Yesterday evening, our friends from J.P. Morgan's banking team graciously hosted a Happy Hour for our CEOs and LPs at Mez in Durham.
It was a fun night filled with margaritas, great food, and thoughtful conversation. We would especially like to thank Olga Polunina, head of Private Capital Markets Execution at Capital Connect, and Casey Chopek, Executive Director in Investment Banking and lead for the Carolinas, for leading a very engaging discussion on trends they are seeing in the M+A, IPO, and VC markets. Our CEOs and LPs had lots of questions and took advantage of having these experts in the room.
Also thanks to Mackenzie Wheatley and Lucy Hansen from JPM for their help organizing the event. Finally, giant big 🙌🙌 to Tweener Fund volunteer Nicole Wardeberg Funk (this is her write up!) for her help and Derek Pando! Oh yeah -final thanks to Wade Minter who is always up for a little Wingo<->Wade improv (you had to be there).🏒
Key takeaways:
- Following a challenging few quarters of global M+A deal flow, we are witnessing positive signs of a resurgence
- Capital continues to be tightening. While Sept was the first y/y increase in early stage capital, October data isn't out yet, but it feels like the market moved to: "It has to be perfect" to get funding - top player in a space, high growth, close to EBITDA+, incredible unit economics, etc. Everyone was hopeful this will clear in Q1 2024.
- M+A-wise, the remainder of 2023 is laying the foundation for a promising 2024, with a backlog of high-quality companies gearing up for deals
- AI & ML continues to be "hottest" sector for both M+A and early-stage investing
Thank you to these leaders and the broader J.P. Morgan team for traveling to town, sharing your knowledge, and sharing our enthusiasm for Triangle entrepreneurship!
