Where do top performing VCs invest early?

Private equity data provider Pitchbook is out with a new Emerging Tech Indicator (ETI) that offers a fascinating view of which startups that have received seed- and early-stage investments from top-performing venture capital (VC) firms. Overall, Pitchbook tracked 171 startups that received from 15 top-performing VC firms.

Here’s a look at the new data.

ETI Deal Activity

Perhaps the most interesting view from Pitchbook’s data is ETI deal activity. In the first quarter of 2021, deal activity grew to a record $5.1 billion, up $700 million from the fourth quarter of 2020.

Incredibly, Pitchbook logged an amazing 11 $100 million+ ETI deals in the first quarter. Among the most notable are a $570 million Series B for EQRx, which makes low-cost drugs, $350 million for blockchain gaming and nonfungible token platform Dapper Labs, and $300 million Series A for Grab Financial Group, which is a fintech consumer products company in Southeast Asia.

The Sectors Getting the Deals

In looking at the sectors getting the ETI deals, one industry shows up high above the rest – biotechnology. Of the record $5.1 billion, about $1.5 billion went to the biotechnology sector. Following the biotechnology sector’s lead was the fintech sector, grabbing around $800 million in investments. Rounding out the top 5 included defi at about $550 million, health & wellness tech at around $400 million, and e-commerce at around $250 million.

Biotech ETI Deals

With biotech eating up a large portion of the ETI deals, one obvious question is – which companies are attracting the investment? The following table has an answer.

The top company for investment attraction was EQRx at $570 million and a post-money valuation of about $1.6 billion. In second place was Centessa Pharmaceuticals at $250 million, followed by Graphite Bio at $150 million, Artiva Biotherapeutics at $120 million, and Scribe Therapeutics at $100 million.

Fintech ETI Deals

Following the biotechnology sector’s lead was fintech. The following table has a breakdown of the fintech sector’s investor attraction.

Overall, in first place was Grab Financial Group at $300 million (focused on the underbanked in southeast Asia), followed by Fast at $102 million (e-commerce instant checkout button), SeedFi at $65 million (consumer lending and credit builder), Valon Mortgage at $50 million (consumer mortgage management platform), and Greenwood at $40 million (mobile banking for black and Latino customers).

Summing up

Overall, the private equity and venture capital world is healthy across many sectors of the economy. Although the pandemic may have put a dent in some individuals’ and companies’ outlook, the broader universe of PE and VC investing has been as active as ever.