3 min read
The pandemic presented unprecedented challenges, and like many other industries, the private equity industry was not immune. However, despite the market uncertainty, PE firms have navigated the new 'normal' by adjusting their operating models and proving agility and resilience.
The core component of any successful private equity or venture capital firm is the quality deal flow it receives.
Last year, we saw a record-breaking number of new start-ups and all-time high VC funding. US VC-backed companies raised $329.9 billion in 2021, nearly double the previous record of $166.6 billion raised in 2020, signaling the trend of increasing deal sizes.
Here are some other venture capital trends for 2022:
PE firms in the US invested more than $1.2 trillion in 2021, a 64% increase from the previous record set in 2019. The unused capital from 2020, historically low-interest rates, and some fantastic opportunities to pick up stressed companies have led to a massive boom for the PE industry.
Having talked to a few hundred VC and PE funds over a period of two years, we decided it’s time to share some of the most important lessons learned in selecting the right tool for the job. Venture capital CRM seems to be one of the top queries out there, so we figured it’s only fair we help out by creating a list of important things to think about when it’s time to decide what platform to adopt.
1. A VC fund should not be run with sales tools
How did the story of Zapflow begin?
It all started when I ran the M&A and equity investments of a firm with 80+ transactions under its belt and so many evaluated investment opportunities. I felt all the pains personally and wanted to, not only solve my own problems, but also those of other professional investors working on their deal flow: insane amounts of data, too many things to do and, to put it nicely, less than perfect tools to manage deal flow.