Fitness tracking business Fitbit floated last week in a deal that was received with euphoria from public market investors. One of the big winners was corporate venturing investor Qualcomm Ventures, which on paper has now returned its $100m Life Fund on paper from one deal. The Life Fund is led by Jack Young (pictured speaking at the Global Corporate Venturing Symposium on June 3).
Qualcomm Ventures owned 3.4 million shares, selling 122,000 shares as part of the initial public offering, which valued at Fitbit’s closing price on Friday of $32.50 per share, is a paper valuation of more than $100m.
Young, senior director of the Qualcomm Life Fund, said: “Fitbit’s remarkable growth is a demonstration of strong consumer interests in digital health and wearable products. Venture investors who believed in the company were rewarded handsomely, thanks to the founders and management team who have been vigilant in capital management while building an exceptional brand and solid business. The success of the Fitbit IPO is a boon to digital health that is likely to attract more talents and investments to the field.”
Other big corporate venturing winners from the deal were Japanese conglomerate Softbank, with its Softbank Princeville Investments, owning 10.2 million shares, which would have a valuation of more than $300m, Sapphire Ventures, which has technology group SAP as its sole LP, owned 6.8m shares valued at more than $200m, and SVB Financial, owned 1.1 million shares, worth more than $30m. Venture firms Foundry Group and True Ventures are both sitting on stakes worth more than $1bn dollars.
Qualcomm Ventures has further experimented with its successful strategy in digital health, by launching DRX Capital alongside pharmaceutical company Novartis, a joint $100m fund. DRX Capital won best newcomer and fund of the year in our GCV Awards ceremony on June 2.
Toby Lewis, Global Corporate Venturing editor, will be speaking at the Healthtech Summit in Lausanne next week on June 30 and July 1.