VC as an Asset Class
“As Figma goes public, a turning point in the long-awaited IPO market recovery takes shape,” read Fortune’s headline. The IPO came after a planned merger with Adobe fell apart in 2023, with the design software unicorn’s offering valued at nearly $20 billion. This milestone reflected broader trends in legal tech investments, where venture-backed companies are increasingly shaping the technology and services used by corporate legal teams and legal service providers.
As Fortune writes, “… Figma could be the harbinger of a simmering truth: that the market for venture-backed IPOs is in a thoughtful recovery,” while also quoting PitchBook’s Derek Hernandez that should Figma “stumble,” “… this may reinforce some caution among late-stage VCs and delay other large tech floats.”
The IPO market is just one path to liquidity for investors, and for this edition, I wanted to dive into venture capital as an asset class, including:
- IPO optimism and uncertainty
- The role of M&A
- Secondaries as “no passing fad”
- Other novel approaches
- The overall exit math and the “new normal” for Venture Capital
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LegalTech Goes Global! (Part 1)
When Business Insider, reporting that LegalTech funding had crossed $1 billion so far this year, curated a select list of 10 LegalTech startups, two hailed from outside the U.S. – Sweden’s Legora, which had an $80M raise in May, and Britain’s Luminance, which had a $75M round in February. This week’s edition of Venture Legal…
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”Where Do the Dollars Go Next?” Funding, Adoption & Competition in LegalTech
“A foundational shift is underway in the legal sector – driven by generative AI, rising cost pressures, and a new wave of founder-led innovation,” wrote Alumni Ventures’ Clare Brandfonbrener this summer. “But this won’t be a winner-take-all market,” she notes. Amid rapid AI-driven change, big startup funding rounds, and intense competition for market share, in…
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State of Change: Exploring the Impact of the Evolving State AI Regulatory Environment
As the AI boom continues, the numbers can be startling. CNBC reported that AI startups have minted dozens of new billionaires this year, and there are now 498 AI unicorns with valuations of $1 billion or more, with a combined value of $2.7 trillion. For companies operating in this space, maintaining regulatory compliance has become…
