Spotlight on women investing in science; US bolt-on activity on the up

Tuesday 13 October was Ada Lovelace Day, an international celebration of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Lovelace, the daughter of poet Lord Byron and his wife Lady Byron, is recognised as one of the pioneers of computer programming through her long working relationship and friendship with Charles Babbage, 'the father of computers'.

In honour of women's achievements in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM), PEWire is publishing a mini-series of three Q&A interviews with women working in venture capital.

First up this week was Kate Bingham, who heads the UK Vaccine Taskforce and is managing director of SV Health Investors, which invests in biotech, digital health companies, medical devices and healthcare services.

Second up was Christine Hockley, director of investments at British Patient Capital which makes long-term investments in innovative companies across the UK. The third and concluding part of the series presents the journey and views of Itxaso del Palacio, partner at London-based Notion vc.

This week Delivery Hero co-founder and serial entrepreneur Lukasz Gadowski invested EUR7.5 million in Finnish food delivery company Wolt, which recently achieved unicorn status with its EUR1 billion valuation following expansion into Japan and Germany.

PEWire’s new normal series featured an interview with Navaid Equity Partners, a firm that was co-founded by Michael Kalb in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in July this year to invest in quality businesses in solid industries where there’s potential for growth in the underlying business, but where the business is facing some external type of disruption – either a macro disruption such as the Covid crisis or a micro or acute disruption including succession planning issues, management change, or a plant relocation.

Navaid Equity Partners focuses on small to medium sized businesses with revenue up to USD 500 million in industries with strong fundamentals and future growth potential.

One of the few positive effects of the pandemic is that it provides an opportunity to shift some bad habits and build some better ones. According to Jamie Nascimento, co-founder at LemonTree Software – the first low-code development platform for financial services with an alternative asset investment solution – the pandemic has exposed workarounds that many of his clients have in place, as their software didn’t deliver against their needs during lockdown. In this feature he explores the possibility of changing your habits, particularly tech habits, during a time when everything is in flux.

Meanwhile, bolt-on acquisition activity has remained robust and proven to be a key feature of deal activity, despite Covid-related inertia in the broader buyout space. As Bloomberg data reveals, there were only two buyouts completed between April and June, one of which was Clayton Dubilier & Rice’s acquisition of Radio Systems. But for PE sponsors with platform companies in their portfolios, and an eye on consolidation opportunities, 2020 appears to have been very much a case of ‘business as usual’, James Williams writes in his latest feature for PEWire.



Karin Wasteson
Editor, Private Equity Wire
 

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