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Everywhere Ventures Pursues Foreign Deals as Others Shy Away
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By Yuliya Chernova, WSJ Pro
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Good day. Many venture investors chasing good returns said they wanted to expand access to capital around the world when the tech markets were booming in 2021. But that enthusiasm petered out when markets cooled last year.
U.S. investors participated in venture deals totaling $17 billion abroad in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 70% drop from the $57.6 billion in global deal volume with U.S. participation in the fourth quarter of the prior year, according to PitchBook Data Inc. Venture markets slowed during this time in the U.S. as well, but the decline in global deals with U.S. participation was more dramatic.
One of the biggest drivers of investing far from a venture investor’s base has always been the search for places where there was less competition for deals, said Olav Sorenson, faculty director of the Price Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the UCLA Anderson School of Management. That impetus has lessened lately.
Some venture firms, however, are staying the course.
Everywhere Ventures raised $25 million for its third fund to invest in early-stage startups across the U.S. and globally. Formerly known as The Fund, the firm rebranded with the raise of its new fund to emphasize its expanding strategy.
“The old saying about VCs only investing in a 20-mile radius from their Sand Hill Road office is super antiquated,” Everywhere’s Managing Partner Jenny Fielding said.
“Not only do we believe in growth-market opportunities, but we believe that this change will happen faster, with less competition, and with far greater alpha for those who are contrarian and early adopters,” she added.
Everywhere uses technology such as Slack and Zoom to activate its network of more than 500 limited partners, many of whom are also entrepreneurs, around the world. These LPs and portfolio-company founders create smaller communities locally. The LPs help the firm surface deals, vet investments and keep tabs on a portfolio of some 250 startups, some of which are in distant locations. The firm, meanwhile, keeps its operating costs low.
Read more about how Everywhere Ventures does it in WSJ Pro’s article today.
And now on to the news...
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Beijing has increasingly leveraged its merger-review process and antimonopoly rules to advance its political and economic goals. PHOTO: MARK SCHIEFELBEIN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
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China slows global merger approvals. The U.S. encouraged China to set up a robust antitrust regime. Now, Beijing is holding back its required green light for mergers that involve American companies as a technology war with Washington intensifies, The Wall Street Journal reports.
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Chinese regulators recently have slowed down their merger reviews of a number of proposed acquisitions by U.S. companies, including Intel Corp.’s $5.2 billion takeover of Israel-based Tower Semiconductor Ltd. and chip maker MaxLinear Inc.’s $3.8 billion purchase of Silicon Motion Technology of Taiwan, according to people close to the process.
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As preconditions for approving some of the transactions, the people said, officials at the State Administration for Market Regulation, China’s antitrust regulator known as SAMR, have asked companies to make available in China products they sell in other countries—an attempt to counter the U.S.’s increased export controls targeting China.
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$100 Million
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The total of insider share sales at collapsed Signature Bank in the years after the bank pivoted to attract cryptocurrency companies.
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Frank Founder Faces Criminal Fraud Charges Over JPMorgan Deal
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The Justice Department charged the founder of college financial-aid company Frank with fraud Tuesday in connection with the company’s sale to JPMorgan Chase & Co. in September 2021, alleging she inflated the company’s customer count to trick the bank into a $175 million deal, WSJ reports.
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Charlie Javice was arrested Monday night and was set to appear before a magistrate judge Tuesday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
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A representative for Ms. Javice’s lawyer said Ms. Javice denies the allegations. JPMorgan declined to comment.
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Richard Branson’s Space Company Virgin Orbit Files for Bankruptcy
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Richard Branson’s Virgin Orbit Holdings Inc. has filed for bankruptcy after the satellite-launch venture said it wasn’t able to secure sufficient funding to continue in what has become a hypercompetitive market, WSJ reports. The company on Tuesday said it was working to sell itself. Just three months ago, it was poised to make history by delivering the first satellites into orbit from the billionaire’s home country of the U.K.—before the high-profile launch ended in the destruction of its satellite payload.
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Raine Group Acquires Code Advisors, a Boutique Bank
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The Raine Group, a merchant bank focused on media, technology and telecommunications deals, agreed to acquire San Francisco boutique investment bank Code Advisors, in a bid to strengthen its footing in Silicon Valley, WSJ reports. Code Advisors co-founder Quincy Smith is set to join Raine’s San Francisco office as a partner, while Code co-founder Michael Marquez will become a special adviser helping manage Code’s existing investment portfolio while exploring new initiatives within Raine, the companies said. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
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WSJ Pro Event: Prospects for Private Credit
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On April 25 we’ll be discussing the prospects for private credit in a virtual event. Private credit has been booming for 20 years but we’ll be looking at how lending, borrowing and investing in the asset class could be affected by rising interest rates and higher risk. Speakers include Jean Hsu of the California Public Employees' Retirement System and Spyro Alexopoulos of Golub Capital. You can register here.
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Funds
MPowered Capital, an alternative investor focusing on underrepresented talent, closed its MPowered Capital Access Fund I LP with $110 million in commitments.
People
Jason Rosenthal joined a16z crypto as an operating partner. He most recently ran the majority of Google’s consumer-facing subscription services.
JumpCloud Inc., a provider of device and identity access management, appointed Jill Passalacqua as chief legal officer. She was previously general counsel at Harness, and held leadership roles at Avi Networks, FireEye and NetApp.
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Everstream Analytics, a San Marcos, Calif.-based supply chain insights and risk analytics provider, closed a $50 million Series B round. Morgan Stanley Investment Management’s 1GT private equity platform co-led the investment alongside StepStone Group.
Strivacity Inc., a Herndon, Va.-based startup offering low-code customer identity and access management technology, picked up a $20 million investment. SignalFire led the round, with Partner Chris Scoggins joining the company’s board. Additional investors including Ten Eleven Ventures also participated in the funding.
Vytelle, a Lenexa, Kansas-based startup whose technology accelerates genetic progress in cattle, raised $20 million in Series B financing led by Forage Capital Partners.
Finanzguru, Germany-based personal financial advisor startup, landed €13 million in new funding from investors including PayPal Ventures.
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MARGARET RIEGEL
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