Weekly Round Up: 10/9/20

At Greenspring we believe in venture capital's ability to propel innovation, job creation and positive societal change. We celebrate those who think differently, take measured risk and challenge perceptions. Here's what's trending in VC this week:

💬 "Investors have to reimagine diversification. You still have to have equities as the growth engine in the portfolio, but the type of equities that has a higher probability of earning you a 5% real return has shifted. Companies are staying private longer, so public equities don't have the same opportunity to be the major drivers of future growth compared to the past. Investors may need to be more reliant on venture capital to drive real returns and less on public equities." Check out this Cambridge Associates podcast featuring Margaret Chen, Global Head of Endowment & Foundation Practice, for more on industry “disruptors,” the importance of diversification, and the debate around growth vs. value.

🧪 In an incredible illustration of how VC is interwoven with R&D and ultimately quality of life for all, Jennifer Doudna, co-founder of NFX and Mayfield backed Mammoth Biosciences, has been named the 2020 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry! Professor Doudna shares the prize with Professor Emmanuelle Charpentier of the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens. This technology has had a revolutionary impact on the life sciences, is contributing to new cancer therapies and may make the dream of curing inherited diseases come true.  Read more here. #crispr #VCforGood  

🌱Are you a family office wanting to learn how to achieve returns and deliver on your sustainability goals? Want a behind the scenes look at how other Family Offices have successfully created an effective ESG strategy? 

Join GA Partner Seyonne Kang for a webinar on November 10 featuring other LPs and Family Office participants from Capricorn Investment Group and Tamar Capital . The event is sponsored by First Republic Bank, Level Ventures and Runway Innovation Hub. 

The event is open to all Family Offices, investment professionals, entrepreneurs + diverse members of the venture community. For more information and to register, visit the event page.

GoPuff, a startup delivering products such as over-the-counter medication, baby food and alcohol, has raised $380 million in recent financing led by Greenspring manager Accel. Read more here. 

MessageBird, a cloud communications company, has raised $200 million in Series C financing with participation from Greenspring manager Accel. Read more here. 

Coralogix, an observability tool for business security, has raised $25 million in Series B financing with participation from Greenspring manager Aleph. Read more here. 

Abridge, a new startup that lets patients learn more about their diagnosis and medications, has raised $15 million in seed financing and Series A financing with participation from Greenspring manager Bessemer Venture Partners. Read more here. 

MANTA - Unified Lineage Platform has raised $13 million in Series A financing led by Greenspring manager Bessemer Venture Partners. Read more here.

“What Covid has done is accelerated the change,” said operating partner Jeff Epstein of GA manager Bessemer Venture Partners, who formerly held the CFO role at Oracle Corp. and other businesses. “When you have accelerated change, especially when you never went through this before, it is even more valuable to have a peer group.” Read more about how CFOs at VC funds are putting human capital and enterprise capital to work by advising startups on topics like building a finance team, which tools and technologies to use, where to expand the business first and, in today’s world, how to manage the business from the home office. Read more here. #VC #morethanjustcapital

Congratulations to SpaceX, backed by Greenspring managers Founders Fund and Craft Ventures for securing a contract just shy of $150 million by the US Space Development Agency to create and deliver satellites that will help with global coverage of advance missile warning and tracking! Read more about this here. 

“As Americans got cabin fever and realized RVs, motorhomes and camper vans could solve the conundrum of ‘socially-distanced travel,’ Young and her cofounder and life partner, Jeff Cavins (also the company’s CEO), focused their attention on search engine optimization.” Read more on how Greenspring direct investment Outdoorsy pivoted their business strategy during the pandemic here.

We were thrilled to introduce Postmates Inc. to our hometown team – and even more excited that we will be able to order our favorite gameday foods directly to our doors while we root for the Baltimore Ravens from home. Congrats on this exciting partnership! Read more here. #RavensFlock

solo.io a software company that helps business address the challenge of implementing microservices, has raised $23 million in recent financing led by Greenspring managers Redpoint Ventures and True Ventures. Read more here. 

Congratulations to Greenspring secondary investment Tipalti, a company that helps businesses manage all of their accounting services through one cloud platform, for their Series E round! Read more here.

As one of the larger and more established venture fund investors, we spend considerable time and devote meaningful resources to understanding how we generate returns for our investors. In this vein, one logical question that we explore on an ongoing basis is: Which is more important, access or identification? In other words, have our commitments to established or “branded” managers outperformed relative to our commitments to emerging managers, or is the opposite true? Read more here.

“I get to take a deep dive into the investments that the most visionary VCs are making. Where else would you be able to be so deeply connected with the operations of a firm like Accel except at the firm itself? Great opportunity.” #HumansofGreenspring

“Information is valuable here, its not just data. There's a purpose to it and I'm excited to be part of the work being done around it.” #HumansofGreenspring

“Analysts are given a lot of different responsibilities and are expected to operate at the highest level. It is rewarding to know that the work we do daily can directly contribute to the overall success of the Firm.” #HumansofGreenspring

The content here is for informational purposes only and should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice. It does NOT constitute an offer or solicitation to purchase any investment or a recommendation to buy or sell a security. In fact, the content is not directed to any investor or potential investor and may not be used to evaluate or make any investment.