Stripe's planned acquisition of Bridge is not its first time spending big dollars on a deal. In 2021, Stripe paid $850 million to $900 million to snap up TaxJar, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: It's a rare glimpse into just how the company, which has never disclosed the price of its acquisitions, is willing to use M&A for expansion.

Catch up quick: Founded in 2013, TaxJar is a subscription business helping companies automate their sales tax filing process.

• It surged in 2021, when its annual run rate was growing rapidly, hitting $30 million to $40 million. It was raising a Series B, and was also fielding "serious" acquisition talks with Shopify and Xero, per the sources.
• Stripe stepped in and offered a deal that was largely in cash.
• Seed investors Bonfire Ventures and Daher Capital invested at an $11 million to $12 million valuation, the sources say.
• Insight Partners led its $60 million Series A at a roughly $175 million valuation.
• Shopify didn't respond to a request for comment and Xero declined to comment.

Zoom out: At the time of the sale in mid-2021, TaxJar had about 200 employees that all joined Stripe, according to announcements at the time.

• But Stripe was hit hard by the fintech downturn, and its valuation fell from $95 billion in 2012 to around $70 billion in recent secondary sales.
• It laid off an estimated 45 to 55 employees at TaxJar in mid-2022, with some invited to apply for internal roles at Stripe, according to TechCrunch.

What's happening: The trio that co-founded TaxJar has since left Stripe. Former TaxJar CEO Mark Faggiano and co-founder Matt Anderson both exited in mid 2022. CRO Ryan Thompson most recently left July of this year, per their LinkedIn profiles.

• Despite those exits, TaxJar still exists as a product within Stripe, focused on small-to-medium-sized businesses that are U.S.-focused.
• Stripe Tax, meanwhile, is angled at businesses with international tax obligations as well.

The bottom line: Stripe isn't shy about big swings.

Keurig Dr Pepper has inked a $1 billion deal to acquire energy-drink maker Ghost.

Why it's the BFD: This would mark the biggest deal for the beverage giant since its acquisition of Dr Pepper Snapple for $19 billion in cash in 2018, per Axios Pro's Kimberly Chin.

By the numbers: Valued at nearly $50 billion, Keurig Dr Pepper initially will acquire a 60% stake in Ghost, and take the remainder in 2028.

Between the lines: It's no secret that the beverage industry has been diversifying for years now to account for changing consumer tastes, with the Dr Pepper Snapple deal being case and point.

• But one thing has apparently remained constant: caffeine. Marketed as a low-calorie drink, Ghost comes packed with with 200 milligrams of caffeine.
• Meanwhile, coffee drinking hit a more than 20-year high recently.

💃 Vinted, a Lithuanian second-hand fashion marketplace, sold €340m in secondary shares valuing the company at €5b. TPG led with Baillie Gifford, FJ Labs, Hedosophia, Invus Opportunities, and Manhattan Venture Partners participating. axios.link/4eVMd7M

🚑 Alpha-9 Oncology, a Boston- and Vancouver-based radiopharmaceuticals developer focused on cancer, raised $175m in Series C funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners and Ascenta Capital led, with participation from General Catalyst, a16z Bio + Health, RA Capital Management. a9oncology.com

🤖 Nimble, an SF-based autonomous e-commerce fulfillment company, raised $106m in Series C funding valuing it at $1b. FedEx and Cedar Pine co-led. axios.link/3YBUcl0

🚑 Be Biopharma, a Cambridge, Mass.-based company focused on B Cell Medicines, raised $82m in funding. ARCH Venture Partners, Atlas Venture, RA Capital Management, and Alta Partners invested. axios.link/48mpBe9

Finix, an SF-based payments company, raised a $75m in Series C funding led by Acrew Capital. Leap and Lightspeed Capital also led. axios.link/3YLREkp

Outrider, a Brighton, Colo.-based autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, raised $62m in Series D funding. Koch Disruptive Technologies and New Enterprise Associates led, with participation from 8VC, ARK Invest, and B37 Ventures. outrider.ai

🚑 Infinitus Systems, an SF-based health care call automation company, raised $51.5m in Series C funding. Andreessen Horowitz led. axios.link/3AaKfkZ

• Simbe, an SF-based store automation company, raised $50m in Series C funding. Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives led, with Eclipse and Valo Ventures joining. simberobotics.com

🚑 Tennr, a New York-based health care provider document automation company, raised $37m in Series B. Lightspeed Partners led. axios.link/4hl1Wio

• Stream.Security, an Israel and Palo Alto, Calif,-based cloud security company, raised $30m in Series B funding. U.S. Venture Partners led, with Citi Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, and Cervin Ventures participating. stream.security

• Fixify, an Arlington, Va.-based IT help desk solution provider using AI, raised $25m in Series A funding. Costanoa Ventures, Decibel Partners and Paladin Capital Group co-led, with participation from Scale Venture Partners. fixify.com

• TollBit, a New York-based marketplace for publishers and AI companies to monetize content, raised $24m in Series A funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. axios.link/3Ac0QVy

🚌 BasiGo, a Kenya-based electric bus startup, raised $24m in Series A funding. Africa50 led with participation from British International Investment, and the U.S. Development Finance Corporation. axios.link/3A0OjEx

• Genie AI, a London-based AI legal assistant, raised $17.8m in Series A funding. GV led the round. axios.link/48gERJH

• Sensei, a Lisbon-based retail automation company, raised €15m in Series A funding from investors including BlueCrow Capital, Iberis Capital and Techstars. axios.link/3Yg7thD

• Attention, a New York-based sales AI tool for analyzing customer conversations, raised $14m in Series A funding. Alven led and was joined by Eniac, 645 Ventures, Aglae, Frst, and Liquid2. attention.com

🚑 Dyania Health, a Jersey City, N.J.-based LLM for clinical trial recruitment, raised $10m in Series A funding. HealthX Ventures led, with Tech Square Ventures and Cleveland Clinic Ventures participating, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4f82NRM

• Shuttle Labs, a New York-based maker of a self-custodial digital asset trading exchange known as Genius, raised $6m in seed funding from investors including Anthony Scaramucci, CMCC Global, The SALT fund, and Flow Traders. tradegenius.com

• Synply, a Wilmington, N.C.-based loan syndication platform spun out of Live Oak Bancshares, has raised $4.8m in seed funding. Canapi Ventures and Live Oak Ventures led. axios.link/3C5QC9E

• Qpoint, an SF-based application monitoring tool, raised $4m in pre-seed funding. Mango Capital led, with participation from Preface Ventures, Scribble Ventures and Bloomberg Beta. qpoint.io

• Sidero Labs, an SF-based Kubernetes cluster installation company, raised $4m. Hiro Capital led, with participation from Sony Innovation Fund. axios.link/3NCCW8L

• Cascade AI, a Seattle-based company for HR and benefits, raised a $3.8m in seed funding. Gradient led with participation from Myriad Venture Partners and Success Venture Partners. gocascade.ai

• Aether, a solar installation software maker, raised  $2.5m in seed funding. Noa led, with participation from Y Combinator, Collab Fund, Amino Capital, and Climate Capital. axios.link/3A1nEr9

• Mave, a Toronto-based service for real estate professionals, raised C$2m in pre-seed funding. Relay Ventures and N49P led with participation from Alate Partners, Clarim Ventures, and Gambit Partners. maveai.co

• Artivo Surfaces, backed by Transom Capital, acquired Tom Duffy Company, a Manteca, Calif.-based wholesale tile and flooring company. artivosurfaces.com

• Blue Sage Capital invested in MHW, a Manhasset, New York-based alcohol compliance and logistics company. mhwltd.com

• CoStar Group (NASDAQ: CSGP) agreed to acquire Visual Lease, a Woodbridge, N.C.-based lease management, accounting, and reporting company backed by Spectrum Equity and Growth Street Partners. costargroup.com

🍸 HMC Capital plans to acquire Global Switch Australia, a data center operator, for A$1.94b ($1.29b). axios.link/48lp5xd

🌎 KKR agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Enilive, the biofuel business of Italian energy group Eni, valuing it at 11.8b euros. axios.link/4feLCOv

• Latus Group, backed by NorthEdge, acquired OH Services Limited, an English provider of medical assessments for the oil and gas, and maritime industries. axios.link/40hiiTl

• Parkview Dental Partners, backed by Cathay Capital, acquired Breezy Dental, a Clearwater, Fla., dental practice. axios.link/4hmyfh9

• Sixth Street Partners has invested in Merchant Investment Management, an RIA investor, as part of a $750m raise, per CityWire. axios.link/4dUwSmV

• A consortium led by Blue Owl co-CEOs Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz acquired a stake in the Tampa Bay Lightning and its owner Vinik Sports Group. Arctos is selling a portion of its staking, marking the second private equity exit from a major league sports franchise. axios.link/3YfEUkt

• Bottomline Technologies, backed by Thoma Bravo, is looking to sell its legal spend management unit, per Fortune. axios.link/3Yh6ePm

• Oakley Capital agreed to sell its majority stake in Schülerhilfe, a small-group tutoring company in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, to Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. schuelerhilfe.de

• Snow Peak Capital acquired TurbineAero, a Phoenix-based provider of maintenance, repair and overhaul services for aircraft auxiliary power units, from The Gores Group. axios.link/3NFoMno

• Vagaro, backed by FTV Capital, is acquiring Schedulicity, a Bozeman, Mont.-based scheduling software company, per Fortune. Schedulicity has raised from Lateral Capital Management and Homestake Venture Partners. axios.link/3Yh6ePm

• Shell (NYSE: SHEL) agreed to acquire RISEC Holdings, a Rhode Island-based owner of a 609-megawatt gas power plant. axios.link/3AjDuxa

• Eramet (PA: ERMT) paid $699m to buy out Chinese partner Tsingshan in a lithium project in Argentina. axios.link/40gZq6N

• Elliott Investment Management and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) are nearing a deal to avoid a proxy battle. The deal would give Elliott several board seats, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3YBfAa0

• Frasers Group (LON: FRAS) is walking away from a bid to acquire Mulberry (LON: MUL), a British luxury retailer backed by Challice. axios.link/3BUalJF

• Chemistry, an early-stage venture firm from Kristina Shen, Mark Goldberg, and Ethan Kurzweil, raised $350m for its first fund. axios.link/4hb2O9r

• General Catalyst raised $8b for its new funds: $4.5b for its core VC funds, $1.5b for its startup creation strategy, and $2b for separately managed accounts. axios.link/48jCmGp

• Resurge Growth Partners raised about €120m to invest in growth-stage. European and Israeli companies. axios.link/4eV1YvX

• SF Express, China's largest courier service, is aiming a second listing in Hong Kong that could raise $1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3A1etXJ

• Anzu Partners hired Joey Clark as a principal and SVP of capital solutions. he was previously at the Innovation Economy group at JPMorgan. axios.link/48iPRq2