June Dashboard: VC-backed IPOs spike in June as U.S. fundraising soars past $21 bln year-to-date

The first half ended with a robust IPO market as 18 venture-backed companies debuted on U.S. exchanges, the most in a single month since March 2014 when 18 VC-backed companies also debuted.

June was also a good month for M&A exits, as a couple of billion-dollar deals were completed.

Meanwhile, venture fundraising continued to climb in June, as more than $4.7 billion in commitments were raised by U.S. funds. That was the highest monthly total so far this year, ahead of the $4.4 billion raised in February.

The following stats on fundraising, deals, M&A and IPOs are based on preliminary data from Thomson Reuters.

Fundraising (value up 23%)

In June, 39 U.S.-based firms raised more than $4.7 billion in commitments, compared with 28 firms raising $3.8 billion the month before, a 23 percent increase in money raised. Index Ventures led the way with a new $650 million early-stage fund. Meritech Capital Partners closed a late-stage fund in June, raising $630 million for Fund VI. Through the first six months of the year, U.S. funds have raised more than $21.2 billion in commitments, compared with $19 billion during the same period last year.

Deals (value up 8.2%)

The cumulative deal count dropped in June, but the amount invested for U.S. companies rose in the month thanks to more large investments getting done. A total of 363 U.S.-based companies raised more than $7.8 billion in June, compared with 405 deals raising nearly $7.3 billion in May. That’s a 8.2 percent rise in dollars invested. In June, the largest venture deal was Lyft, the ride-sharing company, which raised $600 million in funding from investors, including Fidelity Management & Research, reportedly at a valuation exceeding $15 billion.

M&A (value up 484%)

In June, a total of 27 venture-backed companies were acquired, with five disclosing transaction prices for a combined deal value of more than $3.1 billion. That compares with 18 venture-backed companies selling in May, including four with disclosed details, for a combined transaction total of about $532 million. The largest sale in June was X.Commerce, which Adobe Systems bought for $1.7  billion. Glassdoor, which was rumored to go public, also sold in the month, for $1.2 billion to Japanese HR giant Recruit Holdings.  The preliminary numbers don’t yet include Microsoft’s announced acquisition of venture-backed GitHub for $7.5 billion.

IPOs (value up 187%)

In June, 18 venture-backed companies went public on U.S. exchanges, compared with seven in May. The combined value of the June IPO proceeds nearly tripled to almost $2.2 billion from $765 million. The largest VC-backed tech startup to go public in June was pharmaceutical company Tricida, raising $222 million. SaaS company Domo, raised $193 million in proceeds in its June IPO.

Source: Thomson Reuters.