Our private company clients often ask what kind of revenue or EBITDA multiple ranges they can expect upon a sale or when determining their enterprise value in connection with a financing. This is always a tricky question as value is driven by ever-changing supply and demand and then-current market conditions. Moreover, with yet-to-be-profitable startups, substantial value often lies with their IP, team and/or future prospects.  Accordingly, for a startup, the answer to this question is subjective at best. With that said, one of the better resources I have found for
Continue Reading Current trends on deal multiples (Q1 2017)

Below are three charts compliments of J.Thelander Consulting and PitchBook that illustrate the dilutive impact over time of venture funding on founder ownership levels. These charts are the result of J.Thelander Consulting’s venture-backed private company ownership survey – and divided by industry (biotechnology, medical device and technology). Read the full article here.

While these charts are directionally helpful, each company will of course have its own set of facts. In my experience, the main drivers of founder dilution are often:

  • the size of the founder team;
  • how long the


Continue Reading The dilutive impact of VC funding on founder ownership

The 2015 Annual Halo Report has been released by The Angel Resource Institute at Willamette University (ARI) and PitchBook.  The Halo Report analyzes angel group investment activity and trends in the United States.  Here are a couple interesting FY 2015 highlights:

  • The median seed-stage valuation for 2015 deals hit an all-time high of $4.6M (up from 53% from 2014);
  • The median and mean round sizes in deals with only angel investors climbed to $850K and $1.164M, respectively (both up materially from 2014);
  • The median and mean round sizes in


Continue Reading Angel Investment Trends: FY 2015 Halo Report

The Q3 2015 Halo Report has been released by The Angel Resource Institute at Willamette University (ARI) and PitchBook.  The Halo Report analyzes angel group investment activity and trends in the United States.  Here are a couple interesting Q3 2015 highlights:

  • The median seed-stage valuation has hit an all-time high of $4M (up from $3M in 2014);
  • The median round size in deals with only angel investors was $725K and the median round size in deals when angels co-invest with non-angels was $1.71M (both up materially from Q3 2014);


Continue Reading Angel Investment Trends: Q3 2015 Halo Report

PitchBook just released its analysis of Q3 2015 venture capital activity by region, focusing on three key U.S. regions: the Bay Area; New York; and the Pacific Northwest. Below are the PitchBook infographics and a quick summary of the results:

Bay Area:

  • The median pre-money valuation for Q3 2015 was $61.8m.
  • The reported deals with the highest valuations were: Uber Series F pre-money at $51B; Stem Centrx Series G pre-money at $4.8B; Palantir Technologies pre-money at $4.9B; and Stripe pre-money at $4.9B.

3Q_2015_Bay_Recap-2New York metro:

  • The median pre-money valuation


Continue Reading Recap of Q3 2015 Venture Capital Activity by Region

Earlier today PitchBook released its M&A Report for Q3 2015 and the stats indicate continued strength in merger and acquisition activity.

While the overall deal count for Q2 2015 was down (4,250 deals with an aggregate value of $416 billion) as compared to the prior quarter (4,803 deals with an aggregate of $560 billion) and prior year (5,183 deal with an aggregate of $373 billion), the average transaction size spiked to $1.103 billion in Q2 2015 as compared to $795.3 million in Q1 2015 and $231.9 million in Q2 2014.
Continue Reading Merger activity remains strong in Q3 2015; average deal size spikes

PitchBook just released its analysis of Q2 2015 venture capital activity by region, focusing on the six of the most active U.S. regions: the Bay Area; Boston; Los Angeles; the Midwest; New York; and the Pacific Northwest.  Below is also a quick summary of the Q2 2015 highlights by region:

Bay Area:

  • The median pre-money valuation for Q2 2015 was $63.5m (up from $29m for Q4 2014).
  • The most active sector (by both deal count and capital invested), by a wide margin, was


Continue Reading Recap of Q2 2015 Venture Capital Activity by Region

PitchBook recently released its 1H 2015 VC Valuations and Trends Report that breaks down over 20,000 valuations of private company financings and exits over the past 10 years. The report shows continued increase in median U.S. venture-backed company valuation across stage of investment. Not surprising, PitchBook’s conclusion is that Series Seed is the new Series A, Series A is the new Series B, and Series B is the new Series C – noting that while this is not a new finding by any means, PitchBook has more data to support
Continue Reading Series Seed is the new Series A; VC-backed company valuations continue to rise

Contributed by our colleague Mark Radcliffe

2014 was a great year for startups seeking funding.  Two of the leading reporting companies, PitchBook and CB Insights, report similar trends (both of these reports focus on funding by traditional financial venture capitalists and corporate venture capitalists, but the numbers differ because PitchBook also includes some angel investments). The key points are:

1.  Significant Increase in the Amount of Funding:  The funding in 2014 increased dramatically from 2013: according to PitchBook,  funding increased almost $20 billion from $39.4 billion to $59 billion
Continue Reading Three Trends in 2014 Venture Capital Funding

PitchBook just released its recap of 2014 venture capital trends by region, focusing on the most active regions and presenting the information in infographic form. Each infographic can be found here: Bay Area, Pacific Northwest, New York metro and Europe. Below is also a quick summary of the highlights by region:

Bay Area:

  • The median pre-money valuation for 2014 was $28.2m (up from $18.3m for 2013).
  • The most active sector (by both deal count and capital invested), by a wide margin, was information technology.
  • The region


Continue Reading Recap of 2014 Venture Capital Trends by Region