event of the transaction failing to attain regulatory clearance — or if it failed to close within 18 months of the acquisition’s announcement last September.
That 18-month stipulation hadn’t yet been reached, and no regulatory body had actually announced their final findings — but Adobe and Figma clearly saw no way through this, and with the DoJ also weighing up regulatory action, in the end it just made more sense to pull the plug on the deal entirely.
The investment is coming by way of Verdane taking a substantial stake Fountain Venture, the investment vehicle controlled by the founder and current chairman of Meltwater, Jørn Lyseggen.
Joakim Kjemperud, a principal at Verdane, said the deal also gives his firm a stake in an HR firm, Jobylon, although Meltwater is by far the bigger asset.
In that context, it’s notable that Verdane opted to invest in Fountain Venture rather than directly in Meltwater.
That will give Verdane not only the stake in Meltwater, but also a stake in Jobylon and whatever else Fountain and Lyseggen find interesting.
Meltwater built AI in-house and has acquired a stream of businesses in an analytics consolidation play.
Innovation in clean tech and renewable energy is moving fast — maybe a bit too fast.
The clean tech industry is expected to create 8 million jobs by the end of 2030, according to a recent report by the International Energy Agency.
These numbers are apparently based on current policies, and if more resources go toward the clean energy transition, the report’s authors expect the number to rise, too.
The startup hires and trains folks to install and maintain sustainable heat pumps.
It trains people new to the trades, provides upskilling training to those who have some experience, and has its workers install and maintain equipment for other companies.
Since the company’s earliest days as an MIT spinoff, Boston Dynamics’ systems have always provided entertainment value.
The Nashville-based firm has created theme park and exhibition animatronics for some of Hollywood’s biggest franchises, including Avatar, Jurassic Park, Marvel and Harry Potter.
A huge benefit for Neon/Animax is Boston Dynamics’ ability to produce robust and untethered autonomous systems at scale.
The world of theme park robots has transformed in recent years, with experiences like Disneyland’s Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge exhibiting robots that intermingle with park goers.
“We are thrilled about the collaboration with Neon and Animax for the development of fully untethered entertainment robots,” Boston Dynamics Chief Strategy Officerf Marc Theermann notes in a release.
In recent years, there has been a proliferation of business intelligence tools that aim to help companies make critical business decisions based on data analytics.
As data adoption increases at most companies, they are left with growing administration problems, said Logan Havern, co-founder and CEO of Datalogz.
Other participating investors from the latest round include Graphene Ventures, Squadra Ventures, Berkeley Skydeck, Defined VC, Mana Ventures and Trajectory Ventures.
These piling reports, Havern argued, could lead to thousands of dashboards with duplication, unused assets, security risks, inefficiencies and consequently unwanted costs.
Part of Datalogz’s business is stepping into the turf of traditional consulting firms, which easily charge $1-10 million annually just to perform business intelligence audits and clean-ups, according to Havern.
