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| The Daily Pitch |
| PE, VC and M&A |
| Your edge on global private capital markets |
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| G'day, mates. In today's Daily Pitch, we look at a promising snapshot of private markets in that land down under, the AI-driven tailwinds positioning 2026 as a breakout year for healthcare and Bending Spoons' latest high-profile acquisition with Eventbrite. |
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| AI-driven tailwinds position 2026 as breakout year for healthcare |
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By Brian Wright, Lead Healthcare Research Analyst
2026 is shaping up to be one of the strongest investment environments for healthcare in more than a decade, with momentum building across biopharma, healthcare services, medtech and healthtech.
Early evidence shows AI is improving clinical trial success rates—potentially doubling historical norms—while broader macro and policy shifts create fertile ground for exits, M&A and strategic consolidation, according to our 2026 outlook for the sector. |
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Biopharma is leading this rebound. M&A activity strengthened in late 2025 as policy uncertainty eased and rate cuts revived animal spirits. Depressed early-stage funding belies what could be the best prospective return profile in 20 years, driven by AI's impact on target selection, toxicity prediction and preclinical timelines.
Early AI-native pipelines show Phase I success rates approaching up to 90%, far above historic averages. If these results hold, the risk-reward dynamic for early-stage biotech will be fundamentally reset.
Healthcare services are also entering 2026 with renewed urgency, as elevated medical costs, potential shrinking subsidies and stricter Medicaid eligibility intensify affordability pressures. These conditions increase the likelihood of meaningful reforms.
At the same time, AI-enabled workflow tools—particularly agents to assist notetaking, clinical decision-making and revenue cycle management—promise to save administrative costs and help counteract provider shortages.
In healthtech and healthcare IT, the AI convergence story accelerates.
PE-backed HCIT platforms are expected to acquire niche AI capabilities developed by VC-backed startups, especially in utilization management, RCM and care navigation. Survival depends on owning the AI stack as incumbents and upstarts battle to define core infrastructure for the next decade.
Medtech enters 2026 with the strongest sector sentiment since 2021. Capital is concentrating around high-quality cardiology, diagnostics and neurostimulation platforms, while breakthrough-device coverage reforms and a reopening IPO window support a more constructive exit environment.
Across the board, IPO and M&A activity should rise meaningfully—driven by AI productivity gains, improving macro conditions and long-delayed capital rotation back into healthcare innovation. |
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| A message from Oracle NetSuite |
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| Cash flow: The metric every CFO needs |
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EBITDA is a popular metric, but it doesn’t reflect the complete financial health of your business. Cash flow, on the other hand, reveals your real capacity to cover expenses and invest in growth.
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- The common pitfalls of relying on EBITDA
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Make cash flow your company’s strategic advantage today! |
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• Australia's private markets showed resilience in Q3, according to our latest country market snapshot. PE dealmaking in 2025 is on pace to match last year, while VC funding is stabilizing at reduced levels compared to 2024. Read the report
• GPs are leaning into buy-and-build strategies to grow their portfolios in Europe, as high interest rates and a scarcity of cheap debt continue to constrain traditional buyouts. Read more
• Public alt managers saw PE returns cool to single digits in Q3, according to our recent US Public PE and GP Deal Roundup. But private credit stood out, with most of the Big Seven firms delivering double-digit returns for the strategy. Read it now
• Our Global VC Ecosystem Rankings reveal how shifting geopolitics, AI innovation and regional growth trends are reshaping the venture landscape. See the rankings |
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| Bending Spoons scoops up Eventbrite, extending acquisition streak |
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| (Emanuele Cremaschi/Getty Images) |
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By Jacob Robbins, Technology Reporter
Hot off its $2.8 billion agreement to acquire AOL, the Italian tech conglomerate Bending Spoons is adding another company to its trove, agreeing to purchase Eventbrite in an all-cash deal valued at around $500 million.
Bending Spoons is making a name for itself as an eclectic acquirer, rising out of relative obscurity with a hot streak of prominent acquisitions.
Eventbrite announced Tuesday it would be sold for $4.50 per share, which sent its stock soaring. The deal is expected to close during the first half of 2026.
The San Francisco-based event management and ticketing service was founded in 2006 and raised millions in funding from backers such as Sequoia and Tiger Global before going public in 2018.
But after debuting at $23 a share, Eventbrite's stock has mostly languished, failing to bounce back after getting hit hard by the pandemic. In April, its stock hit a record low of $1.80 a share.
But it's for these reasons that Bending Spoons may be drawn to the business.
The 12-year-old Milan-based outfit touts itself as a kind of proto-PE firm, buying up and transforming ailing brands. But unlike traditional PE firms, Bending Spoons says it aims to hold onto its businesses forever and has never sold any part of its portfolio.
In October, it made headlines when it announced it was buying the iconic internet services company AOL from Apollo Global Management-owned Yahoo for $2.8 billion.
Just weeks before, in September, Bending Spoons purchased Vimeo, a video-sharing service, in a $1.38 billion deal. Vimeo, like Eventbrite, had seen its stock slump since it went public in 2021.
Within its portfolio already is Evernote, the once high-flying note-taking application that boasted millions of users during the smartphone's infancy but failed to adapt to growing competition.
Investors appear supportive of Bending Spoons' strategy: In October, the company announced it had raised $710 million at an $11 billion valuation from backers including Radcliff, Cox Enterprises, T. Rowe Price and Baillie Gifford.
The company has mostly flown under the radar, except in 2020, when it created Italy's official pandemic contract-tracing tool, Immuni. |
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Smart reads that caught our eye.
• Biopharma is booming in China. Recent investments and increased efficiency have boosted the country's drug development sector. [Financial Times]
• Global economic growt | | | | | | | |
