This just in: Apex Fintech Solutions is giving an IPO another shot and has confidentially filed its draft registration statement with the SEC.
Apex, a custody and clearing firm whose clients include SoFi, Webull, and eToro, hasn’t determined the number of shares it would offer or their price range, a statement said.
The fintech had tried to merge with a SPAC in 2021 but ended up pulling those plans. Apex is majority owned by Peak 6 Investments. It is expected to use a traditional IPO to list its shares, Fortune reported.
Fresh data: The number of unicorns, or companies valued at $1 billion or more, across the world might be lower than you’d think.
Crunchbase lists nearly 1500 companies on its Crunchbase Unicorn Board, while CB Insights has more than 1,200 unicorns as of Oct. 23. These lists typically rely on primary round valuations. But if a company hasn’t raised funding recently, or even in the past year, this information could be stale and provide an inaccurate picture of the current unicorn landscape, according to Howe Ng, SVP and head of analytics and investment solutions at Forge Global, a private securities marketplace
Some well-known unicorns haven’t raised money in the past two years. For instance, Revolut, the digital banking app, last collected an $800 million round in 2021 that valued it at $33 billion. Chime Financial raised $750 million, also in 2021, that valued it at $25 billion. The last funding round of Circle Internet Financial in April 2022 valued that company at around $8 billion, Fortune reported. Neither CB Insights or Crunchbase provide more recent valuations on their sites, but it is clear that prices in the private and public markets have dropped significantly in the past few years. For example, PayPal has seen its share price drop by about 80% since June 2021 while Block, the former Square, has fallen by 74%. Revolut, Chime and Circle could not immediately be reached for comment.
But Forge Global, which operates an online market for selling and buying shares of private companies, can offer more up-to-date info on some of these companies, Ng says. Forge currently tracks 513 U.S. unicorns, a spokeswoman said. “A lot of the unicorns were minted as unicorns in the last few years when the market was really hot,” noted Ng.
Of the 513 unicorns they track, 128 showed secondary pricing activity since their last funding round valuations, Ng said. Only 68% of 128, or 87 companies, retained their unicorn status, he said. This includes Databricks, which was valued at $43 billion in September after raising over $500 million in fresh capital. Anthropic, the AI startup, snagged a roughly $5 billion valuation in May after securing funding.
Anand Sanwal, CEO and cofounder of CB Insights, said secondary market services typically operate on a vibe market. “Outside of a few high profile names where there is enough trading activity, most of these 1200-plus unicorns will not have the liquidity where you can say there is enough data for a credible clearing price,” Sanwal said.
“There is very little fundamental data there,” he added.
Gené Teare, senior data editor at Crunchbase, said many of the unicorn valuations were set in 2021 when global venture funding and unicorn creation shattered all records. “Now, we’re about six quarters into a substantial downturn during which we’ve seen high-profile companies culled from the Crunchbase Unicorn Board after raising at lower valuations or in some cases shutting down entirely. I fully expect these trends to continue, potentially leading to a situation where the cumulative value of the unicorn board reflects roughly half of its current projection,” Teare said in a statement late Monday.
According to the Forge data, more than one-third of the 128 companies (that showed secondary pricing activity since their last funding round valuations), have lost their unicorn status. This includes Thrasio Holdings, the once IPO candidate that was valued at $4.5 billion in 2022, dropped to a valuation of $193.9 million on Sept. 30, Ng said. Thrasio is preparing to file for bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reported in November. Convoy, the trucking startup whose investors include Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, was valued at $3.8 billion in 2022 but is now shutting down.
Some companies posted a lower valuation but retain unicorn status, Ng said. He pointed to Automation Anywhere, which was valued at $7.3 billion in 2022 but is now valued at $1.9 billion, he said. Last year, Epic Games, the creator of “Fortnite” was valued at $31.5 billion but is now valued at $13.9 billion, according to Ng.
Thrasio, Convoy, Automation, and Epic could not be reached for comment.
Using primary fundraising data to calculate valuations of private companies can paint an inaccurate picture, Ng said. “You can look to the secondary market for more timely and accurate data when valuing private companies,” he said.
Talk to you tomorrow,
Luisa Beltran
Twitter: @LuisaRBeltran
Email: luisa.beltran@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.
VENTURE DEALS
- Armada, a San Francisco-based company designed to enable companies to use generative AI and predictive models from anywhere on the planet, raised $55 million in funding. Founders Fund, Lux Capital, Shield Capital, and 8090 Industries led the round and were joined by Felicis, Contrary, and others.
- Vammo, a São Paulo, Brazil-based startup that provides users with electric motorcycles and a network of battery-swap stations, raised $30 million in Series A funding. Monashees led the round and was joined by Construct Capital and others.
- Aria, a Paris, France-based payment platform, raised €15 million ($16.1 million) in funding. 13books Capital led the round and was joined by Adevinta Ventures, Ankaa Ventures Otium Capital, and angel investors.
- German Bionic, a Boston, Mass and Augsburg, Germany-based developer of smart power suits and other wearable technologies, raised €15 million ($16.1 million) in a Series A extension. Mubea led the round and was joined by existing investors Benhamou Global Ventures, Bayern Kapital, IT Farm, Kailua Ventures, and others.
- Origin AI, a Rockville, Maryland-based developer of technology designed to turn WiFi signals into precise presence sensing solutions for security, eldercare, and other uses, raised $15.9 million in a Series B extension. Verisure led the round and was joined by Okinawa Electric Power Company and others.
- Durable, a Vancouver, B.C.-based AI-powered website builder and small business platform, raised $14 million in Series A funding. Spark Capital led the round and was joined by existing investors Torch Capital, Altman Capital, Dash Fund, and others.
- Medefy, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based platform designed to help employees navigate their health benefits, raised $10 million in Series A funding. Mercury Fund led the round and was joined by Advantage Capital.
- Relevance AI, a Sydney, Australia-based startup designed to help businesses build AI workforces, raised $10 million in Series A funding. King River Capital led the round and was joined by Peak XV’s Surge, Galileo Ventures, and existing investor Insight Partners.
- CitrusX, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based platform designed for organizations to monitor and validate their AI models, raised $4.5 million in seed funding. Awz led the round and was joined by angel investors.
- Seam, a Brooklyn, N.Y.-based platform designed to allow users to code, design, and curate their own social spaces, raised $2.5 million in seed funding. 1kx led the round and was joined by Seed Club Ventures, Sfermion, F7 Ventures, Social Graph Ventures, and angel investors.
PRIVATE EQUITY
- Ascendant Capital agreed to take Hollysys Automation Technologies, a Beijing, China-based IT and automated solutions provider, private for $1.66 billion
- EQT Infrastructure acquired a majority stake in Heritage Environmental Services, an Indianapolis, Ind.-based sustainability and industrial waste management services provider.
- Formstack, backed by Silversmith Capital Partners and PSG, acquired Formsite, a Chicago, Ill.-based platform for building online forms and surveys.
- Prometheus Group, backed by Genstar Capital, acquired MobilOps, a Pasadena, Texas-based provider of plant management and field operations software. Financial terms were not disclosed.
EXITS
- Partners Group agreed to acquire Velvet CARE, a Klucze, Poland-based manufacturer of paper-based personal care products, from Abris Capital Partners. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- Permira agreed to acquire GGW Group, a Hamburg, Germany-based insurance brokerage platform for small and medium-sized enterprises, from Hg. Financial terms were not disclosed.
- RØDE Microphones acquired Mackie, a Bothell, Wash.-based headphone, microphone, and speaker retailer, from Transom Capital Group.
OTHER
- Occidental Petroleum agreed to acquire CrownRock, a Midland, Texas-based energy provider for approximately $12 billion.
PEOPLE
- RedBird Capital Partners, New York City-based private equity firm, appointed Zlatan Ibrahimović as an operating partner. Formerly, he was with AC Milan.
- One Rock Capital Partners, a New York City-based private equity firm, hired Shannon Crespin as an operating partner. Formerly, she was with Tonal.
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