-
2 weeks ago | 
pitchbook.com | Jacob E. Robbins |Nadine Manske
Despite notching a lower valuation than at its peak in the private market, Chime closed its first day of trading on the Nasdaq at $37.11, a 37% bump over its IPO price. The hotly anticipated fintech float shows growing comfort with a difficult reality for investors: the down-round IPO. “You just can’t hold on to those marks forever if that’s not where your business is going,” said Ryan Zauk, a fintech-focused investor at OMERS Ventures, which did not invest in Chime.
-
3 weeks ago | 
pitchbook.com | Nadine Manske
Credit and banking startups raised just over $1.3 billion globally in Q1, while the next largest retail fintech category raked in only $235.7 million, according to PitchBook’s latest retail fintech report. The credit and banking sector stands out within retail fintech as the broader category has not been keeping up with enterprise fintech over the past year.
-
1 month ago | 
pitchbook.com | Nadine Manske
President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs sent the markets into high volatility, but IPOs appear to be kickstarting again after a number of companies hit the pause button. EToro‘s IPO, which saw the stock and cryptocurrency trading platform close at 29% above its IPO price after its first day of trading May 14, marks a showstopping return to the public stage for venture-backed companies. Several venture-backed companies are on deck and could pull the IPO trigger sometime this year.
-
2 months ago | 
pitchbook.com | Michael Bodley |Nadine Manske
VC investments in fintech startups have declined for three years in a row, but a recent flurry of later-stage deals and exits could point to a rebound. Median pre-money valuations for all venture-backed fintech companies jumped 94.4% year-over-year in 2024, with gains across every funding stage.
-
Nov 2, 2024 | 
dotesports.com | Gökhan Çakır |Harrison Thomas |Nadine Manske
VALORANT gives fans all the cosmetics they could dream of via the in-game store, but what happens when you’re not near your PC and you want to see what’s available for purchase? Fortunately, there have been websites that help you check the store on the go. However, Riot Games has been taking them down one by one as Vanguard cracks down on third-party tools. The purpose of this third-party tool block is to make sure you don’t run into anyone in your game using an aimbot or wall hacks to cheat.
-
Oct 3, 2024 | 
pitchbook.com | Nadine Manske |Rosie Bradbury
Mobility tech IPOs have stalled out. The sector recorded just $2.3 billion in total exit value in the first half of the year—about 76% off last year’s pace—and the heyday of SPAC deals for flying taxis and electric vehicle makers feels like a distant memory. Still, a sea change in electrified and autonomous transportation is creating opportunities. Here are 10 VC-backed mobility tech companies primed to go public when the time is right.
-
Sep 26, 2024 | 
pitchbook.com | Nadine Manske
Funding for autonomous vehicle startups is again on the rise, and self-driving cars on city streets aren’t the only investment opportunity as the technology becomes a key part of commercial transportation. In Q2 2024, autonomous driving startups received $2.9 billion in funding, according to PitchBook’s latest Mobility Tech report, more than any other area of the vertical—defined as innovations advancing the transportation of both people and goods.
-
Sep 11, 2024 | 
dotesports.com | Adam Newell |Gökhan Çakır |Nadine Manske |Tyler Esguerra |Cade Davie
VALORANT is a game that benefits from the incredible diversity offered by its character roster. Each agent in VALORANT is unique and can shape the outcome of a match in different ways. However, you’ll notice when you log in for the first time that most of the game’s characters are locked. Keeping the agent pool small at first allows players to focus on learning the core mechanics of the game, but sooner or later, players will want to try out other agents to see if they like them better.
-
Sep 10, 2024 | 
dotesports.com | Nadine Manske |Emily Morrow
Playing support in Overwatch 2 is not for the faint-hearted. Support characters exist to enhance the abilities of their teammates and give them a boost when their health bars are low. Yet, these flexible heroes can also deal out some serious damage, provide utility to their teammates, or debuff their enemies. Sometimes, the key to shutting down the enemy team is to attack their support heroes first, which increases the number of resources tanks and DPS will have to spend to stay alive.
-
Sep 3, 2024 | 
pitchbook.com | Nadine Manske
Sports have become a highly sought after asset class for private equity firms, and the Paris Olympics—the first to feature an equal number of male and female athletes—placed a spotlight on women’s sports as investment opportunities. “I can’t remember the last time you had as many household names in women’s sports as you do today,” said Jason Menghi, an audit and assurance partner at Deloitte who works with clients interested in sports investing.
