The Emerging Tech Indicator (ETI), released by Pitchbook, provides a quarterly review of seed- and early-stage investment activity “involving a limited subset of the world’s most successful venture capital (VC) firms.”
The analysis provides “a unique perspective into the types of technologies top investors view as the most promising, while also tracking how aggressively they are making capital allocation decisions.”
In the second quarter of 2022, Pitchbook reportedly “tracked 195 early- and seed-stage deals that involved the top 15 VC firms (relative to 5,941 total early- and seed-stage VC deals).” These firms are “determined each quarter based on the success of their investments over time in terms of exits and valuations.” As noted in the update, ETI startups identified via their top 15 methodology have strongly outperformed “the broader VC industry, exhibiting higher exit rates and higher valuations.”
The latest report from Pitchbook provides “a review of the kinds of products and technologies being developed by startups that received ETI capital in the latest quarter.”
E-commerce was notably one of the largest ETI segments “at $316 million raised across 9 deals.”
The report added:
“While the pandemic-driven e-commerce boom has slowed significantly, digital sales channels remain important areas of investment for organizations and small businesses, and ETI activity provides a unique window into areas of potential digital sales growth. Also notable is the extent to which e-commerce startups represent international opportunities, reflecting the varying stages of e-commerce development around the world. In Q2, only one e-commerce deal was for a US based company.
The largest deal was reportedly “raised by Qogita (an $82 million Series B), a European wholesale goods vendor.”
The second-largest deal “consisted of a $60 million Series B by Indonesian online grocery delivery service Astro.” This was “followed by a $54 million Series B for Carma, an Australian used car platform.”
The report further noted:
“Other marketplaces included Rooser ($23 million Series A), a UK based seafood
trading business, and HyperGuest ($15 million Series A), an Israeli startup where hotel and property managers can share availability with travel agents.”
The report from Pitchbook also mentioned:
“In addition to retail and marketplaces, several ETI startups are focused on the enablement technologies that help power the e-commerce industry. These include Zubale ($40 million Series A), which provides e-commerce fulfillment services for the South American market; New York-based Beam ($13 million Series A), a platform that lets e-commerce companies integrate charitable donation features into checkout processes; Truora ($21 million Series A), a Columbian customer-chat and onboarding tool; and ZMO.AI, a Chinese company that creates AI-powered virtual models for online fashion retailers.”