Andreessen Horowitz @A16z launches Jumbo #Crypto #VC Fund

Andreessen Horowitz's latest $2.2 Billion Crypto Fund III gives it flexibility to do more late-stage VC rounds. The firm previously targeted just $1 billion for the fund, the Financial Times reported in April.

Crypto Fund III is gigantic even by a16z standards. The firm's $3.2 billion late-stage vehicle, which closed last year in conjunction with a $1.3 billion early-stage fund, is the only one to exceed Crypto Fund III in size. Andreessen Horowitz's other crypto funds include a $515 million vehicle closed last year and a $350 million fund from 2018.

A16z's crypto investments exemplify the venture industry's so-called power law, which holds that a small number of investments provide the bulk of returns. Chris Dixon, who has led many of Andreessen Horowitz's crypto investments including Coinbase and Dapper Labs, has called this phenomenon the "Babe Ruth effect."

"The best VCs funds truly do exemplify the Babe Ruth effect: they swing hard, and either hit big or miss big," Dixon wrote in a 2015 blog post. "You can't have grand slams without a lot of strikeouts."

See the whole article on PitchBook here: https://pitchbook.com/news/articles/andreessen-horowitz-launches-crypto-arms-race-as-check-sizes-swell

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#Commodities Traders look to #GreenEnergy as they transition away from Hydrocarbons

Marco Dunand of Mercuria said he had long been a 'closet environmentalist'

Mercuria pledges half its investments to energy transition

June 15, 2021

Commodity traders that have reaped huge profits from the oil market in recent years now want to play a role in renewable energy.

Speaking at the FT commodities Summit in Lausanne, all the major traders reinforced their intention to continue to invest in Renewable Energy projects as they shift away from fossil fuels. 

Mercuria co-founder Marco Dunand: "within five years, 50 per cent of all investments are going to be for the energy transition. We have started and have invested well over $500m."

Russell Hardy, chief executive of Vitol, the world's biggest independent oil trader, said it aimed to put half of its investments in renewables and transitional energy, such as gas. The trading house has committed over $1bn in capital for renewable projects.

Torbjörn Törnqvist, Gunvor chair, said it was increasing its investments in power trading, existing renewable technology as well as decarbonisation technologies.

Trafigura last year announced plans to build or buy 2 gigawatts of solar, wind and power storage projects over the next few years through a joint venture with fund manager IFM Investors.

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"Every time the company invests into say an upstream [oil and gas] asset . . . we are going to have to put the equivalent money into the energy transition," Dunand said. 

Unlike some of its peers, which are primarily focused on physical oil trading, Mercuria has also pushed into financing, offering clients complex services more akin to those offered by investment banks. In 2014 it bought part of JPMorgan's physical commodities trading business to bolster its operations, particularly in power markets. 

Read the whole article on the FT here: Mercuria pledges half its investments to energy transition https://www.ft.com/content/06ea940a-2bfe-487a-8c50-5d8fcd402525

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#Europe's #Unicorn herd grows almost 3X in 2021 vs 2020, 2X vs. 2019–and we’re not even half way through the year!

PitchBook reports 2021 has seen a record number of European startups achieve unicorn status as the increased participation of US investors pushes up valuations.

23 companies in Europe and Israel have become unicorns so far this year, easily beating 2020's total of eight, according to PitchBook data.

A record amount of VC capital has continued to flow to European startups, with €32.5 billion (around $39.3 billion) invested so far, putting the year on track to surpass last year's €37.6 billion.

The increasing participation of US-based investors has been a factor in the increase of investment. Nearly half of the top 10 backers of European unicorns in terms of deal count are based across the Atlantic.

Europe's tech startups tend to have lower valuations than US counterparts, offering more opportunities for higher growth rates.

"We expect transatlantic capital flows to continue to increase and strengthen valuations in Europe, as cash-rich US investors seek new companies showing strong potential that could be introduced to the US market," said Nalin Patel, a private capital analyst at PitchBook.

See the full article on PitchBook here: Europe's unicorn herd grows bigger and faster in 2021 | PitchBook

The incredible story of #Shein. The online fashion retailer you’ve never heard of

This week it surpassed Amazon as the most downloaded e-commerce app in the US.

Its rise was turbocharged by Trump's Trade War with China and the COVID pandemic.

Shein, China's First Global Fashion Giant
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-14/online-fashion-giant-shein-emerged-from-china-thanks-to-donald-trump-s-trade-war


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#Copper boom: #CleanEnergy is driving this #Commodities supercycle

Excellent article on Copper from the FT by Neil Hume and Henry Sanderson. 

Copper boom: how clean energy is driving a commodities supercycle
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Read the full article here: https://on.ft.com/3w3jlnS

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#Greensill Capital’s Ponzi Scheme’s Collapse is the Story That Keeps On Giving—Except, of course, If You Were a Credit Suisse Investor…

This time the latest victim is West Vir­ginia Gov. Jim Justice who is said to be personally ­on the hook for nearly $700 mil­lion in loans his coal company, Bluestone Resources,  took out from now-defunct Green­sill Capital. 

Green­sill packaged the loans and sold them to the $10 bil­lion in sup­ply-chain finance investment funds managed by Credit Suisse Group AG. 

WSJ reports that Gov. Justice's  Blue­stone com­pa­nies re­ceived fi­nanc­ing over a three-year pe­riod. When the first set of loans ma­tured, Green­sill re­placed them with new loans in a process that be­came known as a "cash­less roll," ac­cord­ing to the Blue­stone law­suit.

See the whole story on the Wall Street Journal here: 

West Virginia Governor Is Liable for $700 Million in Greensill Loans

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#Citibank bites the bullet on #Bitcoin

The biggest change with Bitcoin is the shift from it being primarily a retail-focused endeavor to something that looks attractive for institutional investors.