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Q2 2021 was the largest quarter in 20 years for both the number of IPOs (113) and IPO money raised ($39.9B). The healthcare sector has had the most IPO activity with 46 deals in Q2, the majority coming from biotech. The tech sector led the way in total proceeds on 42 deals.

*This data does not include SPACs or Direct Listings*

Notable Q2 IPOs

  • Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global
  • Robotics and automation company UiPath
  • Mobile game developer AppLovin
  • Fin-tech company Marqeta
  • Oat milk maker Oatly
  • Cybersecurity company SentinelOne
  • Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing

More:

  • The 10 largest IPOs raised a combined $15.6B or 39% of the quarter’s total proceeds.
  • Didi Chuxing had the largest IPO of the quarter raising $4.4B.
  • Overall, the first half of the year saw 213 IPOs raising more than $70B. For reference, $78.2B was raised in all of 2020.
  • In the first half of 2021, there has also been a record number of (18) IPOs that have raised $1B or more.

Zoom out:

  • Tailwinds like the vaccination drive and an expanded stimulus have led IPOs to return an average of 34% return in Q2.
  • Renaissance Capital said that a backlog of private unicorns are finally seizing the IPO route capitalizing on high growth sector valuations.
  • Expected IPOs in Q3 and Q4 include Robinhood, Rivian, Chime, Stripe, and Instacart.

 

M1 Finance has raised $150M in a Series E led by SoftBank, giving the fintech company a $1.45B valuation. The startup combines automated investing, borrowing, and banking into one platform and has grown its AUM 5x to $4.5B in 18 months.

More:

  • M1 has doubled its userbase since July 1, 2020.
  • M1 will use the new capital to build new products and features, as well as more hiring.
  • The company currently has 250 employees, up from 40 at the start of 2020
  • M1 has continued the fintech trend and does not charge management fees or commissions. Instead, the company makes money through interest gathered from lending securities and market makers.

 

 

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This story is inspired in part by Justin Kan's youtube video on the topic.

Internet collective and arthouse MSCHF just released a collection of figurines commemorating dead startups. These companies raised tons of money, garnered a lot of hype, then failed.

Dead startups and the lessons learned:

Startup: Theranos

Description: Stanford undergrad wunderkind Elizabeth Holmes started Theranos to build a new type of blood test. The company went on to raise ~$720M on a ~$10B valuation before famously failing.

Cause of Death: Non-existence and fraud.

Lesson: Start with the product, and don't raise too much money and make the stakes too high before making your product great.

 

Startup: Juicero

Description: Juicero aimed to be the Kuerig of juice, supplying customers with premade juice packs and a $700 contraption that squeezed the packs into your glass about as well as you could just do with your hands 

Cause of Death: The Internet began to make fun of it and people stopped buying.

Lesson: Test your product with a small group of people before raising money and launching nationally.

 

Startup: One Laptop per Child 

Description: They aimed to provide low-cost laptops to the developing world.

Cause of Death: The developing world basically skipped the adoption of laptops, instead opting for low-cost mobile phones.

Lesson: Be vigilant of macro trends that may affect the success of your product.

 

Startup: JIBO 

Description: JIBO was meant to be a home device that would talk to you and perform functions similar to those of an Amazon Alexa with added facial recognition. The company behind it raised money via a well-received crowdfunding campaign.

Cause of Death: In the time it took to announce JIBO and crowdfund, Amazon brought Alexa to market.

Lesson: Get to market fast or risk being outcompeted by a large company before you get your footing.

 

Startup: Coolest Cooler

Description: Cooler with a speaker and blender that raised millions on Kickstarter.

Cause of Death: Failed to produce Kickstarter pre-orders.

Lesson: Always deliver as promised.

 

Flymachine has raised $21M from investors betting that virtual concertswill be here to stay in a post-pandemic world. The startup’s strategy is to establish partnerships with name-brand concert venues around the US and live stream their shows to at-home audiences.

More:

  • The founders include Andrew Dreskin, who previously founded Ticketfly (acquired by Pandora), and Rick Farman, the founder of Superfly, which puts on the Bonnaroo and Outside Lands music festivals.
  • Venue partners include Bowery Ballroom in New York City, Bimbo’s 365 Club in San Francisco, The Crocodile in Seattle, Marathon Music Works in Nashville, and Teragram Ballroom in Los Angeles.
  • The founding team sees virtual concerts as a long-term opportunity that COVID-19 only further highlighted.
  • Even with the added benefit of the pandemic, virtual concerts didn't have the moment which many hoped for. Smaller performers utilized zoom and other methods to stream shows but few mainstream stars cooperated.  
  • A key that Flymachine promotes is its "private rooms" which give users the option to watch a concert while talking to their friends.

 

 

 

Melinda French Gates invested in Female Founders Fund's latest $57M fund. The Female Founders Fund was created in 2014 by entrepreneur Anu Duggal, aiming to provide seed funding for women-founded early-stage tech and lifestyle companies.

More:

  • This is the second time Gates has invested in FFF after investing in its $25M fund in 2016.
  • Other investors in the new fund include Anne Wojcicki, the co-founder and CEO of 23andMe, and Susan Wojcicki, the CEO of YouTube.
  • Women-led startups only received 2.3% of VC funding in 2020.
  • Female Founders Fund has raised a total of $95M over three different funding rounds.
  • The fund's portfolio includes more than 50 companies such as bridal company Zola.com, virtual health startup Maven Clinic, and fintech company Tala.
  • FFF states that the new $57M Fund III is the largest seed fund solely for female entrepreneurs.

 

We put together the next video from our Meet Our Fund event featuring three speakers from Kleiner Perkins, Mamood Hamid, Ilya Fushman, and Annie Case. In our latest video recording from the event, we get to hear about who Kleiner Perkins is and what their vision for VC is. 

More: 

  • The video features a 15-minute presentation that explains who Kleiner Perkins is, what they invest in, how they partner with startups to help them succeed, how their team is structured, and why they focus on operator experience. 
  • We then had a 15-minute Q&A session where we got to learn about how they identify product-market fit, what their thoughts on crypto and blockchain are, if they're meeting founders in person again, why the team they invest in matters, and the new standard for meetings in VC: Loom, Zoom, Room. 
  • Watch the video here and be on the lookout for our next video on Monday! 
  • Hosted by Michael Tant and Jason Calacanis, the Meet Our fund Event was a new type of event where VCs pitch founders instead of the other way around. 

 

 

Quick Hits:

*Contains sponsored content

 

  • July 15 – Equity vs. Debt Financing: What’s the difference and what other options are out there? A LAUNCH Interactive Jam Session (Register Here)
  • July 19 **– Angel University by LAUNCH (Register Here)
  • July 21 – Secure from the Start: Strategies for Startups to Get Secure, Stay Compliant, and Focus on Growth. A LAUNCH Interactive Jam Session (Register Here)
  • July 29 – Inside NoCode: Building Without Developers (Register Here)
  • August 26 – DAOs: Disrupting with Code (Register Here)
  • October 26-27 **– Meet our Fund Fall ’21 Cohort (Register Here)

Want to see all of our upcoming events? Visit us at https://events.inside.com

 

Trevor is a business researcher at Inside and holds a bachelor's degree in biomedical engineering. He writes on a wide range of topics in the business and tech stratosphere with specific interests presently being cryptocurrency and electric vehicles. 

Original article on Inside Venture Capital:
https://inside.com/campaigns/inside-venture-capital-28609/sections/q2-2021-largest-ipo-quarter-in-20-years-242798