Business Blog: PE's deal-to-exit gap at its widest yet

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The Daily Pitch: VC, PE and M&A

July 23, 2025

The Daily Pitch is powered by PitchBook's industry-defining research and best-in-class data

🌍 The healthcare market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa is heating up, with Q1 marking a two-year high in total funding. VC dealmaking is also on the rise in sectors such as biopharma, AI-driven diagnostics and surgical robotics—with new unicorns emerging in key cities in the EMEA region, including London, Paris and Tel Aviv. Read the analyst note

Plus...
• Elon Musk's xAI is reportedly raising an additional $12 billion
• Untangling OpenAI's talent tug-of-war
• The UK and Ireland battled headwinds to boost their share of European PE fundraising in H1 2025 to just under half of the continent's total haul

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PE's gap between investments and exits reaches a decade high

(Dev Images/Getty Images

The ratio of PE investments to exits has climbed to 3.14x in 2025, the highest in a decade, as firms continue to delay sales and turn to alternative liquidity strategies.

With dry powder plateauing and LP pressure mounting, continuation funds and partial exits continue to be go-to solutions for the asset class.

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UK boosts its share of European PE fundraising

(Alexander Spatari/Getty Images)

The UK and Ireland accounted for nearly half of all European PE fundraising in the first half of 2025, raising nearly €27 billion (over $31 billion).

Despite persistent macroeconomic headwinds, the countries remain resilient fundraising hubs, supported by strong legal frameworks and concentrated investor talent.

Untangling OpenAI's talent tug-of-war

(Josie Doan/PitchBook News)

OpenAI is losing its grip on top AI talent as intensifying competition threatens its first-mover advantage. A PitchBook analysis found that over 25% of its research leads, or more than 50 key staffers, have left for rival companies or started their own in just the last two years.

Their ranks include elite engineers behind leading models like GPT-4 who have left for outsized pay packages at Meta and Thinking Machines. But OpenAI is fighting back with new staff retention strategies, including upping compensation for key engineers.

First-time sellers flock to the secondary market

(MirageC/Getty Images)

The secondary market is in a boom cycle, and a growing number of LPs are set to come to market for the first time this year, several of the largest secondary buyers and service providers told PitchBook.

LPs that have historically avoided the secondary market often perceived it as a domain for distressed sales. But that stigma may be broken as high-profile sales flood the market and allocators grapple with mounting liquidity needs.

Since yesterday, the PitchBook Platform added:

891

Deals

2859

People

971

Companies

Funds

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The Daily Benchmark: 2016 Vintage Global Secondaries Funds

Median IRR

13.40%

Top Quartile IRR

22.03%

1.0x

Median DPI

Select top performers

LTO Fund

ICG Strategic Secondaries Fund II

Industry Ventures Special Opportunities Fund III

*IRR: net of fees

32 Funds in Benchmark »

Check out the latest version of PitchBook Benchmarks

VC Deals

AI research and product company Reka AI raised a $110 million round from investors including Nvidia and Snowflake.

Avalyn Pharma, a biotech company focusing on treatments for lung conditions, raised a $100 million Series D led by Suvretta Capital Management and SR One.

Makersite, a Germany-based provider of an AI platform for supply chain management, raised €60 million in Series B led by Lightrock and Partech.

Lumotive, a startup developing chips to manipulate light for use in autonomous vehicles and data centers, raised a $59 million Series B from investors including Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund and Ithca Group.

San Francisco-based Ashby, the developer of an AI recruitment platform, raised a $50 million Series D led by Alkeon Capital and Lachy Groom.

xLight, a startup developing lasers for use in manufacturing, raised a $40 million Series B led by Playground Global.

Pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing organization Phlow raised a $37 million Series C led by Align Private Capital.

Compliance software developer Delve raised a $32 million Series A led by Insight Partners.

Everlab, an Australian maker of a platform focused on preventive healthcare, raised $10 million in a seed round led by Left Lane Capital.

Don't miss our upcoming webinar

Heading into H2 2025, the venture market faces concerns over liquidity, IPOs and the geopolitical environment, with investments concentrating in proven sectors and firms. Join our upcoming webinar, created in partnership with the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and sponsored by J.P. Morgan, Dentons, Deloitte, and NetSuite, for analysis on US VC trends and market outlooks from our panel of industry experts. Key topics include:

IPOs are in an extended standstill because of market uncertainty.

Secondaries have provided some limited liquidity relief.

Dealmaking continues its focus on AI.

Fundraising is waiting on a return of large exits.

Register now to secure your spot.

PE Deals

CapVest Partners is in talks to acquire Stada Arzneimittel in a deal that could value the German pharmaceutical company at around €10 billion, Bloomberg reported.

CC Capital agreed to take Insignia Financial, an Australia-based wealth manager, private for A$3.3 billion ($2.2 billion).

UK-based Apax Partners will acquire London-listed investment company Apax Global Alpha for about €916.5 million ($1.1 billion).

Blackstone acquired network automation company NetBrain Technologies in a $750 million deal.

The Carlyle Group is set to acquire Canadian IT consultancy and services provider Adastra Group for $400 million.

Metric Capital Partners sold Adalvo, a Malta-based B2B pharmaceutical company, to EQT.

Ambienta acquired Agronova Biotech, a Spanish agtech company, from Magnum Industrial Partners and the founding Casanova family.

Mubadala and AXA IM Prime agreed to take a minority stake in Hayfin Capital Management, a London-based private credit lender.

Astorg-backed IQ-EQ acquired Gordian Capital, which offers asset management services throughout Asia.

Portfolio Companies

OpenAI agreed to form a strategic partnership with the UK government to deepen collaboration on AI security research and explore investment in British AI infrastructure, including data centers.

Exits

Cinven, KKR and Providence Equity Partners are considering a €5 billion sale of their 50% stake in Spain-based telecommunications company MasOrange, Bloomberg reported.

Drugmaker Sanofi agreed to buy Vicebio, a VC-backed biopharmaceutical company that focuses on respiratory viral infections, for $1.6 billion.

Milky Mist Dairy Food, a VC-backed packaged food company in India, filed a draft prospectus for its Mumbai IPO, looking to raise 20.4 billion Indian rupees ($236 million).

Brookfield Asset Management sold its 49% stake in PD Ports to Pontegadea Inversiones, the family office of Amancio Ortega.

Greycroft-backed Bee, the developer of a wearable AI assistant, has been acquired by Amazon.

Dutch education platform provider Learnbeat acquired the core technology of Amsterdam-based AI-learning startup Anywyse, which is backed by Techstars.

K1 Investment Management agreed to sell AI engagement software company Subsplash to Nasdaq-listed Roper Technologies.

Fundraising

Glade Brook Capital Partners, a late-stage tech startup investor, raised $515 million for its fourth fund.

RA Capital Management closed its latest fund on $120 million. The vehicle targets investments in sustainable energy, manufacturing and environmental services companies.

Investors

NUS Enterprise, the VC arm of the National University of Singapore, will earmark 150 million Singaporean dollars ($117 million) to launch the NUS Venture Capital Programme.