General Catalyst is in the very early stages of considering an IPO, Axios has learned from multiple sources.

Why it matters: GC would be the first U.S. venture capital firm to take the public plunge, nearly two decades after Blackstone broke the barrier for U.S. private equity.

Zoom in: To reiterate, this is preliminary. No bankers, timetable, etc.

• Instead, General Catalyst is in rapid expansion mode — trying to build the sort of diversified, fee-generating asset base that would entice Wall Street analysts to use firms like Blackstone as comps.
• That's meant buying a hospital, launching a wealth management business, forming a strategic tech advisory unit, getting into fund-of-funds investing, and raising $8 billion in new venture capital funds.
• In short, General Catalyst is evolving from a firm into a company.

The big picture: General Catalyst is still very much known for venture capital, but it needn't necessarily be that way forever.

• Blackstone and Apollo both began as leveraged buyout firms, but later focused more in areas like real estate, private credit and insurance.

Behind the scenes: There's been scuttlebutt about Andreessen Horowitz someday wanting to go public, but General Catalyst is further down the long road (and more intentional in its gait).

• There also were reports in late 2023 that General Atlantic was prepping an IPO, although its roots remain more in private equity.
• General Catalyst declined comment, via a spokesperson.

The bottom line: We're not seeing many venture capital portfolio companies go public, so maybe venture capital itself could help fill the void.

Apollo is in early talks to lead around $35 billion in financing for Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META), to build U.S. data centers, according to Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: This highlights how the rise of private credit will help finance the rise of AI.

By the numbers: Meta has around $78 billion of cash and short-term investments, plus $50 billion in debt. Its market cap is $1.66 trillion, up nearly 10% so far in 2025.

Elsewhere: TikTok announced that it will invest $8.8 billion in Thai data centers over the next five years. No word on if that total includes a $3.8 billion investment agreement announced in January with Thailand's investment board.

The bottom line: "There's an estimated need for hundreds of billions of dollars to build out the infrastructure needed to power AI demand. Bankers and investors have been eager to get a piece of the action after watching stock markets reward companies critical to the AI-ecosystem over much of the past year." — Bloomberg

• Mimic, a Palo Alto, Calif., provider of enterprise ransomware defense solutions, raised $50m. GV and Menlo Ventures co-led, and were joined by insiders Ballistic Ventures, Team8, Wing Ventures, and Shield Capital. axios.link/3D9tUyy

• Capim, a Brazilian provider of BNPL solutions for dental services, raised $26.7m in Series A funding. QED Investors and Valor Capital co-led, with participation from OneVC, Canary and NXTP. capim.com.br

• VerAI, a Boston-based mineral asset startup, raised $24m in Series B funding. Insight Partners led, and was joined by Blumberg Capital, Chrysalix Venture Capital, and Orion Industrial Ventures. ver-ai.com

• Workhelix, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based AI spend startup, raised $15m in Series A funding. AIX Ventures led, and was joined by Andrew Ng's AI Fund, Accenture Ventures, BGV, Bloomberg Beta, Future of Work Partners, Telesoft, and Zetta Ventures. axios.link/3Fa7jCn

• Amnis Treasury Services, a Swiss international banking solution for companies, raised $11m in Series B funding, led by Swisscom Venture. axios.link/4bk9WgZ

⚡ Claros, a McLean, Va.-based data center energy startup, raised $9.75m from Red Cell Partners, General Catalyst, Virginia Innovation Partnership Corp., and Composite Capital Partners. axios.link/43eVAMY

• Ethos, an Austin-based financial model risk management platform, raised $6m in seed funding. Canapi Ventures led, and was joined by Capital One Ventures and Better Tomorrow Ventures. axios.link/41ja4J5

• Deepnight, an SF-based maker of military night vision software, raised $5.5m led by Initialized Capital. axios.link/4h1vG2G

• Highstock, a marketplace for brands to connect unsold inventory with wholesalers, raised $5.5m in seed funding led by Greylock. axios.link/4kiWLkA

🚑 Avitia, a Montreal-based cancer testing startup, raised C$5m in seed funding from PacBridge. axios.link/3QC4SuT

• Breakout, a developer of AI sales reps, raised $3.3m in seed funding. Village Global led, and was joined by Recall Capital and Z21 Ventures. axios.link/3XitqNp

• Shiboleth, a bank-fintech partnership compliance startup, raised $1.5m in seed funding led by YC. axios.link/4bmGbw5

• Proof, a Boston-based identity authorization network, raised funding from State Farm Ventures. proof.com

• Amerit Fleet, a portfolio company of Brightstar Capital Partners and New Mountain Capital, acquired Vector Fleet Management, which focuses on state and local government and heavy industrial fleets. ameritfleetsolutions.com

• Analytics8, a Chicago-based data and analytics consultancy, raised growth equity funding from Boathouse Capital. analytics8.com

• Eurazeo acquired a majority stake in Mapal, a Madrid-based hospitality software provider backed by PSG. mapal-os.com

• Lubrication Engineers, a Witchita, Kan.-based portfolio company of Aurora Capital Partners, agreed to acquire Royal Purple, a Porter, Texas-based provider of specialty synthetic performance lubricants and greases for industrial applications. lelubricants.com

• Fifth Era Acquisition I, a tech SPAC formed by Fifth Era and Blockchain Coinvestors, raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/3CBJxhV

• Live Oak Acquisition V, a SPAC formed by Live Oak Merchant Partners, filed for a $200m IPO. axios.link/4jeqquH

• NewHold Investment Corp III, an industrial tech SPAC, raised $175m in its IPO. axios.link/4i3SIXR

• Alkami Technology (Nasdaq: ALKT) agreed to acquire Fin Technologies (dba MANTL), a New York-based provider of bank account opening software, for $400m. Fin had raised around $75m from firms like CapitalG, D1 Capital Partners, BoxGroup, Point72 Ventures, Clocktower Technology Ventures, and OldSlip Group. axios.link/41ykshA

• Ina Invest (Swiss: INAI) agreed to merge with fellow Swiss real estate firm Cham. axios.link/3F8ZnRQ

🚑 Magnet Biomedicine, a Boston-based molecular glue discovery startup, raised $40m in equity, upfront and near-term payments from Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) as part of a strategic and commercial partnership that could be worth up to $1.25b. axios.link/4gXiXOt

⚡ MPLX (NYSE: MPLX) agreed to buy the remaining 55% stake in the BANGL natural gas pipeline from WhiteWater and Diamondback Energy (Nasdaq: FANG) for $715m. axios.link/41lkp7n

• TKO Group (NYSE: TKO) completed its acquisitions of IMG, On Location, and Professional Bull Riders from Endeavor Group (NYSE: EDR). axios.link/4ijWV9v

• JLL Partners formed a $1.1b continuation fund for Solvias, a Swiss contract pharma research and manufacturing company. axios.link/41h84kF

• Kristin DePlatchett joined Bonaccord Capital Partners as a managing director. She previously was with Trilantic North America. axios.link/4hahB32

• Vanessa Larco stepped down as a partner with NEA after eight years, in order to launch a new VC firm, Axios has learned. axios.link/4kxJJjx

• Josh Nussbaum joined Version One Ventures as a venture partner. He previously was with Compound Ventures. axios.link/4bnRlAY

• Peter Wallace is stepping down as Blackstone's head of core private equity to join Coatue as co-president and head of private investments, per Bloomberg. axios.link/43mdgGJ