Business Blog: Another private credit secondaries win

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The Daily Pitch: VC, PE and M&A

July 9, 2025

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💰 Secondary market pioneer Coller Capital closed its second fund dedicated to private credit stakes at $5.8 billion, far exceeding its initial $1.5 billion target, the firm announced. Other asset managers are testing the waters in private credit secondaries, as the market grows to meet the liquidity demands of the $1.8 trillion primary market. Get the full story

🛒Fast-fashion company Shein has confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO. The move is designed to pressure UK regulators, who have stalled on approving the retailer's bid to list on the London exchange since it filed over a year ago. Read more

Plus...
• The key to success for Alaska's sovereign wealth fund
• Linqto, a company offering access to private startup investments, has filed for bankruptcy protection

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2025 is already the best year for female founders on record

(Julia Midkiff/PitchBook News)

Funding for US female founders has surpassed all previous highs just halfway through 2025, according to our female founders dashboard. At the midway point of the year, startups with at least one female founder have raised $78.8 billion over 1,428 deals, blowing past 2021's record of $68.7 billion.

The first two quarters of 2025 were the best on record for startups with at least one female founder, totaling $51.2 billion and $27.6 billion, respectively. This was powered by two massive AI deals—a $40 billion OpenAI round in March and a $14.3 billion round for Scale AI in June.

Other notable deals in Q2 included a $2.57 billion Series D for World View, a space exploration and technology startup co-founded by former Strategic Advisor Jane Poynter, and a $115 million Series C for Glycomine, a drug developer founded by former CEO Dr. Agnes Rafalko.

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Alaska's sovereign wealth fund's secret sauce is a classic

(Neil Rabinowitz/Getty Images)

Despite a prolonged slowdown in the broader buyout market, the Alaska Permanent Fund has continued to outperform its multiyear benchmarks.

We spoke to the LP's deputy CIO, Allen Waldrop, who said its success comes down to fundamentals: long-standing tenure in the private markets and steady pacing of GP commitments.

PE exits decline 25% in Q2 as deal activity cools

(FanPro/Getty Images)

The long-awaited resurgence of deal activity in private markets was delayed once again in Q2, new PitchBook data shows, confirming the sluggish lending activity that private credit providers have reported.

PitchBook's Global PE First Look shows that the count of private equity exits declined by 25% on a quarterly basis in Q2.

Full story

New Mountain to raise $2B secondaries fund for GP-led deals

(Raquel Lonas/Getty Images)

New Mountain Capital is preparing an estimated $2 billion debut secondaries fund aimed at backing single-asset continuation vehicles, according to Bloomberg.

The move comes amid a surge in continuation fund exits, with H1 activity this year outpacing H1 2024, according to PitchBook data.

VC climate-tech funding falls for third year in a row

VC funding for the climate-tech industry held relatively steady at $9 billion in Q1, but only when compared to last year's quarterly totals. Zoom out, and this follows a trend of declining annual deal value each year since the sector's peak in 2021—with 2024 marking the third consecutive year of decline.

Despite the overall slowdown in dealmaking, Q1 saw strong funding for nuclear and geothermal energy specialists as well as industrial decarbonization technologies, according to our recent analyst note. It also covers how AI is reshaping climate tech, including applications for optimizing battery performance and monitoring large areas of land.

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Companies

Funds

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The Daily Benchmark: 2014 Vintage North American Funds-of-Funds

Median IRR

16.40%

Top Quartile IRR

19.36%

1.13x

Median DPI

Select top performers

Union Grove Partners Direct Venture Fund

Union Grove Partners Venture Access Fund

Ironsides Partnership Fund III

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53 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

Dubai-based smart contact lens developer Xpanceo raised a $250 million Series A led by Opportunity Ventures at a $1.35 billion valuation.

CarOnSale, a Berlin-based company operating a B2B marketplace for car dealers, raised a €70 million Series C led by Northzone and HV Capital.

Huspy, a Dubai-based developer of a real estate app, raised a $59 million Series B led by Balderton Capital.

Saudi Arabia-based PetroApp, which develops software for fuel and vehicle management, raised a $50 million round led by Jadwa Investment.

Finnish EV development startup Donut Lab secured a €25 million seed investment.

Tulum Energy, an Italian climate tech startup, raised $27 million in a round led by TDK Ventures and CDP Venture Capital.

Arago, a Paris-based AI chip developer, raised a $26 million seed investment led by Earlybird, Protagonist and Visionaries Tomorrow.

AI analytics platform developer Sundial raised $23 million, including a $16 million Series A led by GPV.

Parspec, the developer of software for construction supply chains, raised a $20 million Series A led by Threshold Ventures.

Ekho, which operates a vehicle commerce platform, raised a $15 million Series A led by Activant Capital.

Gradient Labs, a UK-based agentic AI startup founded by former Monzo executives, raised $13 million in a round led by Index Ventures.

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PE Deals

Stonepeak Partners is in talks to invest more than $1 billion in Warburg Pincus-backed Princeton Digital Group, a Singapore-based data center operator, Bloomberg reported.

Blackstone is considering a bid for French mobile and broadband operator SFR that could value the company at up to €30 billion, Bloomberg reported.

Rhône Group entered into exclusive discussions to acquire UK-based medical devices maker Direct Healthcare Group and the European and Asia-Pacific assets of Invacare.

Final bidders for DSM-Firmenich's animal nutrition unit, which is valued at around €3 billion, are reported to include CVC Capital Partners and Apollo Global Management.

Hg Capital has acquired a majority stake in Florida-based cybersecurity firm A-Lign from Warburg Pincus.

Pretium called off talks to buy Sigma Capital Group, a UK-based real estate investment firm.

GHO Capital has acquired German dermatology tech company FotoFinder Systems.

Inspired Pet Nutrition, a Yorkshire-based pet food company backed by CapVest and Parquest, has acquired French pet food platform Sopral.

Oak Hill Capital and Pamlico Capital have acquired Socket Telecom, a Missouri-based fiber internet service provider.

Exits

Octopus, a UK-based energy retailer backed by CPP, is looking to demerge and sell a minority stake in its Kraken Technologies unit for £10 billion, Sky News reported.

Kuwait Investment Authority sold its $3.1 billion stake in Bank of America.

Samsung has agreed to acquire US-based digital health startup Xealth.

Bow River Capital-backed commercial roofing company Progressive Roofing agreed to be acquired by NYSE-listed TopBuild.

VC-backed Waitwhile, the developer of a scheduling platform, has been acquired by NYSE-listed Allegion.

Sanabil-backed Richard Attias & Associates, a New York-based event organizer, is looking to pursue an IPO as soon as next year, Bloomberg reported.

Fundraising

Brookfield Asset Management-backed investor Pinegrove Capital Partners is raising a new credit fund targeted at $800 million, Bloomberg reported.

Seaside Equity Partners raised $720 million at the close of two new funds.

New York City-based healthcare PE firm Zenyth Partners closed on $375 million for its second flagship fund.

Miami-based Boldstart Ventures raised a $250 million fund to invest in AI startups.

VC firm Heavybit raised $180 million across two funds targeting investments in enterprise infrastructure companies.