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Investor Newsletter >

Weekly Update #206: Growth Equity, The Emergent Asset Class

EquityZen
Jul 5th, 2017

Growth Equity: Direct late-stage investments in leading private companies with proven business models and high expected growth

Over the last decade, Growth Equity activity has increased substantially, reaching its height in 2015 when $39 billion in new investments were made.

Growth Equity Activity(Source: Venture Monitor)


Rising valuations in private markets leave fewer opportunities to public investors. The emergent asset class allows late-stage private companies to defer IPOs longer while scaling their operations, in hopes that they will reach profitability and a higher valuation down the road. In 2015, when Growth Equity markets reached their peak, the proportion of profitable IPOs fell to 34%, the lowest level in a decade.

profitable_ipos
(Source: TechCrunch)


However, Growth Equity investments still carry significant risks as they depend heavily on continued growth, and, ultimately, underlying company profitability. The recent IPOs of Tintri (NASDAQ: TNTR) and Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN) both highlight how companies that were last valued at 2015’s market highs have found hard landings in public markets due to lack of profitability, which is typically a greater focus for public investors.

In other news...

  • Cyber security firm Zscaler to hire banks for IPO (Reuters)
  • Redfin files to raise $100 million in an IPO as the online real estate broker takes on Zillow (CNBC)
  • SEC to let all companies file confidentially for an IPO (Axios)
  • Dropbox seeks to hire IPO underwriters (Reuters)
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