As we highlighted before, crossover investors had their biggest year ever in terms of deal activity into private tech companies in 2015 (though they slowed down sharply towards the year’s tail-end). Who were the active players that were pushing this trend?
In 2015, the most active crossover investor was hedge fund Tiger Global Management, with investments in more than 45 unique tech companies in 2015. Goldman Sachs followed very closely behind, revealing a particular interest in fintech startups. Those two were also the only crossover investors with more than 30 investments into tech companies in 2015.
Mutual funds like Wellington Management and Fidelity Investments also rapidly increased their investment pace compared to previous years (although they have been marking down the value of some of those investments).
We used CB Insights data to put some numbers to this trend, looking at “crossover investors,” a category that includes non-VCs, including investment banks, mutual funds, and hedge funds, as well as asset managers and diversified financial services-based firms.
It’s interesting to note that some of these deep-pocketed investors have shifted their activity to outside of the US, including mega-deals to companies like GuaHao, Olacabs, and Aiwujiwu.
| Rank | Investor | Select Investments |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tiger Global Management | AirBnB, Flipkart, Olacabs |
| 2 | Goldman Sachs | Uber, Spotify, GuaHao Technology |
| 3 | BPI France | Netatmo, Aledia, TalentSoft |
| 4 | Silicon Valley Bank | Jet.com, Bill.com, SteelHouse |
| 5 | Wellington Management | SoFi, DocuSign, DraftKings |
| 6 | Fidelity Investments | Zenefits, Pinterest, Blue Apron |
| 7 | Western Technology Investment | Kareo, Skully Helmets, AltspaceVR |
| 8 | Scottish Investment Bank | Kobojo, Mallzee, PowerPhotonic |
| 9 | Octopus Investments | Secret Escapes, CurrencyFair, Amplience |
| 10 | Coatue Management | Didi Kuaidi, GrabTaxi, Uxin Pai |
| 10 | Hillhouse Capital Management | Uber, Aiwujiwu, Mafengwo |
*Analysis only included equity investments
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