Forget about tacos. Today is Twitter Tuesday.

What's happening: Twitter shareholders today will vote on Elon Musk's $44 billion takeover offer, while Twitter whistleblower Peiter "Mudge" Zatko will testify in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.

• The two events aren't officially related, but there is a through line with Musk hoping that Zatko will become his Get Out Of Deal Free card.

The vote: Twitter needs a simple majority of shareholders to affirmatively support the deal.

• Approval is a foregone conclusion at $54.20 per share, a 30% premium to where shares currently trade and a 38% premium to where they were prior to the deal announcement.
• One wrinkle, though, is that Musk is Twitter's largest outside owner with a 9.6% stake, and almost certainly will hold back his shares. It will be interesting to see if Musk has managed to induce any other large shareholders, like Saudi billionaire Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud (3.9%) or former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (2.4%).

The testimony: Zatko takes his seat at 10am (watch here), with most of the focus likely to be on national security and Zatko's claim that Twitter violated its 2011 settlement with the FTC and DOJ (expect those agencies to be paying close attention).

• It's also possible that some senators will do Musk a favor by soliciting information on bots, Zatko's severance package or some other subject that he otherwise might have difficulty obtaining. Recall that Musk is allowed to include Zatko's allegations in an amended complaint, but he's limited when it comes to new information gathering.
• Per last week's court ruling: "Defendants are permitted only incremental discovery relevant to the new allegations. That discovery can be made through targeted document discovery and minimal additional experts and fact witnesses."

The bottom line: What might Zatko say today that helps (or hurts) Musk? Who knows? That's why it will be appointment viewing.

🎧 Bonus: Our new podcast series on Musk vs. Twitter launches soon. Subscribe here so that you'll be notified when the first episode drops.

Source: Giphy

AppLovin (Nasdaq: APP) said it won't submit a new bid to acquire Unity Software (NYSE: U), a video game development platform, after its $20 billion all-stock offer was rejected.

Why it's the BFD: Unity now can complete its $4.4 billion acquisition of mobile ad tech firm IronSource (NYSE: IS), which it would have needed to scrap under the terms of AppLovin's proposal.

PE angle: Existing Unity shareholders Silver Lake and Sequoia will buy a combined $1 billion of Unity convertible notes when the IronSource merger closes.

The bottom line: Going with the smaller deal lets Unity provide mobile developers with more monetization tools, without having ad tech dominate company revenue. It also gets to maintain control, whereas the AppLovin deal would have given Unity a 55% stake in the combined company but only 49% of voting rights.

⚡ TeraWatt Infrastructure, developer of an EV charging network for fleets, raised over $1b in Series A funding from Vision Ridge Partners, Keyframe Capital and Cyrus Capital. https://axios.link/3BbxKlM

• Patra, an El Dorado Hills, Calif.-based insurance processing platform, raised $146m from FTV Capital. https://axios.link/3RGc8VA

🚑 Forge Biologics, a Columbus, Ohio-based contract development and manufacturing group focused on gene therapy, raised $90m in Series C funding co-led by Drive Capital and Aisling Capital. www.forgebiologics.com

• Xeneta, an Oslo-based platform for crowdsourced sea and air freight analytics, raised $80m. Apax Digital led, and was joined by Lugard Road Capital and insiders Creandum, Point Nine and Smedvig. https://axios.link/3eF6uEt

🚑 Redesign Health, a New York-based health care company incubator, raised $65m in Series C funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by CVS, UPMC, Eden Global Partners, Euclidean Capital, Samsung Next, TriplePoint Capital and Declaration Partners. www.redesignhealth.com

🌎 Patch, a digital platform for carbon markets and other regulated emissions, raised $55m in Series B funding. Energize Ventures led, and was joined by Andreessen Horowitz and Coatue. https://axios.link/3RHXflw

🚑 PurpleLab, a Wayne, Pa.-based real-world health data company, raised $40m in Series B funding. Primus Capital led, and was joined by insider Edison Partners. https://axios.link/3RVS3dv

• Community Labs, a crypto startup supporting projects on Arweave, raised $30m. Lightspeed Venture Partners led, and was joined by Arweave, Bain Capital Crypto and Blockchain Capital. https://axios.link/3eBfRFi

• Hone, an Encinitas, Calif.-based people skills training platform, raised $30m in Series B funding from 3L Capital, Invus Opportunities and insiders F-Prime Capital, Cowboy Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, Slack Fund, Semper Virens and Sift Ventures. https://axios.link/3BzC7sc

• Litmus Automation, a San Jose, Calif.-based industrial IoT startup, raised $30m in Series B funding led by Belden. https://axios.link/3U6eApP

• Liquid Instruments, a Solana Beach, Calif.-based provider of testing solutions for engineers, raised $28.5m in Series B funding. Acorn Capital led, and was joined by Lockheed Martin Ventures, Powerhouse Ventures and insiders Spirit Super/ANU Connect Ventures, MA Growth Ventures, Significant Capital Ventures and Boman Enterprises. https://axios.link/3DlEWhD

• Black Diamond Advisory, a Golden, Colo.-based OneStream Software consultancy, raised $25m from Tecera. www.blackdiamondadvisory.com

• Joonko, a New York-based job sourcing platform focused on underrepresented candidates, raised $25m in Series B funding. Insight Partners led, and was joined by Target Global and insiders Kapor Capital and Vertex Ventures. www.joonko.co

• MyCarrier, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based freight shipping startup, raised $22m in Series B funding. NewRoads Capital led, and was joined by Greycroft and Lerer Hippeau. https://axios.link/3xirGqc

• Ashby, an SF-based recruitment startup, raised $21.5m in Series B funding. F-Prime Capital led, and was joined by lad Gil, Lachy Groom, Semper Virens, Base Case Capital and Gaingels. https://axios.link/3U49fzn

• Ideon Technologies, a Canadian provider of high-res subsurface imaging for the mining industry, raised US$16m in Series A funding led by Playground Global. www.ideon.ai

• Opus Security, an Israeli cloud security orchestration and remediation startup, raised $10m in seed funding. YL Ventures led, and was joined by Tiger Global. www.opus.security

• Flavrs, a food-focused creator app, raised $7m in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz, David Grutman, Eric Ripert and Tom Colicchio. www.flavrs.com

• Tidelift, a Boston-based open-source software marketplace, raised $5.5m in new Series C funding (round total now $33.5m) with new backing from AEI HorizonX and Cisco Investments. www.tidelift.com

• Forward, a DeFi platform for derivative trading, raised $5m. Primestreet Capital led, and was joined by Ratanakorn Technology Group, GBV Capital and Varys Capital. https://axios.link/3RXdc70

• GrowerIQ, a Toronto-based cannabis ERP platform, raised C$3 million in seed funding. Golden Section and MaRS IAF co-led, and were joined by LAGO, Delbridge, GTM Fund and Gaingels. www.groweriq.com

• Bitmama, a Nigerian blockchain payments startup, raised $2m in pre-seed funding co-led by Unicorn Growth Capital and Launch Africa. https://axios.link/3DhLQVg

🚑 Cipher Skin, a Denver-based medical wearables maker, raised an undisclosed funding round from Tribe Capital, Draper Capital and insider Andreessen Horowitz. www.cipherskin.com

• Acuity Knowledge Partners, a London-based portfolio company of Equistone Partners Europe, acquired Cians Analytics, a New York-based provider of research and analytical support for financial institutions. www.acuitykp.com

• Broadlume, a Sarasota, Fla.-based provider of software to flooring retailers, raised $60m from PSG. https://axios.link/3RE8co9

• CES Power, a Memphis-based portfolio company of Allied Industrial Partners, acquired both Brickworks, a provider of smart mapping software and geographic information services to the entertainment industry. www.cespower.com

• CeriFi, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based portfolio company of Leeds Equity Partners, acquired Solomon Exam Prep, a provider of securities licensing exam preparation and review materials. www.cerifi.com

• GTCR is considering a £1.3b takeover offer for British identity management firm GB Group (LSE: GBG), per PE Insights. https://axios.link/3B9u049

🚑 Latticework Capital Management acquired Catalina Research Institute, a Montclair, Calif.-based clinical trials center. www.catalinari.com

• Ontario Teachers’ is in talks to buy a stake in specialty packaging company GPA Global from EQT, per Bloomberg. The deal could be worth between $700m and $800m. https://axios.link/3RE6PWx

🚑 OMERS, EQT and Morrison & Co. are among those circling PRP, an Australian diagnostic imaging firm owned by Crescent Capital, per The Australian. www.prpimaging.com.au

🚑 The Riverside Company invested in Jupiter Life Science Consulting, a Key Largo, Fla.-based provider of commercial and market access strategies for life sciences. www.jupiterls.com

• Weilong Delicious, a Chinese snack maker, may seek to raise around $500m next month in a Hong Kong IPO, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3QAnPMi

• dMY Squared Technology Group, a professional services SPAC, filed for a $75m IPO. https://axios.link/3BBkqs2

• Grandview Capital Acquisition, a food industry SPAC, withdrew registration for a $300m IPO. https://axios.link/3U3O28J

• Google completed its $5.4b cash purchase of Mandiant, a Reston, Va.-based cybersecurity firm that had traded on the Nasdaq. https://axios.link/3qtKyz1

• Avance, a New York-based midmarket PE firm led by Palladium Equity Partners vets David Perez and Luis Zaldivar, raised around $1.1b for its debut fund. www.avanceinv.com

• Baring Private Equity Asia, which recently agreed to be acquired by EQT, raised $11.2b for its eighth fund. www.bpeasia.com

• Bloccelerate, a Seattle-based crypto VC firm, aims to raise $100m for its second fund, per an SEC filing. https://axios.link/3Btk1Ii

🌎 Energy Impact Partners raised $392m for its first European fund, with LPs including Microsoft and Norway's state climate investment firm.

• Runa Capital, a VC firm relocating its headquarters from Silicon Valley to Luxembourg, raised $55m toward a fourth fund with a $250m hard cap. https://axios.link/3DloLBa

• Northzone, a European VC firm, raised €1b for its 10th fund. https://axios.link/3LcpuGs

🌎 SER Capital Partners, a sustainability-focused PE firm led by Rahul Advani (ex-Energy Capital Partners), raised $475m for its debut fund. www.sercapitalpartners.com

• James Kim joined Ares Management’s private equity group as a London-based partner and head of European special opportunities. He previously was with Apollo Global Management. www.aresmgmt.com

• Nick Kim joined Upfront Ventures as a partner. He previously was with Crosscut Ventures. www.upfront.com

• Ned Leutz joined Great Hill Partners as go-to-market lead on the firm’s growth team. He previously was VP of emerging products at Zoominfo. www.greathillpartners.com

• Shawn Saparamadu is leaving Evercore to join Lazard as a managing director focused on industrials. https://axios.link/3B1Usww

• Edison Partners promoted Gregg Michaelson to general partner, Jennifer Lee to partner and Joe Giquinto to CFO. www.edisonpartners.com

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