Hundreds of technology-focused startups worth a billion or more dollars had considered successful takeover bids before the pandemic. But new technology listings have slowed to almost nothing this spring as companies have tried to adapt to the sweeping changes sweeping the world.
Today, more and more companies are back to their previous plans, Lemonade and Accolade finding an enthusiastic audience this week, following the pop of Agora last Friday, as Alex Wilhelm covered it.
The first big tech IPO this week was in online insurance, the second in healthcare, and although both are in promising markets, valuations are a little higher than their commercial realities to date. . Here is more, from his analysis on Extra Crunch:
The lemonade is valued at more than 15 times the value of its annualized First quarter earnings, even if they don't have gross margins, you can expect investors to demand them to deserve this SaaS assessment. And Accolade plans to only grow about 20% in Q2 2020 compared to its results from the previous year while probably losing more money.
But who cares? The IPO market stands there with open arms today (there is always another IPO cliché hiding).
Reading this is incredibly simple: as open as we thought the IPO market was before, it is even more welcoming. For marginal companies like Palantir, Airbnb, DoorDash and Asana, you have to wonder what they are waiting for. Sure, you can raise more private capital like Palantir and DoorDash, but then what; if you want to defend your valuation, is this not the market we hoped for?
He also takes a look at a few other companies that are about to file, including banking software company nCino and GoHealth, an insurance portal bought by a private equity firm last year, as well as the game company DoubleDown Interactive. The general trend seems to be that the initial stock price has remained more conservative than what public markets are feeling.
Start-up survey shows remote control is already a new standard
"Startup startups are confident to reopen their offices following COVID-19 in the next six months," wrote Mike Butcher for TipsClear this week. "But there will be changes." Here's more from our UK-based editor:
An exclusive survey compiled by Founders Forum, with TipsClear, found that 63% of those polled said they would only reopen in 1 to 3 months or 3 to 6 months - even if the government advised [sic] that it is prudent to do so before this date. A minority have reopened their offices, while 10% have permanently closed their offices. The full survey results are available here.
However, there will clearly be a long-term impact on the office work model, with a majority of respondents saying that they would now switch to either a flexible remote work model (some with permanent offices, some without) , but only a small number plan a "normal" return to work. A very small number plan to become totally "distant". Many have cited the continued benefits of face-to-face interaction when trying to create such a crucial team culture with start-up businesses.
Title insurance gets the technological competition it deserves
Many people are thinking more about homeownership while waiting for quarantine - but real estate is still an old-fashioned industry, with surprising complexities and costs that can keep a dream purchase out of reach. Title insurance is a prime example. A one-time cost to protect buyers and sellers during the closing process, it can extend the buying process by a month or two, in addition to potentially adding thousands of dollars in costs. But various new regulations and decisions have combined with the major trends in SaaS to open up the market. Here's more, in a detailed guest article for Ashley Paston's Extra Crunch from Bain Capital Ventures:
In a very short time, we have seen startups take advantage of this new, more competitive landscape by offering solutions to streamline the task of obtaining title insurance. Qualia, for example, offers an end-to-end platform that connects all parties involved in a real estate transaction, so that title agents can manage and coordinate all aspects of the process in real time. The San Francisco-based United States, for example, uses a predictive subscription engine that produces an almost instant title valuation, greatly reducing the cost and time required to issue a policy. Qualia and States Title are part of several companies that wish to revolutionize title insurance and reflect the two emerging meta-trends.
The first trend, empowerment, consists of companies developing a technology designed to integrate with existing real estate companies ... The second trend, disruption, consists of companies that completely displace existing real estate companies.
Technological diversity remains at the center of concerns
The tech industry has talked about making its opportunities available to everyone for many years and has struggled to make them happen. But more than a month after the death of George Floyd, this time still feels different. An example is 👁👄👁.fm, a sort of insidious viral farce from last weekend that a small group of diverse tech friends created and turned into a successful grassroots fundraiser for racial justice organizations (this isn't was not a VC fundraising coup). "All of a sudden," wrote Ravi Mehta, veteran product manager, for TipsClear, "the team berated Silicon Valley's use of exclusivity as a marketing tactic, controlled thirsty VCs for their desire to always be the first on the next big thing, has skillfully exploited the virality of Twitter to raise awareness and channel this awareness in dollars that will have a real impact on groups too often neglected. "
Meanwhile, a group of black startup founders and the Transparent Collective have created a public spreadsheet to provide a complete list of each VC who supported a black founder in the United States, and the Black Innovation Alliance umbrella has been launched. to help hundreds of related black-based technologies and entrepreneurship organizations connect and support each other. Efforts like these, combined with a real generational drive to tackle structural problems, are what can ultimately make the difference.
Why AR has failed (so far)
The concepts of augmented reality may become a central part of how people live in the future, but the first wave of businesses in space has not been successful. Here's why, from Lucas Matney on Extra Crunch:
The technology was almost there in many cases, but the real problem was that the stakes to beat the major players in the market were so high that many entrants rejected boring general consumer products. In a race for everyone, the industry has relied on emerging development platforms to do the dirty work of building their first use cases, which has greatly contributed to adoption. nonexistent users.
Instead, he says the success will come from nailing use cases first, and not messing around with complex development platforms and expensive hardware.
Around TipsClear
Hear Charles Hudson explain how to sell an idea (no product) at an early stage
Get your pitchdeck criticized by Amy Saper from Accel and Talia Goldberg from Bessemer at an early stage
CRISPR pioneer researcher Jennifer Doudna has just disturbed
One week only: benefit from discounts on July 4 on Disrupt 2020 passes
Balance: save 25% on the annual Extra Crunch membership
Extra Crunch is now available in Greece, Ireland and Portugal
Extra Crunch expands in Romania
The whole week
Global application revenue climbs to $ 50 billion in the first half of 2020, in part due to the impacts of COVID-19
Stop COVID-19 from undoing the gains in diversity
Strap in - a virtual Tour de France is coming this weekend
US suspends export of sensitive technology to Hong Kong as China passes new national security law
India bans TikTok, dozens of other Chinese apps
Major Los Angeles investors discuss the city's post-COVID-19 outlook
13 Boston venture capitalists talk about green shoots and start-up recovery
How the 20 billion dollar healthcare giant Blue Shield of California sees startups
Napkin Notes to Term Sheets: A Conversation with Alexa von Tobel of Inspired Capital
Where to open a game studio
Are virtual concerts here to stay?
From Alex:
Hello and welcome to Equity, TipsClear's venture capital podcast, where we unveil the numbers behind the headlines. Before you dive in, don't forget that the show is on Twitter now, so follow us there if you want to see rejected song ideas, deleted shots of the show, and more . It's funny! Let's get back to the task, listen, we're tired too. But we didn't let that stop us from packing this week's Equity at the gills with news and notes and jokes and fun. I hope you can laugh with myself and Natasha and Danny and Chris on the dials as we go through it all:- Journalism, venture capitalists, and not being a colossal asshole: Listen to learn more, but there is once again a hubbub in the tech world twitter and media twitter to find out if journalists should write more positive things about tech companies (no), and if venture capitalists are a little too thin for their net worth (Yes).
- Lemonade IPO went kaboom out of the door, more than doubling in value. But the CEO is not too worried. I spoke to him before the registration and he was more interested in getting a solid, long-term investor base than extracting every possible dollar from their increase. And Lemonade already had a lot of money, so it wasn't a huge concern.
- We also spent a minute on the possible Uber-Postmates agreement, which could be announced early next week. That or Postmates is really serious about going public. We will see.
- Then we had to talk about Mirror, Lululemon and what's going on with home fitness. Is the trend here to stay? Natasha thinks so, and the rest of the crew are also very optimistic. Especially since it is not as if we are going to resume life anytime soon.
- After that, it was time to move on to a few rounds of funding, including the latest neo-fiscal, and a recording on the Lessonbee at the start, which sounds really cool.
- We also started a quick note on Contrary Capital and the startup mafias, the Envision accelerator, Discord's last $ 100 million round, and we closed with the Final Luckin Letdown.
