Super simple answer - because there is an unprecedented abundance of capital (to the tune of nearly $1T for private capital markets) and they were very likely oversubscribed on that first round. So...why not?
It’s hardly surprising that many GPs were afraid Covid-19 would put an end to the past decade’s golden
era of private equity fund-raising. But those fears turned out to be unwarranted. Global fund-raising
of $989 billion was a decline from 2019’s all-time record of $1.09 trillion (see Figure 18). But it was
still the third-highest total in history, and if you add in the $83 billion raised for SPACs, it was the
second highest. All told, the industry has raised almost $5 trillion in capital over the past five years.
Buyout funds alone raised about $300 billion in 2020, or $340 billion if you include SPAC capital
aimed at buyout-type targets, estimated at $41 billion (see Figure 19).
If you're asking about the oversubscription, many fundraising rounds these days are highly competitive and oversubscribed due to an abundance of capital. So it's common for hot companies to have many suitors.
This data corroborates first and secondhand experience from being close to people on both sides of the table wrt technology funding. Most people aren't shy about discussing the topic as it's just taken as a fact of life in the current environment.
