Pricing for Growth, Blockchain for Insurance & the Search for Liquidity

Good morning, ! This week we're covering blockchain in insurance market trends, IPO not being the most reliable way to liquidity, the use of pricing strategies on diligence for revenue growth, and the private markets deals activity. 

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DATA DIVE

Insurance’s $48.8 Billion Blockchain Bet

Stat: The blockchain in insurance market is projected to grow from just $0.6 billion in 2020 to $48.8 billion by 2030, as insurers apply the technology across claims, fraud detection, policy administration, and customer onboarding.

Context: The investment case is increasingly about economics, not crypto. Blockchain enabled automation can reduce operating costs by an estimated 15% to 25%, while smart contracts can automate claims and secure data sharing between insurers, customers, and reinsurers. Adoption is already moving beyond pilots, with 60% of insurers reportedly having invested in blockchain. Yet readiness remains uneven, particularly around legacy digital infrastructure.

Strategic Takeaway: For private equity, the opportunity may sit one layer below the insurers themselves. As carriers modernize aging systems, demand should grow for software and infrastructure businesses that solve claims automation, fraud prevention, data interoperability, and compliance. The winners will not be those selling blockchain as a buzzword. They will be the platforms that turn it into measurable cost savings and faster insurance workflows. (Full Report HERE)

TREND TO WATCH

Private Equity Is Becoming AI Venture’s Exit Strategy

For venture capital, the IPO is no longer the only, or necessarily the most reliable, path to liquidity.

The chart shows a long-term shift in the venture exit market: PE buyouts have become an increasingly important destination for venture-backed companies, while IPOs remain a much smaller and more cyclical exit channel.

AI is accelerating the trend. Many AI companies require significant additional capital and longer timelines to build scale, but may not yet be ready for the public markets. Private equity can offer an alternative: capital, operational support and a longer runway, while giving early investors a path to liquidity.

That creates a growing bridge between venture capital and private equity. The traditional venture playbook — raise, grow, IPO — is increasingly being joined by a different route: raise, scale, and sell to PE.

The takeaway: AI may be creating not only a new investment opportunity for private equity, but also a growing pipeline of future PE acquisitions. As more venture-backed companies mature outside the public markets, PE is increasingly becoming the exit strategy waiting at the end of the VC pipeline.

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PRESENTED BY CAPLINK X PE 150

You’re invited: Where AI Meets Private Equity

Artificial intelligence has moved beyond experimentation. The real question for private equity firms is no longer whether to adopt AI, but how to turn it into measurable value across the investment lifecycle.

On November 18, PE150 and CapLink Group will host the AI / Data & Insight Private Capital Breakfast, an invitation-only gathering at London's May Fair Hotel that will bring together operating partners, deal teams, portfolio executives, and technology leaders to discuss what AI adoption actually looks like inside private equity.

The morning will feature three practitioner-led discussions:

• AI Into Value Creation — How leading firms are transforming AI from dashboards into repeatable value creation playbooks across portfolio companies. Sponsored by Exact Insight.

• AI Across the Investment Lifecycle — Practical applications spanning sourcing, due diligence, investment decisions, and portfolio management.

• Building the AI-Enabled Private Equity Firm — The operating models, data strategies, and organizational capabilities required to scale AI successfully.

Interested in attending? Register or request the full agenda here.

Interested in sponsoring? Email [email protected] 

DILIGENCE CORNER BY 150 DILIGENCE

Pricing: The Most Underappreciated Driver of Revenue Growth

When investors underwrite an acquisition, they spend countless hours debating market growth, customer acquisition, and margin expansion. Yet one of the biggest drivers of value creation often receives far less attention: pricing.

A company that can consistently raise prices by just 2% to 3% annually can generate meaningful revenue growth even in flat end markets. Over a typical five year hold period, that pricing power compounds into a material increase in EBITDA and exit value.

The challenge is that management teams often overestimate their pricing capabilities. During diligence, investors should move beyond asking whether a company has pricing power and instead ask for evidence.

How frequently has the company raised prices over the past five years? What happened to customer retention after those increases? Are price increases contractual or discretionary? How do prices compare with competitors? Which customers receive the largest discounts and why?

Pricing analysis can also reveal a company's competitive position. Businesses with differentiated products, mission critical services, or high switching costs tend to have greater pricing flexibility. Companies competing solely on price usually have far less room to protect margins during periods of inflation or economic stress.

Bottom line: Revenue growth is not always about selling more. Sometimes it is simply about charging more. Understanding whether a target has genuine pricing power may be one of the highest return diligence exercises an investor can perform. (More)

LIQUIDITY CORNER

Private Markets’ Liquidity Problem Is Becoming a Deal-Activity Problem

Private markets are not short of capital. They are short of exits.

As deal activity has cooled from the post-pandemic peak, private equity portfolios are taking longer to turn into cash. That matters because the traditional PE model depends on recycling capital: GPs sell assets, return money to LPs, and raise and deploy into the next generation of investments.

The slowdown is now creating a feedback loop. Fewer deals mean fewer exits; fewer exits mean weaker distributions; and weaker distributions make it harder for LPs to commit fresh capital. Reuters recently reported that average holding periods have stretched to roughly seven years, well beyond the traditional three-to-five-year window, with approximately 33,000 companies sitting in the global backlog of unsold PE assets.

Pantheon’s outlook suggests that liquidity is not disappearing — it is being re-engineered. Secondaries, continuation vehicles and other structured solutions are increasingly filling the gap left by traditional exits.

The bottom line: the next phase of private markets may not be defined by a return to 2021-style deal volume, but by how efficiently the industry can turn illiquid assets back into distributable capital.

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MACROVIEW

The “Boomcession”: When Growth Doesn’t Feel Like Growth

The U.S. economy is presenting an unusual contradiction: strong headline performance alongside deeply pessimistic consumers. GDP remains resilient, equity markets are strong, and unemployment remains relatively low, yet consumer confidence has fallen to 53.3%, nearly 39% below its 21st-century average.

The disconnect reflects a simple reality: lower inflation does not mean lower prices. Housing, groceries, health care, and borrowing costs remain elevated, while inflation expectations sit well above historical averages. At the same time, the federal deficit remains unusually large for an economy near full employment, raising longer-term concerns about debt servicing and fiscal flexibility.

For businesses and investors, this “boomcession” creates a complex operating environment. Strong aggregate growth may mask significant pressure beneath the surface. Companies that depend on discretionary spending should watch household affordability closely, while investors must distinguish market-driven optimism from sustainable, broad-based economic strength. (More)