Axios Pro Rata

Jared Kushner appears to have convinced the private equity market that he'll stick with his new firm, called Affinity Partners, even if his father-in-law returns to the White House.

The big picture: Private equity is littered with former presidential advisers and cabinet officials, and Trump's is proving to be no different.

• Before Kushner opened shop, former Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin founded Liberty Strategic Capital.

Driving the news: Affinity so far has secured just over $3 billion of verbal commitments for its debut fund, of which between 75% and 80% is closed on, per a source close to Kushner. A final close is expected within the next six months, while the firm's first deal is likely to come before the end of March.

• The firm plans to mostly focus on U.S. growth equity deals, including focuses on fintech and health, but also will consider buyouts and non-U.S. companies. There were reports last year that Miami-based Affinity was scoping out Israeli office space, but it hasn't yet signed a lease.
• It currently has around 20 staffers, nearly half of whom are investors. This includes partners Asad Naqvi, previously with London-based buyout firm Apis, Bret Pearlman, the former Blackstone and Elevation Partners exec who most recently was working for Josh Harris' family office.

The pitch: Like with most D.C.-to-PE pros, Kushner is, at least indirectly, pitching limited partners on contacts made during his time in political power. Particularly via his work in the Middle East, where some U.S.-based companies may want to expand.

• "Jared's intention is for this to be his long-term opportunity and, other than the book he has coming out, he's spending most of his time on it," the source says. "He can't live his life just waiting on what [Trump] may or may not do .... People wouldn't have joined the firm if they thought Jared is going to leave in a couple years."
• That said, Affinity's future could be complicated by a second Trump presidency. Not only in terms of deal-flow, given tech's overall hostility to Trump, but also because some of its LPs are said to be foreign sovereign wealth funds.
• As an aside, don't be stunned if the firm's name changes — so as not to be confused with Affinity Equity Partners, a Hong Kong-based PE firm founded in 2002.

The bottom line: Kushner is setting his future course, no matter how national politics plays out.

Unilever (LSE: ULVR) said it's abandoned its $68 billion pursuit of GlaxoSmithKline's (LSE: GSK) consumer unit, which includes Advil painkillers and Sensodyne toothpaste.

Why it's the BFD: This is a jarring U-turn from Unilever's position of just a few days ago, when it said it was undeterred by GSK's rejection of three takeover offers, and raises. One possibility is that Unilever thinks it's calling GSK's bluff, or that it has an alternate acquisition target in mind.

Look ahead: GSK continues to move forward with plans list the consumer unit, which is 32% owned by Pfizer, later this year.

The bottom line: Unilever must convince investors that it's not spinning its strategic wheels, as it tries to move deeper into health and beauty products and away from lower-margin items like food. The GSK bid suggested that CEO Alan Jope favored sudden, transformative change. Until he didn't.

⚡ Factorial Energy, a Woburn, Mass.-based maker of solid-state batteries, raised $200m in Series D funding co-led by automakers Mercedes and Stellantis. www.factorialenergy.com

• Handshake, an S.F.-based career network for U.S. college students, raised $200m in Series F funding at a $3.5b valuation. Coatue and Valiant Peregrine Fund co-led, and were joined by Base10. http://axios.link/DPLy

• Autograph, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based NFT platform, raised $170m in Series B funding. Andreessen Horowitz and Kleiner Perkins co-led, and were joined Lightspeed Venture Partners, Katie Haun’s new firm and insider 01A. http://axios.link/2Ezg

• Greenlabs, a South Koran agricultural supply chain digitization startup, raised $140m in Series C funding. BlueRun Ventures led, and was joined by Skylake Incuvest and SK Square. http://axios.link/Lylr

🚑 ImmPact Bio USA, a Camarillo, Calif.-based developer of cancer CAR-T cell therapies, raised $111m in Series B funding co-led by VenBio Partners, Foresite Capital and Decheng Capital. Others backers include Surveyor Capital, OrbiMed, Novartis, RMGP and Bukwang Pharma. http://axios.link/GyKF

• Lummo, a Jakarta-based e-commerce enablement SaaS, raised $80m in Series C funding from Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital India and CapitalG. http://axios.link/jpuy

🚑 Wandercraft, a French exoskeleton tech developer, raised $45m in Series C funding. Quadrant Management led, and was joined by Bpifrance, MACSF, Malakoff Humanis, AG2R La Mondiale, Mutuelles Impact, Sofiouest, Xange, Eurazeo, LBO France and Cemag Invest. http://axios.link/RHbx

🚑 ONI, a desktop microscopy platform, raised $75m in Series B funding. Arch Venture Partners and Casdin Capital co-led, and were joined bySection 32, ARTIS Ventures, Vertical Venture Partners, Axon Ventures and insider Oxford Science Enterprises. www.oni.bio

• PlanRadar, an Austrian digitization platform for construction and property documents, raised $70m. Insight Partners and Quadrille Capital co-led, and were joined by Proptech1, Russmedia, GR Capital and insiders Headline, Berliner Volksbank Ventures, aws Gründerfonds and Cavalry Ventures. http://axios.link/CkGT

• M2P Fintech, an Indian payments infrastructure startup, raised $56m. Insight Partners led, and was joined by MUFG Innovation Partners and insiders Tiger Global and Better Capital. http://axios.link/YWJD

• Ambient.ai, a Menlo Park-based computer vision startup focused on building security, raised $52m led by Andreessen Horowitz. http://axios.link/JqRc

• SaaS Labs, an Indian SMB automation platform, raised $42m in Series B funding. Sequoia Capital India led, and was joined by insiders Base 10 Partners and Eight Roads Ventures. http://axios.link/6mOP

• HugePOD, an S.F.-based provider of print-on-demand apparel design and manufacturing, raised $40m in Series B funding. Joyy Inc. led, and was joined by insiders Engage Capital, Source Code Capital and ZhenFund. www.hugepod.com

• Lean Technologies, a Saudi fintech focused on accessing bank customer data, raised $33m. Sequoia Capital India led, and was joined by Jeff Immelt. http://axios.link/SMCV

• Banyan Security, an S.F.-based provider of zero trust network access solutions, raised $30m in Series B funding. Third Point Ventures led, and was joined by SIG, Alter Venture Partners and insiders Shasta Ventures and Unusual Ventures. www.banyansecurity.io

• Inspect Point, a Troy, N.Y.-based provider of business management software for the fire inspection industry, raised $28m from Mainsail Partners. www.inspectpoint.com

• Mention Me, a London-based customer referrals platform, raised $25m in Series B funding. Octopus Ventures led and was joined by insider Eight Roads Ventures. http://axios.link/D41i

• Smartcar, a Mountain View-based API developer platform for connected vehicles, raised $24m in Series B funding. Energize Ventures led, and was joined by insiders Andreessen Horowitz and NEA. www.smartcar.com

• Carry1st, a South African social games publisher, raised $20m in new Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz. http://axios.link/zwXv

• Honeycomb, a digital insurer focused on multi-family properties, raised $15.4m in Series A funding led by Ibex Investors. www.honecombinsurance.com

• Zingtree, a Larkspur, Calif.-based provider of contact center software, raised $15m in Series A funding. Conductive Ventures led, and was joined by Storm Ventures and Madrona. http://axios.link/jgdi

• POAP, a web3 "proof of attendance" startup, raised $10m in seed funding. Archetype and Sapphire Sport co-led, and were joined by Sound Ventures, The Chernin Group and Advancit. http://axios.link/FWR7

• StructionSite, an Oakland-based provider of construction project tracking software, raised $10m from 500 Global, PCL Construction and GS Futures. www.structionsite.com

• Chatdesk, a New York-based customer support startup, raised $7m led by Cultivation Capital. www.chatdesk.com

🎬 Filmhub, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based film distribution startup, raised $6.8m in seed funding. Andreessen Horowitz led, and was joined by 8VC, FundersClub and Eleven Prime. http://axios.link/6PE1

• StaffAny, a Singapore-based shift worker management startup, raised $3.4m led by GGV Capital. http://axios.link/Qt6Q

• Vinter, a Stockholm-based crypto assets index provider, raised $3.4m led by Octopus Ventures. www.vinter.co

• Dropee, a Malaysian B2B wholesale platform, raised $3m in Series A equity and $4m in debt led by Vynn Capital. http://axios.link/BNCk

• Arsenal Capital Partners bought Eckhart, a Warren, Mich.-based industrial automation solutions provider, from LFM Capital. www.eckhartusa.com

• Avance Investment Management invested in Synergy Infrastructure Holdings, a Tampa, Fla.-based construction equipment rental company. www.synergy-infra.com

• The Blackstone Group completed its $1.6 billion purchase of Singapore-based precision components maker Interplex from Baring PE Asia. http://axios.link/1Rps

🚑 CapVest Partners offered to buy Australian fertility services firm Virtus Health (ASX: VRT) for around A$609m, just topping a prior takeover offer from BGH Capital. http://axios.link/lqTt

🚑 Gale Healthcare Solutions, a Tampa, Fla.-based nurse staffing platform, raised $60m from FTV Capital. http://axios.link/92ik

• KKR acquired Merchants Mortgage, an Austin, Texas-based provider of short-term mortgage products. www.merchantsmtg.com

• Sky Island Capital acquired a majority stake in Polished Metals, a Hillside, N.J.-based supplier and polisher of architectural and ornamental metals. www.polishedmetals.com

Some highlights from yesterday's Axios Pro newsletters:

💰 Fintech: A dive into the post-SPAC performance of fintechs, in light of Acorns Growth terminating its own deal. In short, it's been a SPAC splat.

🛒 Retail: Neiman Marcus' CEO talked about the luxury retailer's financial situation and its strategic plan, plus more on Kohl's vs. the activists.

🚑 Health Tech: Scoop on Kinderhook's new $2.5 billion deal, plus more on the Lyra Health round and an exclusive on Topography Health getting funding from Bain Capital Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz.

• Subscribe at AxiosPro.com.

🚑 Eleusis, a London-based psychedelics company, agreed to go public at an implied $446m valuation via Silver Spike Acquisition Corp. II (Nasdaq: SPKB). http://axios.link/v7mV

⚡ Intrepid Acquisition I, an energy SPAC led by the co-founder of Intrepid Potash (NYSE: IPI), filed for a $200m IPO. http://axios.link/BZWx

🚑 Valuence Merger I, a life sciences and sustainability SPAC led by Sun Yoon Woo (Credian Partners), filed for a $200m IPO. http://axios.link/6CM7

🚑 CVC Capital Partners is seeking a buyer for Theramex, an Italian maker of women's health products that could fetch more than $1b, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/kcBw

• A* Capital quietly raised $300m for its debut fund. The VC firm was co-founded last year by Kevin Hartz (Eventbrite, Founders Fund), Gautam Gupta (Uber) and Bennett Siegel (Coatue).

• Andreessen Horowitz plans to target $3.5b for its next crypto fund, plus another $1b for a seed-stage crypto fund, per the FT. http://axios.link/s2Y9

• The Carlyle Group will target up to €7.5b for its sixth European buyout fund, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/3Cll

• Cherry Ventures of Berlin raised €300m for a new seed fund. www.cherry.vc

• Inflection, an early-stage crypto VC firm, raised $41m for its second fund. http://axios.link/5g08

• PeakSpan Capital of San Mateo, Calif. raised $567m for its third growth equity fund. http://axios.link/nyN0

• Summa Equity, an Oslo-based PE firm, raised €2.3b for an impact investing fund. http://axios.link/tKt4

• Viola Ventures of Israel raised $250m for its sixth fund and promoted Yael Alroy to partner. http://axios.link/gqZV

• Worklyn Partners, a Philadelphia-based growth equity firm focused on cybersecurity, raised over $35m for its first fund. www.worklynpartners.com

• 2048 Ventures, a pre-seed investment firm, raised $67m for its second fund. www.2048.vc

• Ryan Williams is joining Coatue as chief sustainability officer and Shahed Fakhari Larson is joining as a general partner and chief marketing and communications officer, Axios has learned. Williams previously was an operating partner with NextWorld Evergreen, while onetime M&A lawyer Larson was a partner at Brunswick Group.

• Lars Albright, co-founder of Quattro Wireless (bought by Apple) and SessionM (Mastercard), joined Unusual Ventures as a general partner. He'll help the Silicon Valley firm open a Boston office, to which existing UV partner Sarah Leary will relocate. http://axios.link/7f0n

🚑 Julian Feneley joined investment bank Harris Williams as a London-based managing director of healthcare and life sciences. He previously was with Macquarie Capital. www.harriswilliams.com

• Ilonka Jankovich joined Amsterdam-based Rubio Impact Partners as a venture partner. She previously founded Taptrove Ventures. www.rubio.vc

• Fifth Wall, a real estate tech VC firm, promoted Sarah Liu and G.M. Nicholas Vik to partners and Michael New to principal. www.fifthwall.com

🚑 Third Rock Ventures promoted David Kaufman to partner and added Jigar Raythatha (ex-Constellation Pharma) and Jeff Walsh (ex-Bluebird Bio) as venture partners. www.thirdrockventures.com

Go deeper: Biden's stock market gets Trumped