Portfolio Update - May 2021

Portfolio Update - May 2021

Insights from the Top

Today millennials and Gen Z employees make up about 38% of the workforce – that will grow to 58% within the next decade. For millennials, societal impact and ethics are of extreme importance. But how can corporate America adapt to this mindset? 

Constance Freedman, Moderne Ventures Founder and Managing Partner lays out her vision: “We see so many opportunities for ESG investing in the real estate, finance and home service industries, and we are committed to helping our corporate partners realize the value in ESG, helping them to decrease both their carbon footprint and energy costs.” 

Here’s what is happening across the MV ecosystem this month:

ESG - Where Principles Meet Profits 

At Moderne Ventures, we understand the major role that VC plays in supporting and growing new and innovative companies and we believe that it is critical to look for companies that have ESG at their core. We’re working diligently alongside our corporate partners to grow our portfolio with companies (ICON, Kaiyo, Vyv, Piñata and Trash Butler) that are challenging the status quo and changing the way business is done. Read the full article here.

Fund Announcements

  • Kaiyo recently announced it had raised $5M in funding led by Moderne Ventures, with full participation from Lerer Hippeau and Max Ventures. 

    "Kaiyo is addressing a huge pain point for consumers by taking the hassle out of buying and selling used furniture in a secure way, enabling consumers to reduce waste and save money. At Moderne, we are opening up our B2B channels for Kaiyo in the multi-family, residential and commercial markets," said Liza Benson, Partner at Moderne Ventures. "Our platform is built around connecting our investors to our companies, creating outsized returns. We are proud to be an investor in Kaiyo and to support their continued acceleration by extending their service to our partners as a 2021 Passport Company."

  • Super - Moderne Ventures’ was proud to support Super’s Series C close, which raised $45M for the San Francisco-based technology company that offers subscription services providing care and repair for homes.

  • MotoRefi - Continuing the partnership, Moderne Ventures participated in MotoRefi’s $45M Series B led by Goldman Sachs at a valuation 4x the initial investment from Moderne. Constance Freedman shared, “MotoRefi's $45M Series B financing will accelerate their mission to make auto refinancing simple and transparent. Moderne Ventures' continued partnership with MotoRefi is a perfect example of the "outside in" approach we deploy with our investments to bring those that sit outside of our industries into the industries, creating tremendous value."

  • Better announced plans to IPO via SPAC at a $7.7 b valuation. Read more.

  • Hello Alfred & HOM - Property management company, Hello Alfred acquired HOM, (two Moderne’s portfolio companies), in an all-equity deal. Read more.

  • Vyv announced recent independent test results confirming efficacy of its antimicrobial LED technology (405nm) for killing viruses including SARS (COVID-19), in addition to bacteria, mold, fungi and yeast. Read more here.

Let’s Connect

Find Moderne online at Twitter and Instagram and on LinkedIn.

The Growth of ESG Investing: Where Principles Meet Profits

Corporate social responsibility. Sustainability. Responsible investing. ESG. The terminology has evolved over years but the principles remain the same. And, as Larry Fink, CEO of the largest asset manager in the world points out, if companies want to prosper over time, these principles are here to stay. 

ESG is a broad term for socially and environmentally responsible investing and has become more than a trend or simply a checkbox for corporations and investors. According to KPMG, “Asset managers and asset owners see ESG and responsible investment as a smart way to achieve competitive advantage. As the younger generations become more active in the market, demographic shifts are creating a growing community of responsible investors.”1

ESG as a Core Business Value 

At Moderne Ventures, we understand the major role that VC plays in supporting and growing new and innovative companies and we believe that it is critical to look for companies that have ESG at their core. We’re working diligently alongside our corporate partners to grow our portfolio with companies that are challenging the status quo and changing the way business is done.

Money Talks

In recent years, ESG investing has been outperforming any other forms of investing in the market. Last year, while most asset prices took a beating during the first half of the COVID-19 pandemic, ESG investments performed better than most.1 According to Moderne’s founder and Managing Partner, Constance Freedman, “we see so many opportunities for ESG investing in the real estate, finance and home service industries, and we are committed to helping our corporate partners realize the value in ESG, helping them to decrease both their carbon footprint and energy costs.”

A Sampling of Moderne’s ESG Innovators

ICON

Stagnancy in home building has not kept up with demand and population growth. This has contributed to a growing housing crisis. Traditional home building methods are inefficient and can be environmentally wasteful. ICON is reimagining the approach to homebuilding and construction to make affordable, sustainable, and dignified housing available to everyone throughout the world. 

Kaiyo

Kaiyo connects a love of great design with a greater love for our environment by keeping furniture out of landfills and in our homes for as long as possible.

Vyv

Vyv is a new class of clean light technology that harnesses the antimicrobial power within the visible light spectrum. Vyv stops the growth and kills viruses, bacteria, fungi, yeast, mold and mildew. Vyv’s single diode offers all the benefits of LED lighting — sustainable energy-efficient operation; extended lifetime to reduce waste; and precise color spectrum tuning—while maintaining its intensive antimicrobial properties.​ Vyv has also just been proven to deactivate the SARS-Cov-2 virus (commonly known as Coronavirus).

Piñata

Piñata is the first company of its kind - a reward and incentive program for renters. Piñata users earn rewards every time they pay their rent and build their credit history in the process. Piñata also offers a rent relief program where users can nominate potential recipients who are struggling to make their rent payments—amazing people who just deserve a break. 

Trash Butler

Trash Butler is a sustainability expert and door-step trash, recycling and package delivery solution for multi-family residences. 

ESG covers a range of issues that are important to today’s investors. From the global climate crisis to the COVID-19 pandemic and issues around social justice. Investors want to know details about how companies manage their carbon footprint. How committed are they to diversity in hiring and promotion? What types of contributions do they make to their communities? All of these factors can be major contributors to a company’s long-term success as well as to long-term value for shareholders. In short, what’s good for the environment and the community can also be good for investors.

Why Now?

So while the ESG message is being heard loud and clear in the industry, it is also being heard by a new – and growing - generation of investors themselves. Today millennials and Gen Z employees make up about 38% of the workforce – that will grow to 58% within the next decade. For millennials, societal impact and ethics are the most common reasons why they change their relationships with businesses. 2

ESG by the Numbers 

  • While most asset prices took a beating during the first half of the COVID-19 pandemic, ESG investments performed better than most. 1

  • ESG funds captured $51.1 billion of net new money from investors in 2020, a record and more than double the prior year. 1

  • $30tn globally, sustainable investing assets in the five major markets, representing a 34% increase in two years. 4

  •  71% of CEOs feel it is their personal responsibility to ensure that the organization’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies reflect the values of their customers. 4

  • 76% of global CEOs recently interviewed by KPMG say that their organization’s growth will depend on their ability to navigate the shift to a low-carbon, clean technology economy.4

  • In 2020, 71 sustainable funds were launched, easily topping the previous high-water mark of 44 set in 2017. At least 30 funds have been launched each year from 2016 to 2020. 1

  • 63% of sustainable funds performed in the top half of their respective categories in 2018. 1

  •  Sustainable funds attracted a record $51.1 billion in net flows in 2020, more than twice the previous record set in 2019. Sustainable fund flows accounted for nearly one fourth of overall flows into funds in the U.S. 1

Here to Stay

ESG investing is here to stay and the market for ESG investments continues to grow—with some experts projecting that it could be a $1 trillion dollar category by 2030.5 With this, the pressure for asset managers to truly embrace sustainability and clearly reflect it in their portfolios will continue to grow as well. At Moderne Ventures, we’re ready to meet the challenge and look forward to the ways in which we can invest in the future.

 

 

Sources

1 Morningstar – Sustainable Funds US Landscape Report, February, 2021

3Deloitte Global Millennial Survey, 2019

3  SP Global Market Intelligence, April 6, 2021

4 KPMG: The Numbers that are Changing the World – Revealing the Growing Appetite for Responsible Investing


Portfolio Update - April 2021

Insights from the Top

As the pandemic eases in the United States, Americans are anticipating a return to normalcy. But what will that really look like?  

As Constance Freedman, Moderne Ventures Founder and Managing Partner states, “employers are facing the reality that virtual work, in some form, is here to stay as the work/play/live overlap continues to increase. As such, industries must remain responsive and highly adaptive to this change and Moderne supports our corporate partners in pioneering these technological advances.”

Here’s what is happening across the MV ecosystem this month:

All Things SPAC

In April, Freedman spoke with Matt Ehrlichman the CEO & Founder of Porch, the vertical software platform for the home. The two discuss Ehrlichman’s entrepreneurial journey and his experience taking a company public via a SPAC merger. 


Announcing the Newest Passport Class

In April, Moderne Ventures’ was pleased to announce its 2021 Passport Class: JoyHub, Kaiyo, Peek, Piñata, MotoRefi, Tailorbird and Trash Butler which have raised over $32M in funding with collective valuations north of $230M. On April 29, hundreds of participants tuned in to hear directly from the founders at Innovation Day. 


Fund Performance

Fintech disruptor Better, one of Modernes’ portfolio companies and one of the fastest growing home ownership startups in the country, secured a $500 million investment from SoftBank, valuing the company at $6 billion.

Insurance startup Hippo announced plans to go public via SPAC at a $5 billion valuation in March. WSJ covered the announcement. 


Let’s Connect

Find Moderne online at Twitter and Instagram and on LinkedIn.