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| Good afternoon. In today's Daily Pitch, we look at a $1 billion continuation fund for Centauri Health, what got investors hyped at Slush and PE sports investing's evolution from teams to media rights. |
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| VCs weigh AI bubble fears, Europe's defense awakening at Slush |
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| (Courtesy of Agustin Garagorry/Slush) |
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By Leah Hodgson, Senior VC Reporter
As more than 13,000 people, including 3,500 investors, descended on Helsinki for this year's Slush startup conference, AI's future and the surge of interest in defense tech emerged as key topics.
Despite Europe anticipating another year of declining deal counts, the event venue greeted attendees with a bold message last week: "Still doubting Europe? Go to Hel."
And investors echoed Slush's buoyant message.
"I've never been more bullish about Europe," Creandum GP Staffan Helgesson said during an onstage panel conversation. "There are a lot of things we need to fix here, but we have great founders, investors and talent. Europe has a talent advantage right now, with the US cutting down on immigration."
Investors' flight to quality in terms of dealmaking has persisted so far, but one sector above all others has had no issues raising capital: AI.
Most, if not all, of the panels during the main conference featured at least an element of AI, and the sector's sustainability in terms of dealmaking was at the forefront of many investors' minds.
"I think we'll see a correction in AI next year," HV Capital partner Mina Mutafchieva said. "Maybe not Armageddon, [but] we could slide into the trough of disillusionment."
While many investors acknowledge that the pace of investment and current growth rates are unsustainable, OpenOcean GP Tom Henriksson believes that AI's long-term potential is not overblown.
Appetite for defense tech is almost as frenzied, with 2025 marking the first year that Slush has dedicated a panel to the sector during the main conference.
"With the changing nature of war, we need every technological advantage, and that is going to come from startups," said Marcin Hejka, co-founder and managing partner of OTB Ventures.
European defense tech startups raised over $4 billion in the first nine months of this year, putting 2025 on track for record levels of funding, according to PitchBook research. |
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| A message from Enterprise Ireland |
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| Ireland’s cyber sector thrives as firms draw global VC with AI innovation |
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Download the new report powered by PitchBook data on Ireland’s cybersecurity sector, which is rapidly emerging as a global VC magnet, fuelled by Enterprise Ireland’s support, world-class talent, and a maturing innovation ecosystem. Over the past decade, Ireland has become a launchpad for high-growth homegrown firms and a leader in next-generation solutions.
Today, Ireland hosts over 140 pure-play cyber companies. Standouts like Tines, Siren, UrbanFox, and Cytidel serve global enterprise and government clients with AI-driven threat detection, investigative intelligence, vulnerability prioritisation, and secure data tech. This pipeline attracts Series A/B capital from top VCs, signalling maturity and positioning Ireland as a prime cybersecurity investment hub.
Read the report |
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• Abry Partners is raising a continuation fund to extend its control over Centauri Health Solutions, a software provider to the healthcare industry whose valuation has ballooned since 2020. As much as $1 billion could be raised, according to several people familiar with the matter. Find out more
• Our interactive Global League Tables for Q3 rank the top investors, advisers and more by region, across the full range of private market activity. Who led the way?
• New Mountain Capital is seeking around $500 million for a GP-led private credit secondaries deal, according to market sources. Read more |
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| How PE firms are hoovering up sports media rights in Europe |
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By Andrea Gaini, Private Equity Reporter
Investment in European sports is evolving. For better or worse, buyer appetite is driven less by the glamour of club ownership and more by steady media rights cash flow, which makes for an ideal PE asset.
PitchBook data shows that 2025 is already shaping up to be one of the most active years on record for PE investment, especially in European sports. As of Nov. 20, PE firms have invested €10.6 billion (about $12.2 billion) across 49 deals in Europe—almost three times the capital deployed throughout 2024. |
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This surge coincides with some of PE's biggest names launching dedicated sports vehicles. In September, Apollo Global Management launched its $5 billion Apollo Sports Fund, quickly followed by the €1.4 billion acquisition of a majority stake in Spanish football club Atlético de Madrid this month. Around the same time, CVC Capital Partners followed suit with the creation of its $14 billion Global Sport Group to consolidate its existing sports holdings.
These deals reflect a broader reassessment of sports as an investment class. What was once a patchwork of idiosyncratic clubs and leagues has evolved into a global industry built on consistent, contractually secured revenues. CVC's investment highlights the core of this shift: the predictable, infrastructure-style cash flows embedded in broadcasting.
Global sports broadcasting is worth more than $60 billion annually, and CVC's €2 billion partnership with Spain's LaLiga establishes a new precedent: equity stakes directly tied to future television and streaming revenues. For PE firms, that mix of cultural cachet and steady cash flow is a rare and attractive asset.
Richard Rubano, partner at law firm DLA Piper, explained that what sets sports apart is that, in an era when most entertainment has shifted to on-demand streaming, it remains the last true example of appointment television—where audiences may binge a Netflix series over a weekend, they still tune in live for a Champions League final or Premier League derby.
That competition between global streamers and legacy broadcasters has driven valuations higher. As the rights themselves increase in value, investors have moved their money upstream—toward the commercial engines that create and monetize those rights. |
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Smart reads that caught our eye.
• "The golden handcuffs aren’t so golden anymore." While success in PE was once tied to a job at a big-name firm, employees are leaving those behind in favor of positions at smaller asset managers. [The Wall Street Journal]
• Is Google's search engine dominance actually threatened by AI? After a federal judge concluded that AI innovation would disrupt Google's monopoly, some experts aren't so sure. [Bloomberg]
• AI infrastructure investments may be too reliant on debt. Investors are concerned that continued AI investments could have a negative impact on tech stocks. [ | | | | | | |
