"We don't touch the plants."

• That was a common refrain from VCs when they began investing in cannabis startups, indicating that they'd support the industry without taking on the top regulatory risk.
• Now I'm beginning to hear a similar statement from health care-focused private equity investors: "We don't touch the patients."

The big picture: Private equity is under increasing political pressure, and in-person services providers like hospitals and nursing homes are the lowest-hanging fruit.

• Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) recently proposed a bill to prevent PE investment in health care services companies, following the Steward Health debacle.
• California lawmakers are debating a bill that would give the state's attorney general the power to block such deals.
• The FTC recently lost its bid to hold a private equity firm liable for an alleged monopoly on anesthesiology services in Texas, but the agency's antitrust lawsuit against the underlying, PE-owned company remains active.

Behind the scenes: Several large private equity firms have told Axios, on background, that they're no longer interested in such deals.

• To be clear, this doesn't mean that private equity is abandoning a health-care sector that represents over 17% of U.S. GDP. For example, there's tons of PE activity in areas like biotech, clinical trial enablement, and hospital management software.
• Instead, it's just that several top shops are refocusing to avoid areas where the reward is no longer worth the risk (i.e., owning the actual doctor's office). And those sorts of macro decisions often flow downstream to the midmarket, eventually.

Britvic (LSE: BVIC), a British maker of cocktail mixers and other uncarbonated soft drinks, rejected a £3.11 billion takeover approach from Danish brewer Carlsberg.

Why it's the BFD: Carlsberg's efforts reflect a broader "beyond beer" push by global brewers, as younger consumer tastes have moved toward spirits and nonalcoholic beverages.

The bottom line: Britvic now has rejected two informal bids from Carlsberg, which under U.K. takeover rules has until July 19 to make an official offer or walk away.

• Zepto, an Indian grocery delivery company, raised $665m in Series F funding at a $3.6b valuation (more than double last year's Series E round). Glade Brook, Nexus and StepStone Group co-led, and were joined by Avenir, Lightspeed, Avra, Goodwater, Lachy Groom, and Contrary. axios.link/4bbT22E

🚑 iOnctura, a Swiss cancer biotech, raised €80m in Series B funding. Syncona and EIC Fundco-led, and were joined by Merck Ventures, Inkef Capital, VI Partners, Schroders Capital, and 3B Future Health Fund. axios.link/4c8igQM

🚀 Isar Aerospace, a Munich-based rocket launch startup, raised €65m in Series C extension funding from NATO Innovation Fund. axios.link/3VqpuIs

• HeyGen, an LA-based AI video generation platform for businesses, raised $60m in Series A funding. Benchmark led, and was joined by Thrive Capital, Bond, and Conviction. heygen.com

⚡ M2X Energy, a Rockledge, Fla., gas-to-methanol startup, raised $40m in Series B funding. Conifer Infrastructure Partners led, and was joined by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Eni Next, Add Ventures by SCG, and Autodesk Foundation. axios.link/4eySTZI

🌎 LD Carbon, a Korean tire recycling startup, raised $28m in Series C funding. Toyota's Woven Capital led, and was joined by Meritz Securities, Industrial Bank of Korea, and Hyundai Motor Group ZER01NE. axios.link/3xtsoEy

• Kinetic, a Santa Ana, Calif., digital maintenance and servicing platform for EVs, raised $21m in Series B funding. Menlo Ventures led, and was joined by Allstate Strategic Ventures, Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures and insiders Lux Capital, Construct Capital, and Haystack Ventures. kinetic.auto

• Gynger, a financing platform for technology purchases, raised $20m in Series A funding. PayPal Ventures led, and was joined by Gradient Ventures, Velvet Sea Ventures, BAG Ventures, and Deciens Capital. axios.link/3VOyLvA

• Speak, a language-learning app, raised $20m in Series B expansion funding. Buckley Ventures led, and was joined by OpenAI Startup Fund, Khosla Ventures, Paul Graham, and Jeff Weiner. axios.link/3VOU4gu

• Verituity, a McLean, Va., payout verification startup, raised $18.8m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Sandbox Industries and Forgepoint Capital co-led, and were joined by Ardent Venture Partners and MTech Capital. axios.link/4caArVI

• Renzo, an Ethereum restaking protocol, raised $17m co-led by Galaxy Ventures and Brevan Howard Digital Nova Fund. axios.link/4c5yVEl

• Pomerium, a Solana Beach, Calif., security startup, raised $13.75m in Series A funding. Benchmark led, and was joined by Bain Capital, Haystack, SNR, and Oleg Rogynsky. pomerium.com

🚑 Polarean, a Durham, N.C., maker of medical equipment, raised $12.6m co-led by Nukem Isotopes and Bracco. polarean.com

🚑 Quantum Innovations, a Spanish developer of tech for monitoring organs during surgery, raised €10m led by Vinci IQ ASI. axios.link/4eBr57l

• Travel Wallet, a South Korean provider of prepaid cards for travelers, raised $10m led by Lightspeed. axios.link/4be4zyr

🚑 Zing Coach, a German fitness app, raised $10m in Series A funding co-led by Zubr Capital and Triple Point Capital. axios.link/3zdUpk5

• iGii, a Scottish nanomaterials maker, raised £8.8m. Scottish National Investment Bank led, and was joined by Archangel Investors and Par Equity. axios.link/3za5XVo

🚑 Sava, a London-based continuous glucose monitoring startup, raised $8m in seed funding co-led by Balderton Capital and Exor Ventures. https://axios.link/3xjgZqW

• Substrate, an AI deployment API, raised $8m in seed funding. Lightspeed led, and was joined by South Park Commons and Craft Ventures. substrate.run

• Soot, a creative asset discovery system, raised $7.2m in seed funding led by Upfront Ventures. soot.com

🌎 Atmio, a German methane detection and remediation startup, raised €5.1m in seed funding. Notion Capital led, and was joined by SquareOne, HCVC, and Robin Capital. axios.link/3KQ06Hv

• Slay, the German social gaming company behind virtual pets game Pengu, raised $5m in seed funding led by Accel. axios.link/3VprKQo

• Day.ai, a CRM startup, raised $4m in seed funding. Sequoia Capital led, and was joined by Inspired Capital, Pillar VC, Stage 2 Capital, Conviction, and 20Sales. day.ai

• Backstroke, an Indianapolis gen AI messaging startup, raised $2m in seed funding. High Alpha and Ground Game Ventures co-led, and were joined by Allos Ventures. axios.link/4ezyS5C

⚡ Antin Infrastructure Partners agreed to acquire a majority stake in GTL Leasing, a Tulsa, Okla., lessor of gaseous hydrogen transportation and storage equipment. axios.link/4ezkQko

• Bullhorn, a Boston staffing software firm backed by Stone Point Capital, Insight Partners, and Genstar Capital, acquired Textkernel, a Dutch staffing and recruiting AI company. axios.link/3RyD1Nd

⚡ Carlyle agreed to buy a portfolio of gas-weighted E&P assets in Italy, Egypt and Croatia from Energean (LSE: ENOG) for up to $945m. axios.link/4c8KoDn

• Celcoin, a Brazilian banking-as-a-service company, raised $125m led by Summit Partners. celcoin.com.br

🚑 Charterhouse Capital Partners invested in Skin Tech, a Spanish medical aesthetics group. axios.link/45xSnXS

• Clip, a Mexican payments and commerce enablement platform, raised $100m from Morgan Stanley Tactical Value. clip.mx

• Hillcore Group acquired CEDA, a Canadian provider of industrial maintenance and environmental services, from OMERS. ceda.com

• One Equity Partners acquired a minority stake in Siti, an Italian maker of turnkey plants and machinery. siti-bt.com

• Stellex Capital Management acquired J. Skinner Baking, an Omaha-based maker of artisan baked goods. skinnerbaking.com

• Pine Labs, an Indian payments firm, is weighing a $1b local IPO, per Bloomberg. The company has raised over $1b in private funding from backers like Peak XV Partners, Mastercard, and Advent International. axios.link/4etZa97

• Future Vision II Acquisition, a China-focused TMT SPAC, filed for a $50m IPO. axios.link/4cfHPPN

• Canal+, the French media and telecom conglomerate, boosted its stake in Asian streaming service Viu to 36.8%. axios.link/3RA7g6v

• Generali, an Italian insurer, is seeking to sell its Turkey and Philippines businesses, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3zgfXg0

• Knownwell, a Needham, Mass., hybrid obesity management startup that last year raised $20m led by a16z, acquired Alfie Health, a New York obesity management startup seeded by firms like YC and Nina Capital. knownwell.co

🏀 Julia Koch and her three children are acquiring a 15% stake in BSE Global, the parent company of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets, WNBA's New York Liberty, and the Barclays Center. axios.link/4etmkwt

A*, an early-stage VC firm, raised $315m for its second fund. The company is led by Kevin Hartz (Eventbrite, Founders Fund), Bennett Siegel (Coatue), and Gautam Gupta (Opendoor/Uber). a-star.co

• Columna Capital, a lower midmarket firm focused on Western Europe, raised €290m for its third fund. columnacapital.com

• Mischief, a VC firm co-led by Plaid CEO Zach Perret, is raising up to $20m for its second fund, per an SEC filing.

• Sagard launched an evergreen private credit fund. sagard.com

• Chris Benson left Advent International to join Astorg as a partner on its midmarket team. Astorg also hired Daniel Pang (ex-WCAS) as a health care-focused managing director. astorg.com

• Ali Rathod-Papier joined a16z as a partner and compliance officer, per TechCrunch. She previously was global head of compliance at Brex. axios.link/3RAxvJK

• Nicole Perlroth, a former cybersecurity reporter who's raising her own early-stage fund, joined Ballistic Ventures as a venture partner. axios.link/3xw7mVN

• Elias Terman, former SVP of marketing at Orca Security, joined YL Ventures as an operating partner. ylventures.com

There are still a couple of weeks left in Q2 2024, but it's looking like global dealmaking volume will easily surpass the year-ago period.

• The big driver has been average deal size, as dollar volume is up 21% but the actual number of deals is down 27%, per LSEG Deals Intelligence.