Preqin: Venture Capital Deals Hit Record in 2017

In overall value, VC fundings totaled $182 billion, besting 2015 high mark.

Venture funding tallied a record $182 billion last year, surpassing the peak of $148 billion set in 2015, a study by research group Preqin found.

Still, the number of VC-backed financings marked the second-consecutive annual decline. The number of deals totaled 11,144 in 2017, down from 11,699 in 2016. Meanwhile, the average size of most funding rounds has increased, said Felice Egidio, who heads venture capital products at Preqin.

One reason, he said in a statement, may be “the increasing competition for attractive opportunities,” as companies seek to raise large VC sums in late stages of their development, rather than turn to going public by selling stock or putting the business on the block.

Last year’s largest deal was the $5.5 billion funding of ride-sharing company Didi Chuxing, by investors including the Bank of Communications and China Merchants Bank. This was the second-largest VC deal of the past decade and the biggest Asia VC financing ever.

Want the latest institutional investment industry
news and insights? Sign up for CIO newsletters.

North America had the largest portion of deal activity, with 4,302 investments for a $77 billion total. At the same time, Asia showed a sizable range of VC activity, with $65 billion invested in Greater China and $10 billion announced for India.

In 2017, the largest number of deals was for the beginning stage, known as the angel or seed round, with 32%, with the later Series A financings at 28%. Among industry sectors, software deals accounted for 26% of announcements by number, although internet firms had the largest dollar amount at 24%.

Exits had an uptick in 2017, with 1,151 VC exits amounting to $71 billion.

Tags: , ,

Top UK University Union Members to Strike over Pension Changes

Average professor could lose over $200k in benefits under new plan.

Furious after the Universities Superannuation Scheme announced plans to change its defined benefit schemes to defined contribution, top UK universities are planning to strike in the coming weeks.

Should last-ditch talks scheduled for Tuesday fail, the University and College Union is planning to take action February 22 with a two-day walkout, possibly leading to five-day block over a series of weeks, according to BBC.

Union members in the possible 61 universities affected by the strike will work to contract, but will not be covering classes or perform any voluntary work. They will also not make up any classes lost during the strike. The chain of affected universities includes Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College London, UCL, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, and York.

The BBC reports that the average professor would lose £200,000 ($279,677.81) over the duration of their retirement due to these changes.

Want the latest institutional investment industry
news and insights? Sign up for CIO newsletters.

Out of 68 universities that are members of the scheme, 61 voted in favor of striking — 88% for strikes, 93% preferred short strikes. The overall turnout was 58%.

According to a statement, the UCU “hoped that the overwhelming mandate for strike action would focus universities’ minds and that more vice-chancellors would publicly pressure UUK to agree a deal,” and was happy for extended talks so that the issue may be resolved before a strike were to occur.

“Universities will be hit with levels of strike action not seen before on UK campuses if a deal cannot be done over the future of USS pensions. Members have made it quite clear they are prepared to take action to defend their pensions and the universities need to work with us to avoid widespread disruption,” UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said in a statement. “Even at this late stage, we urge universities to work with us to reach an agreement that protects the defined benefit element of USS pensions.”

Tags: , , ,

«