New York City wants to power down more of its private equity investments in the energy sector, according to a proposal from NYC Comptroller Brad Lander.

What to know: The new rule would block certain NYC public pensions from making private market investments in midstream and downstream fossil fuel projects, such as refineries and export terminals.

• It comes one year after the pensions stopped making private market investments in upstream fossil fuel assets (i.e., exploration and extraction), and two years after they divested from publicly traded fossil fuel reserve owners.

Why it matters: This would be the first such ban by a U.S. public pension system.

By the numbers: The relevant NYC pensions manage over $200 billion in assets, including nearly $8 billion of infrastructure assets.

• Lander's office tells Axios that it hasn't yet determined what percentage of that infrastructure portfolio is in midstream or downstream projects.
• But the ban only would apply to future investments, and the pensions wouldn't seek carveouts from private equity funds to which they've already committed. They would, however, seek exclusion language for future funds.

Behind the scenes: This could present a particular fundraising challenge for energy-focused private equity, which is particularly reliant on U.S. public pensions because many Middle Eastern sovereigns wealth funds are seeking to diversify beyond fossil fuels.

Look ahead: Lander's staff still needs to write policy language and provide research on financial implications to boards of each of the pension funds —New York City Employees' Retirement System, Board of Education Retirement System and Teachers' Retirement System.

• Board presentations and votes could come by early 2025.

The bottom line: This proposal comes amidst rising private equity interest in the energy sector, albeit broadly defined, as both climate change and data center buildouts are projected to increase demand.

Frontier Airlines (Nasdaq: ULCC) has considering a revived takeover bid for Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE), likely via a prepackaged bankruptcy, per the WSJ.

Why it's the BFD: This would create the fifth-largest U.S. airline, and also preempt a lender scrum in bankruptcy court.

Catch up quick: The country's two top budget carriers agreed to a merger in early 2022, but then JetBlue went hostile on Spirit and eventually struck a $3.8 billion deal.

• The Justice Department sued to block that transaction and, this past January, a federal judge agreed. Spirit shares are down more than 85% since that decision, as of yesterday's market close.

The bottom line: "This could make more sense for Spirit than did the JetBlue deal, as its business model is much more similar to Frontier. Plus, a combined and healthy Spirit/Frontier could be a net positive for cost-conscious travelers, at a time when Southwest looks to be shifting to premium-ish." — Alex Fitzpatrick, Axios

• Valon, a New York-based mortgage servicing platform, raised $100m in Series C funding, per Axios Pro. WestCap led, and was joined by a16z. axios.link/40luySR

• Moneybox, a U.K. digital wealth management platform, raised £70m led by Apis Partners. axios.link/40eOeYg

🚑 Tennr, a New York-based health-care workflow automation platform, raised $37m in Series B funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led, alongside insiders a16z and Foundation Capital. axios.link/4fbtzsq

• Obligo, a New York-based provider of security deposit options, raised $35m. 83North and True Global Ventures co-led, and were joined by 10D, Entrée Capital, HighSage Ventures, MUFG Innovation Partners, and Viola Credit. axios.link/4fbsi4C

• Pantheon AI, an AI-focused architecture startup, raised $25m. A16z led, and was joined by Felicis and 8VC. axios.link/3NzpH91

🚑 Passkey Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass., developer of synergistic multifunctional therapeutics, raised $20m in seed funding. Breakout Ventures led, and was joined by Innovation Endeavors and Bison Ventures. axios.link/3Ukjwtg

• CrewAI, a multi-agent platform, raised $18m in seed and Series A funding from Boldstart Ventures, Insight Partners, Blitzscaling Ventures, Craft Ventures, and Earl Grey Capital. axios.link/3A55EMv

⚡ Adden Energy, a Harvard spinout that's developing solid-state batteries, raised $15m in Series A funding. At One Ventures led, and was joined by Primavera Capital Group, Rhapsody Venture Partners, and MassVentures. axios.link/48lgcn6

• Sensei, a Portuguese contactless store platform, raised €15m in Series A funding. BlueCrow Capital led, and was joined by Lince Capital, Explorer Investments, and Kamay Ventures. axios.link/4eXhJCG

• Attention, a platform for transforming customer conversations into actionable insights, raised $14m in Series A funding. Alven led, and was joined by Eniac, 645 Ventures, Aglae, Frst, and Liquid2. attention.com

🚑 Ozlo Sleep, a maker of sleep assistance products, raised $12m from LifeArc Ventures, Drive by DraftKings, Wise Ventures, Scrum Ventures, Wheelhouse 360, Modi Ventures, Niremia Collective, and 5Point Venture Partners. axios.link/4dX51Co

⚡ Dunia, a German developer of low-carbon fuels and chemicals, raised $11.5m. Elaia and Redalpine co-led, and were joined by the EIC, Pace Ventures, Kindred Capital, Deep Science Ventures, and Anglo American. axios.link/3YkSpiG

• Oxla, a Polish high-volume analytical data processing startup, raised $11.5m from TQ Ventures, Lead Ventures, Warsaw Equity Group, and 4growth VC. axios.link/3Yjonf5

• FarmDroid, a Danish developer of solar-powered agriculture robots, raised €10.5m. Convent Capital led, and was joined by Eifo and Navus Ventures. axios.link/3Yje237

• Paccurate, a packing intelligence platform, raised $8.1m in Series A funding. High Alpha led, and was joined by Tech Square Ventures, Grand Ventures, HPA (Hyde Park Angels), Las Olas Venture Capital, Springtime Ventures, and Royal Street Ventures. axios.link/4ffhYZc

• Karpatkey, an on-chain treasury management provider for DAOs, raised $7m from AppWorks Ventures and Wintermute Ventures. axios.link/3A9CJqr

• Azura, an interfacing layer for DeFi, raised $6.9m in seed funding led by Initialized Capital. axios.link/3NzfusX

• Keel, a London startup seeking to "fill the gap between no-code and ERP," raised $6m in seed funding co-led by Earlybird and LocalGlobe. axios.link/3YyUhph

• Ned, a provider of infrastructure to small-business lenders, raised $4.2m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Impression Ventures led, and was joined by Capital Eleven, Forum Ventures, Everywhere Ventures, Hustle Fund, and Brooklyn Bridge Ventures. axios.link/3AhumZV

• Hydrosome Labs, a maker of ultrafine bubbles for the food and CPG industries, raised $3.7m from individuals and family offices, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4fhHbSP

⚡ Calicat, a developer of iridium alternatives for green hydrogen production, raised $3m in Series A extension funding from backers like Acario Innovation and Mol Switch, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3Uk6GuM

⚡ Universal Fuel Technologies, a Los Altos, Calif., sustainable aviation fuel startup, raised $3m in seed funding. TO VC led, and was joined by Alchemist Accelerator, Claire Technologies, and World Star Aviation. unifuel.tech

Avenue Biosciences, a developer of protein engineering tech, raised $2.5m in seed funding led by Voima Ventures. axios.link/4dRZVr6

• Fungibal, a French fantasy tennis platform, raised €2.2m in pre-seed funding from backers like Cliff Capital and BPI France. axios.link/3NyLXQl

• Monark Markets, an enabler of private market trading for financial superapps, raised $2.2m, per Axios Pro. Garuda Ventures led, and was joined by K50 Ventures, Grit Capital Partners, and Niche Capital. axios.link/3C5grXp

⚡ Apave Group, a French portfolio company of PAI Partners, acquired IRISNDT, a Canadian provider of non-destructive testing and inspection, from First Reserve. irisndt.com

• Blue Marlin Partners and Trive Capital bought a majority stake in fast-casual restaurant chain Mo' Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food from Crewe Capital (which retains a minority stake, alongside company management). axios.link/3YeMbko

• Branford Castle Partners acquired Hoffman Engineering, a provider of situational awareness solutions for aerospace and defense, from Trident Maritime Systems. hoffmanengineering.com

• Carlyle no longer is bidding on Thyssenkrupp's naval shipbuilding unit, which had been expected to fetch around €1.5b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/48yijo5

🚑 Nutra-Med, a Whippany, N.J., portfolio company of GenNx360 Capital Partners, acquired Legacy Pharma Solutions, a St. Louis provider of oral solid-dose packaging services. nutra-med.com

• Genstar Capital increased its investment in Likewize, a Dallas-based provider of mobile device warranties and repair services, to become a majority stake. likewize.com

🚑 Orthomol, a German vitamin supplement maker that could fetch €1b, has received takeover interest from such PE firms as Advent, CVC Capital Partners, Blackstone, L Catterton, and PAI Partners, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4eUcC66

• Panopto, a Seattle portfolio company of K1 Investment Management, acquired Elai, a text-to-video platform. panopto.com

🌎 Redaptive, a Denver-based provider of energy-efficiency building upgrades and loans, raised $100m from CPPIB, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3Yj9OZ2

🍪 Second Name Brands, a portfolio company of CapVest Partners, agreed to buy the Voortman cookie brand from J.M. Smucker (NYSE: SJM) for $305m in cash. axios.link/3NBbicj

⚡ Stonepeak agreed to buy a 50% non-control stake in the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind commercial project from Dominion Energy (NYSE: D). axios.link/3A9Qkhw

• WestView Capital Partners invested in CardFlight, a New York-based payment SaaS. axios.link/4hjEa6D

• Aldel Financial II, a SPAC led by Fortress Investment Group co-founder Robert Kauffman, raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/3Yz3GNG

• Translational Development Acquisition, an energy infrastructure SPAC led by blank-check vet Michael Hoffman, filed for a $150m IPO. axios.link/4dQL93S

🚑 Merck (NYSE: MRK) acquired Modifi Biosciences, a New Haven, Conn., developer of experimental cancer therapies, for $30m upfront and more than $1b in possible earnouts. Modifi had raised around $11m from firms like HighCape Capital, Ironwood Capital, the National Brain Tumor Society, and Connecticut Innovations. axios.link/4hgg24y

🚑 Ocuphire Pharma (Nasdaq: OCUP) acquired Opus Genetics, a Durham, N.C., developer of gene therapy for inherited retinal diseases. Opus raised over $20m from backers like Retinal Degeneration Fund, Bios Partners, and Manning Family Foundation. axios.link/4hezoHo

⚡ Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and PSP Investments hired Bank of America to find a buyer for London renewables operator Cubico Sustainable Investments, which could fetch €7b, per Bloomberg axios.link/4eYySvO

• Stripe confirmed plans to acquire stablecoin startup Bridge, with reports pegging the price at around $1.1b. Bridge had raised nearly $60m Sequoia Capital, Ribbit, Haun Ventures, Bedrock, Index Ventures, and 1confirmation. axios.link/3Ulr4f7

• Triton is seeking to sell IFCO, a German plastic container business that could fetch around €5b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4hg4qP0

• Altair Engineering (Nasdaq: ALTR), an engineering software firm with nearly a $9b market cap, is exploring a sale, per Reuters. axios.link/4hdVrht

• Tupperware Brands told a bankruptcy court that it's agreed to sell itself to lenders for $23.5m in cash and $63m in debt relief. axios.link/3BWFvjz

• Morgan Stanley raised $2b for its second tactical value fund, which makes credit, hybrid, and non-control equity investments.

• Trivest Partners of Miami raised $730m for its third growth equity fund. trivest.com

🚑 Citigroup promoted senior healthcare investment bankers Sumit Khedekar, Nishant Jadav, and Michael Guarino, per Reuters. axios.link/3YiHSEJ

• Crux Capital promoted James Kay to partner. axios.link/3NBp9PS

• Zachary Hargreaves (ex-Founders Fund) joined The House Fund as a managing partner. axios.link/4hjFE0H

• Gregory Crabb, former CISO for the U.S. Postal Services, joined Ballistic Ventures as a CISO-in-residence. axios.link/40h00kW

• Raj Patel, former CTO of multicloud at Genesys, joined Permira as an executive-in-residence. axios.link/4fx0EiT