在硅谷，一億美元融資已不再是稀罕事

In late April, when Mike Massaro set out to get $40 million to $75 million in funding for his payments startup, Flywire, he contacted a small group of investors he already knew. But word quickly got around, and other investors flooded his inbox with $200 million of investment offers, half of which he turned down.

4月下旬，邁克·馬薩洛(Mike Massaro)開(kāi)始為他的支付創(chuàng)業(yè)公司Flywire籌集4000萬(wàn)至7500萬(wàn)美元的資金，當(dāng)時(shí)他聯(lián)系了他認(rèn)識(shí)的一小部分投資者。但是消息很快傳播開(kāi)來(lái)，他的收件箱塞滿了其他投資者的郵件，要提供2億美元的投資，其中一半被他拒絕了。

Gusto, a payroll and benefits software company, raised $140 million in July, but could have done five times that, according to Joshua Reeves, its chief executive and founder.

根據(jù)其首席執(zhí)行官兼創(chuàng)始人約書亞·里夫斯(Joshua Reeves)的說(shuō)法，工資和福利軟件公司Gusto在7月籌集了1.4億美元，但它本可得到的資金是其五倍。

Convene, a real estate services startup, recently obtained $152 million and turned away more than $100 million of additional investment. Soon after, another wave of hopeful investors called, asking if the company would be looking for more financing, according to Ryan Simonetti, Convene’s chief executive.

Convene是一家房地產(chǎn)服務(wù)初創(chuàng)公司，最近獲得了1.52億美元投資，并拒絕了超過(guò)一億美元的額外投資。Convene公司首席執(zhí)行官瑞恩·西蒙內(nèi)蒂(Ryan Simonetti)表示，此后不久，另一波有意向的投資者前來(lái)詢問(wèn)該公司是否在尋求更多融資。

Startups raising $100 million or more from investors — known as a mega-round in Silicon Valley — used to be a rarity. But now, they are practically routine, producing a frenzy around tech companies with enough scale and momentum to absorb a large check.

從投資者那里籌集到1億美元或更多資金——在硅谷稱為“過(guò)億輪”(mega-round)——曾經(jīng)是稀罕事，但現(xiàn)在實(shí)際上已經(jīng)是司空見(jiàn)慣，這在那些具有足夠的規(guī)模和動(dòng)力來(lái)吸收大支票的科技公司周圍制造了一種狂熱。

The jump in oversize investments is led by relatively new investors, including the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank, Chinese companies and sovereign wealth funds. They see a chance to capitalize on tech’s incursion into just about every industry, and want to put their money down before the young companies go public.

超大型投資的高速增長(zhǎng)主要來(lái)自相對(duì)較新的投資者，包括日本企業(yè)軟銀集團(tuán)(SoftBank)、中國(guó)公司、以及主權(quán)財(cái)富基金。他們認(rèn)為有機(jī)會(huì)利用科技對(duì)幾乎所有行業(yè)的入侵，并希望在年輕公司上市之前投入資金。

By entering the tech market, they have all but eliminated talk in Silicon Valley about an investment bubble — a leading concern a couple of years ago — because the money now seems almost limitless.

通過(guò)進(jìn)入科技市場(chǎng)，他們幾乎已經(jīng)消除了硅谷關(guān)于投資泡沫的討論——這是幾年前的一個(gè)主要問(wèn)題——因?yàn)楝F(xiàn)在的資金似乎接近于無(wú)限。

For the startups, the pots of money are changing the normal way of building a tech company. They must move even faster, expand their ambitions and collect more investment money than ever — even if they might not be ready. They risk becoming too reliant on funding and never finding a path to profit.

對(duì)于初創(chuàng)公司而言，這些大筆資金正在改變創(chuàng)辦科技公司的正常方式。它們必須走得更快，想得更大，并且募集比以往更多的資金——即使他們可能還沒(méi)準(zhǔn)備好。他們有可能過(guò)于依賴資金，并且始終無(wú)法找到獲利途徑。

“If your competitor is going to raise $150 million and you want to be conservative and only raise $20 million, you’re going to get run over,” said Bill Gurley, a managing partner at Benchmark Capital.

基準(zhǔn)資本(Benchmark Capital)負(fù)責(zé)管理的合伙人比爾·格利(Bill Gurley)說(shuō)：“如果你的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手要籌集1.5億美元，而且你想要保守行事，只籌集2000萬(wàn)美元，你就會(huì)遭到碾壓。”

Investors participated in a record 273 mega-rounds last year, according to the data provider Crunchbase. This year is on pace to easily eclipse that, with 268 completed in the first seven months of the year. In July, startups reached more than 50 financing deals worth a combined $15 billion, a new monthly high.

根據(jù)數(shù)據(jù)提供商Crunchbase的數(shù)據(jù)，去年投資者參與了創(chuàng)紀(jì)錄的273個(gè)“過(guò)億輪”投資。今年，這個(gè)紀(jì)錄被輕松打破，前七個(gè)月就完成了268個(gè)。7月份，初創(chuàng)公司達(dá)成了50多項(xiàng)融資交易，總價(jià)值達(dá)150億美元，創(chuàng)下月度新高。

In the last 10 days, Letgo, an online classifieds ads company, raised $500 million. Actifio, a data storage company, took in $100 million. MyDreamPlus, a coworking space startup, secured $120 million. And Klook, a travel activity booking site, got $200 million.

在過(guò)去的10天里，在線分類廣告公司Letgo籌集了5億美元。數(shù)據(jù)存儲(chǔ)公司Actifio融到1億美元。MyDreamPlus是一家共享辦公空間初創(chuàng)公司，獲得了1.2億美元投資。旅游活動(dòng)預(yù)訂網(wǎng)站Klook獲得2億美元。

These mega-rounds have become so common that CB Insights, which tracks startup investments, has even debated lifting its definition of a mega-round to $200 million or more, according to Anand Sanwal, the firm’s chief executive.

這些過(guò)億輪已經(jīng)變得如此普遍，以至于跟蹤初創(chuàng)公司投資的CB Insights甚至在討論要不要把“過(guò)億輪”的定義提升至2億美元以上，公司首席執(zhí)行官阿南德·桑瓦爾(Anand Sanwal)說(shuō)。

Many of the new investors, including SoftBank’s $93 billion Vision Fund, manage funds so large they dwarf the entire traditional venture capital market in the United States. These giant funds are looking for startups that can take large sums of money with one shot. Writing lots of small checks is too time-consuming, and the returns from small bets will not make a difference for a such a big fund. So investors are competing to back any startup that shows promise and the ability to put $100 million or more to use.

許多新投資者，包括軟銀公司旗下掌管930億美元的愿景基金(Vision Fund)，管理的資金如此龐大，使整個(gè)美國(guó)傳統(tǒng)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資市場(chǎng)相形見(jiàn)絀。這些巨額基金正在尋找可以一次性拿走大筆資金的初創(chuàng)公司。寫很多小支票太費(fèi)時(shí)間了，小賭注的回報(bào)對(duì)于這么大的基金來(lái)說(shuō)也不會(huì)帶來(lái)任何不同。因此，投資者正在競(jìng)相支持任何有能力、有意愿接受1億美元或更多資金的創(chuàng)業(yè)公司。

“As soon as they feel like they have a winner, they will really put a lot of resources behind it,” said Sanwal of CB Insights.

“他們一旦覺(jué)得有了一個(gè)贏家，馬上就會(huì)真正投入大量資源，”CB Insights的桑瓦爾說(shuō)。

SoftBank’s deal-making has affected every part of the venture capital market. The arrival of its Vision Fund, which has a minimum investment size of $100 million, has prompted a number of traditional venture capital firms, including Sequoia Capital, to build larger pools of money to compete. Funds from seven different firms are raising capital, according to the data provider Pitchbook.

軟銀的交易影響了風(fēng)險(xiǎn)資本市場(chǎng)的每個(gè)部分。其最低投資規(guī)模為1億美元的愿景基金的到來(lái)，促使包括紅杉資本(Sequoia Capital)在內(nèi)的許多傳統(tǒng)風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司建立更大的資金池以進(jìn)行競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。根據(jù)數(shù)據(jù)提供商Pitchbook的數(shù)據(jù)，七家不同公司的基金正在籌集資金。

But the Vision Fund is not even the most active mega-round investor. In the first seven months of 2018, Tencent Holdings participated in 31 rounds of funding of $100 million or more, compared with 18 for SoftBank, according to CB Insights. GIC and Temasek Holdings, investment funds associated with the government of Singapore, as well as Alibaba and Sequoia Capital China, have also been among the most active mega-round investors this year.

但愿景基金甚至不是最活躍的大型投資者。根據(jù)CB Insights的數(shù)據(jù)，在2018年的前七個(gè)月，騰訊控股參與了31個(gè)1億美元或更多的融資輪次，而軟銀參與了18個(gè)。與新加坡政府有關(guān)的投資基金新加坡政府投資公司(GIC)和淡馬錫控股(Temasek Holdings)，以及阿里巴巴和紅杉資本中國(guó)，也是今年最活躍的過(guò)億輪投資者。

As a result, early investors must make sure their portfolio companies are friendly with the large funds, laying groundwork for a potential investment in the future.

因此，早期投資者必須確保他們的投資組合中的公司對(duì)大型基金友好，為未來(lái)的潛在投資奠定基礎(chǔ)。

“It feels like there is a bit of a beauty pageant that early-stage investors put on for the megafunds,” said Patricia Nakache, a general partner at Trinity Ventures.

“感覺(jué)就像早期階段的投資者為巨額資金舉辦了一場(chǎng)選美大賽，”圣尼資集團(tuán)(Trinity Ventures)的普通合伙人帕特里西亞·納卡什(Patricia Nakache)說(shuō)。

The hot funding market is pushing high-growth startups to change their plans. Flywire was not going to pursue more investment money until next year. It still had $15 million in the bank from a previous funding round. But the company saw “investment heat” in the payments industry and Massaro thought more money would help Flywire grow even faster.

炙手可熱的融資市場(chǎng)正在推動(dòng)高增長(zhǎng)初創(chuàng)公司改變自己的計(jì)劃。Flywire本來(lái)要到明年才會(huì)募集更多的資金。它的銀行賬戶里仍有來(lái)自之前一輪融資的1500萬(wàn)美元。但該公司看到了支付行業(yè)的“投資熱”，而且馬薩洛認(rèn)為，更多的資金將有助于Flywire更快的發(fā)展。

Few venture investors foresee a slowdown in the pace of mega-rounds. Those who once cautioned of a tech bubble and subsequent crash have given up on their warnings. In 2015, Gurley of Benchmark predicted “dead unicorns,” referring to startups valued at $1 billion or more. But since 2015, the number of startups worth $1 billion or more has ballooned to 258 from 80, according to CB Insights. Excess funding is tied to inflated valuations, which may create problems when overvalued companies eventually try to go public.

幾乎沒(méi)有風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資者認(rèn)為過(guò)億輪的步伐會(huì)放緩。那些告誡過(guò)科技泡沫和隨后崩潰的人已經(jīng)放棄了警告。2015年，基準(zhǔn)資本的格利預(yù)言過(guò)“死亡的獨(dú)角獸”，他指的是價(jià)值10億美元或以上的初創(chuàng)公司。但根據(jù)CB Insights的數(shù)據(jù)，自2015年以來(lái)，價(jià)值10億美元或以上的初創(chuàng)公司數(shù)量已從80家激增至258家。過(guò)度融資會(huì)導(dǎo)致估值膨脹，當(dāng)被高估的公司最終試圖上市時(shí)，可能會(huì)產(chǎn)生問(wèn)題。

Gurley said he was done trying to sound the alarm. “You have to adjust to the reality and play the game on the field,” he said.

格利說(shuō)他已經(jīng)不再試圖發(fā)出警報(bào)。“你必須根據(jù)現(xiàn)實(shí)調(diào)整，在場(chǎng)上玩游戲，”他說(shuō)。

Annie Lamont, a managing partner at the venture fund Oak HC/FT, expected a drop-off in startup valuations and funding three years ago, but it never happened. Now, she expects more of the same, partly because most the companies can easily get more money and few are worried about a downturn.

三年前，風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司Oak HC/FT的管理合伙人安妮·拉蒙特(Annie Lamont)曾預(yù)計(jì)，初創(chuàng)公司的估值和融資將會(huì)下降，但這種情況并未發(fā)生。現(xiàn)在她的預(yù)期跟大家沒(méi)什么不同，部分原因是大多數(shù)公司可以輕松獲得更多資金，很少有人擔(dān)心出現(xiàn)下滑。

“The fear of a correction is not occurring,” she said. If any startups do “vaporize,” she said, “I think people are going to ignore them and roll right on to the next one.”

“關(guān)于市場(chǎng)回落的顧慮沒(méi)有發(fā)生，”她說(shuō)。如果有什么初創(chuàng)公司“蒸發(fā)”了，她說(shuō)，“我認(rèn)為人們會(huì)無(wú)視它們，直接轉(zhuǎn)向下一個(gè)公司。”