A VC Explains the Personal Side of Being a VCWe chat with Alex Niehenke, a 10-year veteran of the venture capital space, about a few things outsiders may not realize about the job of a VC. Snap's IPO: A tech spectacle [datagraphic]In what's likely the most highly anticipated IPO since Facebook, Snap is poised to take the plunge into the public markets in the coming days. The company set its terms a couple of weeks ago, planning to sell 200 million shares at a price between $14 to $16 each; a midpoint pricing would raise about $3 billion for the "camera company". [ PitchBook ] FINANCIERS FIGHT OVER THE AMERICAN DREAMA hedge fund planned to make a fortune—and do good—by exposing how Herbalife preyed on the poor. What went wrong? [ The New Yorker ]Early cancer detection startup GRAIL closes on $900 million in Series B fundingLife sciences startups need a whole lot more cash than most and that’s certainly true for GRAIL, a cancer detection startup trying to figure out a way to find the “emperor of all maladies” much earlier through blood testing technology. The startup, which spun out of genomics company Illumina announced it has closed a whopping $900 million in Series B funding this morning. GRAIL, which previously raised $100 million to develop initial studies of its blood test technology, uses Illumina’s high-intensity genome sequencing machines, clinical studies and data science to try and catch the early stages of cancer before it grabs hold in the body. [ Tech Crunch ] Early-Stage Fintech Opportunities: Where Smart Money VCs Are Placing Bets In One Market MapFrom banking to blockchain to insurance and real estate, smart money VCs are finding fresh opportunities in fintech.Losses Mount for Obamacare Startup Oscar as Repeal LoomsOscar Insurance Corp., the startup trying to reinvent medical insurance with its Obamacare-focused plans, lost more than $200 million on the products in 2016 as it heads into a year that may see the undoing of the health law. The company offered plans in four states in 2016 and lost about $204.9 million on premium revenue of $425.9 million, according to filings. The loss widened from $121.7 million in 2015. The company says it exited some markets, invested in operations and is aiming for a turnaround in 2017, yet its fate may be closely linked to one of its key backer’s relatives. Oscar co-founder Joshua Kushner is brother to Jared Kushner, who is the husband of Ivanka Trump and a senior adviser to President Donald Trump. Trump has promised to repeal Obamacare -- the very law Oscar was founded to profit from. [ Bloomberg ] Tech Startup Market Sinks to Lowest Point in Three YearsThe post-election rally that’s lifting U.S. public markets has left at least one group by the wayside: private technology startups. Since last year’s peak in mid-December, startup deal-making has fallen 37 percent, according to the Bloomberg U.S. Startups Barometer, which tracks fundraising, initial public offerings and acquisitions. The index is at its lowest point since April 2014. [ Bloomberg ] Snap Vaults Venture Investor Lightspeed Into Silicon Valley Elite A decade ago, Lightspeed Venture Partners was an obscure firm investing in highly technical startups that were mostly unknown outside of Silicon Valley. The firm is now poised to cash in handily on the biggest technology IPO in three years, Snap Inc, which is set to make its public market debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday at a valuation that could top $22 billion. Lightspeed stands to reap one of its best returns from an investment that started as a $485,000 bet on a college student. That investment in the owner of social media app Snapchat promises a big boost to the Lightspeed's status in the fiercely competitive Silicon Valley venture capital community. Firms that are perceived to pick the best companies, a group that includes Benchmark, Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, can often beat out other VCs for coveted deals and raise more funding from their limited partners. "Monster IPOs in particular can be quite significant," said Beezer Clarkson, a limited partner and managing director with Sapphire Ventures. "A fund's reputation is strengthened, which can mean enhanced deal flow and greater confidence that lightning will strike again." Lightspeed owns 87 million Snap shares, according to public filings, or 8.6% of the company. At the top of the expected IPO price range of $14 to $16 per share, that stake would be worth about $1.4 billion. It was the sole investor in Snap's $485,000 seed round in 2012, an early stake that super-charged Lightspeed's returns. A particularly big winner on Thursday will be Jeremy Liew, the Lightspeed partner who led the Snap investment. [ Fortune ] Lyft Is Said to Seek New Funding as Its Rival Uber StumblesLyft, the second-largest ride hailing company in the United States, is trying to raise more money just as Uber, its bigger rival, grapples with questions about its culture and leadership. Lyft is talking with investors about new fund-raising that would put the company’s value around $6 billion, according to three people briefed on the financing who asked to remain anonymous because the proceedings are confidential. One of the people said the valuation could be as high as $7 billion. The company was valued at $5.5 billion early last year after investors, including General Motors, poured about $1 billion into it. It is unclear how far along Lyft is with the new fund-raising and whether the round will be completed. [ NY Times ] Venture capital and private equity fundraising up globally, but a slowdown is likely, report finds |