Solar power has always had one pesky limitation: It needs daylight.

• But what if it didn't?
• That's the question being asked by Reflect Orbital, a startup that recently raised $6.5 million led by Sequoia Capital.

The big idea: Build and deploy a low-orbit constellation of Mylar "mirrors" that would send sunlight to solar installations in places that are still 90 minutes before sunrise or 90 minutes after sunset.

• Once low-light minutes are included, this could mean an extra four hours of power generation.

Why it matters: The world needs more renewable power, particularly with the rise of data centers.

• This could help eat into that new demand without needing to build much new physical infrastructure, which consumes both money and space.

Catch up quick: If this feels a bit familiar, you might have seen a viral video that Reflect Orbital CEO Ben Nowack (ex-Zipline) posted back in March. And also that one of the responses, shortly after it was posted, came from Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire, who wrote: "Very clever insights."

• Maguire tells me that the general concept of space-based solar has been around for at least 15 years, but that it wasn't pursued because of the on-ground capital expenditures that would have been required.
• Now, however, there are so many solar stations on Earth that a company like Reflect Orbital is viable. Well, after figuring out things like how to unfold the mirrors, steering, computation, and making a solar sail to power the electronics.
• He adds that there are understandable concerns that the tech could brighten dark areas on the ground, but insists that Reflect Orbital's tech works more like a laser beam than a flash light (i.e., very little diffusion).

Deal details: Other Reflect Orbital investors include Starship Ventures, two Zipline execs (Keller Rinaudo Cliffton and Keenan Wyrobek), and Baiju Bhatt (the Robinhood co-founder who's working on a separate space-based energy project).

Zoom in: The company recently put out a "request for sunlight," and claims to have received over 10,000 inquiries. Including from some power plants.

• It's also received a lot of inbound from venture capital firms.
• The original plan was to launch a proof-of-concept via the $6.5 million, but the massive "RFS" response may lead it to accelerate both its fundraising and deployment plans.

The bottom line: The days are getting shorter. For now.

Sanofi (Paris: SAN) received binding offers for its consumer health business from both PAI Partners and Clayton Dubilier & Rice, with expectations that a deal would be worth at least €15 billion, per Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: This would be the year's second-largest European private equity deal, behind KKR's deal for Telecom Italia assets, and largest in France.

• Sanofi also would be the fourth major drugmaker to offload its consumer health unit, following spinoffs by J&J, GSK, and Pfizer.
• It still could go the spinoff route, having run a dual process since announcing last October that it would review strategic options for the business.

The bottom line: The headline number is huge, but the private equity checks won't be. Both PAI and CD&R reportedly are lining up co-investors in the equity, would get a minority stake rollover from Sanofi, and have banks working on €10 billion debt packages.

• EGYM, a German connected fitness startup, raised $200m in Series C funding from L Catterton and Meritech at a pre-money valuation north of $1.2b. axios.link/4ed8bD5

• WhatFix, a San Jose, Calif., digital transformation firm, raised $125m in Series E funding. Warburg Pincus led, and was joined by return backer SoftBank. axios.link/4gDbzIY

• Celestia Foundation, the organization behind the modular blockchain network, raised $100m. Bain Capital Crypto led, and was joined by Syncracy Capital, 1kx, Robot Ventures, and Placeholder. axios.link/3zDKnsP

• Supabase, a Postgres database management system, raised $80m in Series C funding co-led by Peak XV and Craft Ventures. axios.link/4eb9r9I

🌎 Cyclic Materials, a Toronto-based recycling company focused on rare earth materials, raised US$53m in Series B funding. ArcTern Ventures led, and was joined by investors BDC Capital's Climate Tech Fund, Hitachi Ventures, Zero Infinity Partners, Climate Investment, and Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund. Existing investors Fifth Wall, BMW i Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, and Planetary Technologies. axios.link/3XWMxNG

🌎 Sublime Systems, a Somerville, Mass., green cement startup, raised $75m from cement producers Holcim and CRH. sublime-systems.com

• InDebted, an Australian debt collection startup, raised A$60m in Series C funding at a A$350m valuation. Airtree led, and was joined by Carthona, Reinventure, Perennial, Australian Retirement Trust, and Premier Capital Partners. axios.link/3BhgMGb

🚑 Helaina, a New York-based maker of human-equivalent bioactive proteins, raised $45m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Avidity Partners led, and was joined by Spark Capital, Ingeborg Investments, Barrel Ventures, Siam Capital, Relish Works, CF Private Equity, and Primary Venture Partners. axios.link/3MYt8FN

• Quantum Systems, a German drone maker, raised €44m in Series B extension funding co-led by Notion Capital and Porsche. axios.link/3MTRRv3

• Apron, a London business payments startup, raised $30m in Series B funding. Zinai Growth led, and was joined by insiders Index Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Tony Fadell. getapron.com

• Vsim, a British physics simulation startup, raised $21.5m. EQT Ventures led, and was joined by Factorial Fund, Samsung Next, Tru Arrow, Xora (backed by Temasek), IQ Capital, Koro Capital, Concept Ventures, and Lakestar Scout Fund. axios.link/3BdMGTU

• Wrapbook, a Hollywood payroll and accounting services firm, raised $20m from Bessemer Venture Partners. axios.link/3TH31Hg

🌎 GEOX, an Israeli platform for analyzing real estate risk from climate-related disasters, raised $19m in Series A funding led by Flashpoint Venture Capital. axios.link/3MUu6my

• Outgo, a Seattle-based freight carrier banking startup, raised $15m. Gradient Ventures and Construct Capital co-led, and were joined by Neo, PSL Ventures, Bezos Expeditions, Fintech Fund, Operator Stack, and Upper90 (which also provided a $50m credit facility). axios.link/3BayXgE

• Initia, an "iOS for web3," raised $14m in Series A funding led by Theory Ventures. axios.link/4dlVip9

• LiveFlow, a finance and accounting automation platform, raised $13.5m in Series A funding led by Valar Ventures. axios.link/3B9lrKb

• Jet HR, an Italian HR and payroll startup, raised €12 million in seed funding. Picus Capital led, and was joined by Exor Ventures, Italian Founders Fund, and 2100 Ventures. axios.link/3MYoGag

• Tamnoon, a managed cloud security remediation startup, raised $12m in Series A funding. Bright Pixel Capital led, and was joined by Blu Ventures, Mindset Ventures, and insiders Merlin Ventures, Secret Chord Ventures, Inner Loop Capital, and Elron Ventures. tamnoon.io

• Arqu, an SF-based wholesale insurance brokerage, raised $10m in Series A funding led by Crosslink Capital, with Intact Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Foxe Capital, and Nationwide Ventures participating. arqu.com

• Daylight, a New York-based transaction recommendation engine, raised $6m in seed funding. USV led, and was joined by 1kx, Framework Ventures, and Chapter One. daylight.xyz

🚑 Feno, a Culver City, Calif., smart toothbrush startup, raised $6m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Bold Capital Partners led, and was joined by True Ventures, Upfront Ventures, and Share Ventures. feno.co

🚑 Arya Health, a New York-based health-care payroll automation platform, raised $4m in seed funding led by Twelve Below. aryahealth.ai

• Infact, a British challenger credit bureau, raised £4m in seed funding. AlbionVC led, and was joined by 13books Capital, Outward VC, Form Ventures, and Portfolio Ventures. axios.link/3XHBSoG

⚡ La Solive, a French provider of career training for "energy renovation" professionals, raised €4m in Series A funding led by Partech, alongside Brighteye Ventures. axios.link/3XFsrpH

• Desia, an Italian investment platform, raised $3.3m led by Dig Ventures, with participation from 2100 Ventures, Exor Ventures, and Octopus Ventures. axios.link/4e5YlCV

• Polymarket, a blockchain-based predictions market, is in talks to raise more than $50m, per The Information. axios.link/3BgKxHe

🚑 3B Scientific, a German portfolio company of G Square and 1315 Capital, acquired Veterinary Simulator Industries, a Canadian developer of veterinary simulation models. 3bscientific.com

🏀 BC Partners is in exclusive talks to buy a minority stake in EuroLeague basketball, beating out rival bidders General Atlantic and Saudi Arabia's SURJ Sports Investment, per the FT. axios.link/3N07Rf4

• Beach Point Capital Management invested in Metro Franchising, one of the largest Dunkin' franchisees with 105 stores in the New York metro region.

• DiningRD, a St. Louis-based portfolio company of Evolution Capital Partners, acquired Crandall Corporate Dietitians, a Mesa, Ariz., provider of dietary consulting and food service software for senior living. diningrd.com

• Gilde Equity Management agreed to buy Dutch protective footwear maker Dunlop from EQT. axios.link/3BdOhJF

• Omega Fitness, a portfolio company of Rainier Partners, acquired 21 gyms in Wisconsin from MDS Fitness. axios.link/3zAF11B

• Thompson Street Capital Partners invested in ATIS, a Creve Coeur, Mo.-based provider of elevator and escalator safety inspections and related services. atis.com

🚑 Vald, an Australian provider of musculoskeletal screening and rehab tech, raised an undisclosed amount of growth equity funding from FTV Capital. vald.com

• FrontView REIT, a Dalla-based commercial REIT for net lease outparcel properties, filed for a $251m IPO and plans to list on the NYSE (FVB). axios.link/3XUkYEx

• Commvault (Nasdaq: CLVT) acquired Clumio, a Santa Clara, Calif., cloud data backup and recovery company that had raised over $270m from firms like Sutter Hill Ventures, Index Ventures, Altimeter Capital, and NewView Capital also participating. axios.link/4dmUujN

🚑 EQT hired Goldman Sachs to sell a minority stake in WS Audiology, a Danish hearing aid maker that could be valued at around €7b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3zmZlnd

• Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) acquired Zoomin, an Israeli technical documentation development platform that had raised over $70m from Salesforce Ventures, General Atlantic, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Viola Growth. axios.link/47CT82U

• Wiz, a New York cloud security firm, is in talks to launch up to a $700m tender at a $20b valuation, per Bloomberg. The company was in talks over the summer to be acquired by Google for around $23b, and raised $1b in Series E funding earlier this year at a $12b post-money valuation. axios.link/4gAhsGV

• Banco BTG Pactual of Brazil bought Miami-based multifamily office Greytown Advisors. axios.link/4eeH76w

• London Stock Exchange Group (LSE: LSEG) is seeking to sell its stake in Belgian financial services company Euroclear, in a deal that could generate around 500m, per Sky News. axios.link/4ebKgDW

• Rightmove (LSE: RMV), a British online real estate portal, rejected a sweetened $8.1b takeover offer from REA Group (ASX: REA), owned by Rupert Murdoch. axios.link/3XBIdlv

• Boldstart Ventures of Miami raised $250m for its seventh fund, per an SEC filing.

The U.S. Justice Department yesterday sued Visa for allegedly monopolizing the debit card market, which it argues has has led to higher prices.

• DOJ didn't ask for divestitures in its complaint, but a government victory could be a boon for credit card and other fintech startups.
• It also could impact the fate of Capital One's $35.3 billion deal for Visa rival Capital One, which plans to move its debit business onto Discover's Pulse network.

By the numbers: Visa shares fell 5.5% on Tuesday, while rivals were down by smaller percentages.

Shameless plug: MasterCard CEO Michael Miebach will join us for the Axios BFD on Oct. 22 in New York City. Get your ticket.