Danny Zouber

Thrive Capital has raised an impressive $10 billion with its tenth fund, "Thrive X" - the largest fund in the company's history and nearly double the size of its predecessor: https://lnkd.in/drj_9M8k

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💡 New data from Colibri Institute show that funds with women general partners deliver a 1.6 percent IRR advantage on average, despite structural fundraising barriers. In its latest white paper on venture capital performance and institutional portfolio construction, Colibri Institute analyzes fund performance data, portfolio construction, and risk behavior across thousands of venture funds — offering a data-driven lens on how capital is actually performing. ➡️ Read even more insights by downloading the white paper: https://lnkd.in/gfx6QfuR

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📊 Seed Fundraising Landscape 2024–2025: Selectivity Returns to the Early Stage Carta’s latest data (1,208 US primary seed rounds, Oct 2024 – Sept 2025) underscores a clear recalibration in early-stage investing: fewer, larger, and more conviction-driven rounds. Key observations from the data: 🔸 Median seed round: $3.6 million 🔸 Median pre-money valuation: $15 million Sector breakdown reveals a bifurcated market: • Biotech leads in both round volume and valuation, highlighting continued LP appetite for science-backed defensibility even amid longer R&D cycles. • Cybersecurity, Analytics, and Hardware command higher-than-average valuations and round sizes — evidence of capital concentration into deep-tech infrastructure plays. • Renewables has moved firmly into the mainstream seed landscape, signalling institutional comfort with energy transition models. • Healthtech, Fintech, and Marketplaces remain steady but valuation multiples are compressing, reflecting investor caution around business-model scalability and margins. • Personal, Edtech, and HR sectors sit below median lines, pointing to reduced risk appetite for non-defensible consumer-centric models. Takeaway: Seed capital in 2025 is not retreating — it’s consolidating. Investors are backing fewer founders, with stronger technical or regulatory moats, and gravitating toward capital-efficient, mission-linked innovation across biotech, cybersecurity, and renewables. #VentureCapital #PrivateMarkets #SeedFunding #InvestmentTrends #CartaData #Biotech #DeepTech #ESGInvesting

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Q4 2025 had no tax deadline. US PE exit value still nearly doubled. Most founders ask whether the market is right. Very few ask whether the calendar is right. December 31 resets several things at once. Fund DPI. LP re-up decisions. Corporate M&A budgets. Lender origination targets. Year-end marks. That pressure shows up in the numbers. US PE exit value hit $229.2B in Q4 2025, the strongest quarter since Q2 2021 (PitchBook). Q4 2026 starts in a harder position. Rates just went up. Spreads are wider. Software LBOs have stalled. But $1.1T of dry powder is still waiting, and sponsors need exits to raise their next fund. So the real question for a founder this month is not "should I sell?" It is "does this close by December 31, or launch in January?" Our rule: if the LOI isn't signed by November 15, plan a January launch on full-year numbers. A rushed December close usually costs more in price and escrow than waiting six weeks. Our new white paper covers the data, the eight drivers behind the Q4 effect, and a timeline for sellers, sponsors and buyers. It's attached. Where have you seen a year-end deadline help a deal, and where has it hurt?

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The Carta Fund Economics Report shows that the traditional 2/20 fee structure remains a fundamental component of venture. 20% carry is one of the few variables that has consistently been applicable to funds of all types & sizes… but some firms are beginning to challenge the standard. A closer look reveals how even the “2/20” bedrock is beginning to shift, with impacts for LPs, GPs, and firm operators at both ends of the market. LPs treat 20% carry as a baseline, not a differentiator - Most LPs view the 2/20 fee structure as a given, shifting focus to execution, strategy, and fund construction. - When LPs do deviate, they’re reacting to significant indicators that change their perceived potential/risk. Implications on firm operations for how you manage carry -Carry pools are relatively finite (by %) and you need to be mindful of how you distribute it to build the team your strategy requires. - Wider dispersion at the smallest and largest fund sizes indicates that the tails are uniquely constructed agreements between GPs and LPs. TLDR: Carry may look uniform at first glance, but deviations from 20% highlight how LPs price potential/risk, how GPs build credibility, and how operational maturity compounds as firms scale. cc: Hamza Shad, Kevin Dowd

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The SEC has proposed scrapping its investment adviser “pay-to-play” rule and replacing its prescriptive restrictions with a more principles-based approach. What should investment advisers consider now as the proposal moves forward? #InvestmentFunds #SEC #PayToPlay https://bit.ly/47sxwax

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