The private market ecosystem experienced strong growth in 2021. The number of recognized unicorns (defined as private companies having $1B+ valuation) grew from 564 in 2020 to 882 in 2021. Nasdaq Private Markets’ (“NPM”) 2021...more
Last week the SEC announced a settlement of fraud claims against the founder of Jumio, Inc, a private mobile payments company, for misstating the company’s financial results and using those financials to sell his company...more
Potential disputes involving unicorns have been a hot topic for the last several years. We predicted that would continue this year in in our webinar and related blog post: The Top Ten Regulatory and Litigation Risks for...more
Last week the SEC announced it had reached an agreement with privately-held company Zenefits, and its co-founder and former CEO Parker Conrad, to settle allegations that Zenefits materially misled Series B and C investors....more
Recently, I came across a list of unicorns. These are private companies with valuations of $1 billion or more. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of the list, but I did recognize many of the names. Many of the companies on the...more
For private fund managers, the valuation of privately-held securities has been subject to heightened regulatory scrutiny. As the IPO on-ramp for private “unicorn” investments has lengthened, fund managers may hold illiquid...more
In the wake of a host of negative developments, Theranos Inc. is reportedly under investigation by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC and DOJ inquiries are likely to focus on...more