This week alone, I have heard from two different companies that had pitched me stories they were holding off on announcing ���in light of COVID.���
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Last week, distributed a memo to founders and CEOs of its portfolio companies about the worsening economic situation as coronavirus spreads, and many other media outlets reported.
I���ve also seen posts all over from people cautioning about a slowdown in VC funding and reacting with concern to the tumultuous state of the public markets.
So I decided to ask around myself.
I didn���t get as many replies as I expected. Perhaps folks just don���t want to share their revised strategies. Perhaps they���re still trying to figure it out. I���m not sure, but for now, here���s what , general partner of Austin-based, told me on the topic. (For those that don’t know,��Silverton Partners is arguably one of Austin���s most active early-stage VC firms with $384 million under management.)
Warning to executives
Flager shared with me some highlights of a note he sent out to key executives across Silverton���s portfolio this week.
Essentially, Flager said it is ���prudent to assume that fundraising velocity will slow from the fast pace we���ve seen as investors take time to process the new macroeconomic environment.���
He pointed to what transpired economically in 2001 (after 9/11) and 2009 (after the economic downturn) as a reference to what people should likely expect to happen this year.
���Most investors react to uncertainty with increased caution. Travel restrictions will also make it more difficult to meet investors,��� Flager wrote.
Additionally, he said that valuations will likely see pressure from multiple angles.
���First, volatility in the stock market and declining multiples will inevitably play through to the private markets. Companies that haven���t ���gotten the memo��� and are still recklessly buying growth and burning lots of cash doing so will increasingly be viewed as risky and will see that risk premium reflected in their value,��� Flager continued in his note to executives across Silverton���s portfolio. ���In some cases these businesses will not be able to attract additional investment at any price. Do not be one of them.���
He also suggested that if a startup in Silverton���s portfolio is in the middle of closing a round or in the latter stages of a fundraising process, ���it may make sense to take additional capital.���
���More runway in this environment could mean the difference between life and death for your business,��� Flager said.
In September 2019, we covered how Silverton had filed paperwork signaling its intent to raise not just one, but a pair of new venture capital funds. The firm was reportedly aiming to raise $120 million for its sixth fund, as well as for a $20 million ���opportunity fund.���
In May 2018, we reported on the firm closing on its fifth fund, in which it raised $108 million in an oversubscribed round of funding.
Silverton has made 131 knownover its 14-year lifetime at least 42 of them ��� and had 28 known . Startups it has backed include insurance comparison marketplace , as well as and , a woman���s shaving products startup that was recently acquired by P&G.
Some of Silverton’s more recent investments include participating in Austin-based last-mile delivery startup $10.5 million and cybersecurity company $21 million Series B raise (which was led by , ���s venture arm).
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