Reflections from Grand Ventures

We hope everyone is in good physical and mental health as we all adjust to social distancing, working from home, and a new "normal" in light of COVID-19. Below, we've included some updates on our portfolio companies and thoughts on the current state of the market as a whole.

Portfolio Company Highlights

We would like to highlight and acknowledge the GV portfolio companies working actively to help patients and companies deal with the impact of COVID-19.  

TimeDoc, a virtual care management platform that helps providers manage patients with chronic conditions, enrolled 3,500 new patients in Q1 and now services 20,000 patients per month. TimeDoc's services are more valuable than ever to providers as they deal with fallout from COVID. Clinics use TimeDoc to identify high risk patients, track daily patient engagement, and provide other forms of assistance like medication and grocery delivery. These offerings have become especially critical as many providers can no longer generate revenue from holding in-person appointments. One customer was able to avoid cutting 10+ jobs after adopting TimeDoc's platform. For more details, click here.

Tealbook, a procurement data platform, has made a concerted effort to add value to companies facing supply chain disruption as a result of COVID. They now offer a free supplier report which can support procurement teams in urgent need of new suppliers. Tealbook also offers its platform for free to customers of key partners. These initiatives have led to a 527% increase in online engagement and coverage in major business publications, such as Forbes. CEO Stephany Lapierre published a detailed account of her company's current strategy here.

Terminus launched a LinkedIn Live Series “Thriving Through This with Terminus” to help struggling companies determine how they can adjust focus and use this uncertain period as an opportunity to thrive.

VC Market Trends

VC deal activity, deal value, and deal size historically declines during recessions. Interestingly, however, angel and seed stage rounds are typically much less impacted with little change to related deal activity or deal value during recessions. VCs who avoid reacting fearfully to a recession tend to be rewarded handsomely when the economy recovers, as illustrated by the following graphic from our friends at Correlation Ventures

Source: Correlation Ventures

Pipeline

COVID-19 will change the world fundamentally-- everything from how we work and communicate to how we receive healthcare will be altered in a lasting way. We plan to tackle more implications of the pandemic in future communications, but here are a few of the trends we've begun actively exploring. 

Behavioral Health: Behavioral health was one of the fastest growing sectors in healthcare at the start of 2020. Growth in this sector will likely be amplified by the negative impact that social distancing can have on mental health and the ensuing stress of an unprecedented shock to the global economy. We are fascinated by startups operating in the behavioral health space, which stand committed to creating a more balanced, healthy future. 

Video: When my retired parents in their mid-70s downloaded Zoom, I knew something had changed. Video is now as pervasive as traditional phone calls in both social and professional communications. How will this impact the future of work, communications, and security? We don’t have the answers (yet), but we think technologies enabling and supporting these use cases are well-positioned for years to come. 

Mobility: Social distancing will likely have a significant effect on the way we travel. With growing awareness of the dangers of disease transmission, many people may feel wary about using ride shares or public transportation. This could benefit micro-mobility (ex: Bird and Lime) in the long term, though the quarantine has resulted in short term headwinds to the sector. It's also important to note the economic crisis will hurt automakers who have historically provided major sources of funding for mobility startups. On the flip side, there's been a substantial increase in demand for mobility services that provide real-time, last-mile delivery. We're actively examining startups that seek to address this demand.

Here are some related market reports we found interesting

• PitchBook: "The Ripple Effects of COVID-19 on Emerging Tech"
• Correlation Ventures: "When Others are Fearful"
• Catalyst Ventures: "Market Opportunities Post COVID"
• NfX: VC and Founder Sentiment Survey

Keeping it all in Perspective

I recently read an uplifting article by Mitch Albom - In Coronavirus, our humanity saves us. The key takeaway struck a chord with me-- it is our shared humanity that truly allows us to weather storms. There's a lot going wrong in the world today, but there's also so much to be thankful for. I remain hopeful that we will all emerge from this crisis with improved perspectives. Chief among them are empathy, gratitude, and optimism.

Stay safe and healthy!

- Tim Streit and the GV Family