Women's sports are a PE growth play

Credit, banking deals buoy fintech; VC's breakout quarter for 'functional' food; Choose Europe strategy falls short for VCs

Read online | Don't want to receive these emails? Manage your subscription. Log in The Daily Pitch: VC, PE and M&A June 9, 2025 The Daily Pitch is powered by PitchBook's industry-defining research and best-in-class data 🏀 The WNBA shattered viewership records this season, and merchandise sales surged 236% year-over-year. For private market investors, the combination of fast-growing fan engagement and comparatively low valuations makes women's pro sports an increasingly attractive frontier. "The messaging amongst our clients has been 'get in now,' " said one lawyer who advises PE sponsors. Dive deeper 🏧 We looked at startups in the credit and banking space that have continued to rake in capital during the last year, as consumer fintech funding overall ebbs. See the list Plus... • VC dishes out a breakout quarter for functional food funding • Europe's direct lending dealmaking rises despite volatility Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up here.   'A nothing burger': EU's Choose Europe strategy falls short for VCs (Thierry Monasse/Getty Images) The European Commission unveiled its strategy to improve its domestic startup ecosystem from access to capital to increasing the talent pipeline. While applauding its ambition, investors fear that the strategy doesn't go far enough to turn Europe into a global startup powerhouse. Read more     A message from Oracle NetSuite   How to champion AI as an executive Successfully leveraging AI requires more than adopting new tools; it demands AI champions that promote strategic leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and a cultural shift toward innovation. Check out this 6-minute guide to learn the key traits and qualities that define AI champions—and learn how to become one yourself. Share:   VC dishes out a breakout quarter for 'functional' food funding VC funding for the foodtech industry fell sharply in Q1, with total deal value down nearly 50% quarter-over-quarter. While investors have been more selective, which has slowed dealmaking, bright spots emerged in specific segments, according to our latest Emerging Tech Research. The "functional" food segment stood out as a significant opportunity, evidenced by PepsiCo's $1.7 billion acquisition of Poppi and Olipop's nearly $2 billion valuation. Alt-proteins, particularly fermentation, remained active as well, despite broader headwinds for the space. Read the preview   PE's pivot to the millionaire next door (Jenna O'Malley/PitchBook News) Private equity is in the throes of its biggest and most consequential transformation since the industry's conception. Change started with a trickle of firms, led by Partners Group in the early 2000s, creating "evergreen" vehicles that would court wealthy individual investors by offering them semi-liquid exposure to private market assets that previously were open only to pensions, endowments and the super-rich. Over the years, the wealth channel represented just a fraction of AUM—until recently. Unlocking private wealth's potential trillions of dollars has set off a revamp animated by a central theme: scale. Read more   Europe's direct lending dealmaking rises While US tariff policy announcements in April resulted in severe market dislocation, direct lenders moved quickly to take advantage of the pause in syndicated markets, letting companies and sponsors know they were open for business. According to PitchBook LCD's new European Private Credit Monitor, estimated direct lending activity is up in the region, with April being the most active month for estimated deal volume so far this year. Read it now   Share:   Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added: 11 Deals 97 People 37 Companies 2 Funds See what our data software can do   The Daily Benchmark: 2020 Vintage North American VC Funds Median IRR 7.53% Top Quartile IRR 12.39% 0.01x Median DPI Select top performers DBL Partners TIAB 2018 RRE Leaders II Craft Ventures II *IRR: net of fees 55 Funds in Benchmark » Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks   VC Deals   Aircapture, a startup developing technology to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, raised a $50 million Series A led by the Larsen Lam Climate Change Foundation. Supply chain AI company Kargo raised an $18.4 million round led by Matter Venture Partners. Infisical, a cybersecurity startup developing a management platform for sensitive data, raised a $16 million Series A led by Elad Gil. Arketa, the developer of management software for fitness studios, raised a $15 million Series A led by Inspired Capital, Forbes reported. Impart Security, a San Francisco-based AI security platform provider, raised a $12 million Series A led by Madrona. Latent Technology, a London-based startup developing AI animation tools, raised $8 million in a seed round led by AlbionVC and Spark Capital.   PE Deals   Stonepeak is in exclusive talks with Yinson Holdings, a Malaysia-based energy infrastructure company, to take it private at a $2.1 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported. EQT is buying a majority stake worth $331 million in France-based, publicly listed natural gas company Waga Energy. ZBS Partners and Thrive Capital's Thrive Holdings launched Shield Technology Partners and invested $100 million into the IT service platform developer. Danantara is considering buying a minority stake in Singapore-based ride-sharing company Grab Holdings following its acquisition of rival GoTo Group.   Exits   Crypto exchange platform developer Gemini filed confidentially for its IPO. Digital healthcare startup Omada Health raised $150 million in its IPO and closed at $23 per share on June 6, up from its $19 per share IPO price. Sun European Partners sold Sports & Leisure Group, a Belgian manufacturer of artificial grass systems, to TenCate Grass. Beijing-based firm CPE Funds Management agreed to sell Chinese hair treatment chain Zhuhai Hairology Spa Corp. to Kidswant Children Products Co. for $230 million. Austrian AI content generation platform Newsrooms.ai is acquiring VC-backed Austrian tech media platform Trending Topics.   Fundraising   European VC firm Lakestar is targeting $250 million to $300 million in capital commitments for a new defense tech fund, Bloomberg reported. Healthkois, a healthcare-focused VC firm based in India, launched a $300 million fund to invest in growth-stage startups.   Investors   Coller Capital has partnered with Allfunds to offer PE and credit secondaries to accredited investors, wealth managers and family offices via its platform.     Chart of the Day   Source: France's PE markets slow as dealmakers retreat from turmoil   Who's in the newsletter today? People Elad Gil Investors AlbionVC CPE Funds Management Coller Capital EQT Grab Holdings Healthkois Inspired Capital Kidswant Children Products Co. Lakestar Larsen Lam Climate Change Foundation Madrona Matter Venture Partners Newsrooms.ai Spark Capital Stonepeak Sun European Partners TenCate Grass Thrive Capital ZBS Partners Companies Aircapture Arketa Gemini GoTo Group Impart Security Infisical Kargo Latent Technology Omada Health Shield Technology Partners Sports & Leisure Group Trending Topics Waga Energy Yinson Holdings Limited Partners Danantara Service Providers Allfunds     About PitchBook | Terms of use | Advertise with us | Contact Follow us: This email was sent to abdulkerim.bosnia.business@blogger.com via the PitchBook Platform. Do you want to change your email address, get a different edition or unsubscribe? Manage your subscription here. PitchBook Data Inc., 901 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1200, Seattle WA 98164, United States © 2025 PitchBook. Win what's next. All rights reserved.