Does a Season of Difficulty Lie Ahead for Unicorns? Recent Down Rounds and Write Downs (Part 2)
The Prime Unicorn Index benchmark, the standard bearer for private markets benchmarking, tracks post-money valuations for U.S-based, VC-backed private companies. Reflecting the broader private market, the Index is down 6.79% year to date and dropped 15.37% in 2022. But looking at individual component companies, in particular the variance between its preferred stock price (issued to […]
Does a Season of Difficulty Lie Ahead for Unicorns? Recent Down Rounds and Write Downs (Part 1)
The Prime Unicorn Index benchmark, the standard bearer for private markets benchmarking, tracks post-money valuations for U.S-based, VC-backed private companies. Reflecting the broader private market, the Index is down 6.79% year to date and dropped 15.37% in 2022. But looking at individual component companies, in particular the variance between its preferred stock price (issued to […]
Three Basic Rules: Dilution, Dilution, Dilution
Take a sample of 100 venture-backed companies successful enough to undertake an initial public offering. In a high percentage of the transactions, the prospectus discloses that the earliest stage investors (founders and angels) wind up with close to trivial equity percentages and thus, puny returns on their investment in the company. One would think that these investors are entitled to […]
Wyre, a Crypto Payments Platform, Is NOT Shutting Down (UPDATED)
Wyre, a crypto payments and infrastructure company, is shutting down after a failed acquisition by Bolt Financial in September. The deal would have valued Wyre at $1.5B. Wyre was founded in 2013 by Ioannis Giannaros and Michael Dunworth. According to data from the Prime Unicorn Index, Wyre raised $21.45M across six rounds, with investors including […]