VC DISAPPOINTS DE SHAW & PRIVATE MARKETS

An underwhelming statistic from last year’s fourth quarter was the disappointingly low level of fundraising. This data comes from Preqin, which reported that venture firms raised $20.6 billion globally during the quarter, down 65% from a year earlier, making it the worst Q4 since 2013. LPs also only invested in 226 venture capital funds, compared with 620 a year earlier.

Another firm going through a purple patch is DE Shaw, which continues to build out its private market capabilities, having successfully raised $1.1 billion for two new funds. The first is Diopter, a private creditfocused fund with $650 million capital commitments to finance bank risk through synthetic securitisation.

The other is Voltaic, a $450 million closed-end fund - slightly shy of the targeted $500 million - to invest in post-seed or growth equity stage firms. DE Shaw is not new to this game, having first raised a private credit fund in 2008, but has now raised a total of $3.5 billion in the space, including this recent raise.