After a vigorous year of dealmaking in the tech sector, 2015 is shaping up to be even more robust, according to a report from CB Insights.
The data analysis firm noted in its “IPO Pipelines Report” that average deal prices are expected to jump as well. In 2014, the average deal price in fund-raising for seed- and later-stage tech firms was $101 million. This year CB Insights expects that average to climb to $111 million.
There are more than 580 tech companies in the initial public offering pipeline, according to the report, with $24.7 billion having been raised in 2014 alone. By contrast, the consumer products and services sector has seen significantly less money raised — $1.6 billion is in the pipeline — but has proportionally more deals: 405 total to date. And within that sector, the clothing and accessories segment has 50 deals totaling $219 million. The number of deals represents each round of funds raised.
The company also noted “hedge funds, mutual funds, corporates, sovereign wealth and private equity investors” has piled into the market and that the “abundance of nontraditional investors” is pushing up average deal prices. Moreover, the number of $1 billion-plus valued companies is up 160 percent over 2013.
In regard to venture capital funding, the corporate venture capitals are the most active — garnering one-fifth of all venture capital activity, with Google Ventures being “the most prolific corporate venture capital firms in 2014.” The data analysis firm said Google Ventures “led all corporate VCs, investing in 60-plus percent more companies than Intel Capital in 2014.” Here’s a list of the top 10 corporate ventural capital firms by investment activity in 2014:
– Google Ventures
– Intel Capital
– Salesforce Ventures
– Comcast Ventures
– Qualcomm Ventures
– Novartis Venture Fund
– Samsung Ventures
– Cisco Investments
– Siemens Venture Capital
– SR One
These corporate venture capitalists have made most of their investments in the pure-play tech sector. Google Ventures is led by Bill Maris, founder, president and managing partner. Maris has a biotech background, and his right-hand man is managing partner David Krane — who earned a journalism degree from Indiana University.
In the retail and consumer goods sectors, the corporate venture capital companies have not made significant investments. Notable, “noncorporate” venture capital firms in the sector include Redpoint Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Maveron. The latter funded home hair-care firm Madison Reed as well as helped launch the IPOs of eBay and online retailer Zulily.