SEC chair Gary Gensler has a new target: ESG-focused funds.

Wait, what? No, Gensler doesn't oppose funds whose strategies include a focus on environmental, social and governance issues. But he does want ways to measure and verify that funds are using ESG as more than a buzzword to attract investment.

• Many institutional investors have ESG allocation targets, so there's lots of incentive to affix the acronym.
• This cuts across asset classes, including mutual funds, hedge funds, credit funds, private equity funds and venture capital funds.

By the numbers: The SEC estimates that there are at least 800 registered investment companies with more than $3 trillion in AUM, claiming to work toward ESG goals.

What he said: Gensler used a grocery analogy, explaining how he can look at ingredients to verify if something claiming to be “fat free” is actually free of fats. And then noted how, in the investment space, a high-yield bond fund will disclose summaries of underlying credit ratings. ESG funds, however, are all over the place.

• “What we need are standards, measurement and transparency,” adds Case Foundation CEO Jean Case, who’s been beating this drum for years. “Today there's no criteria for labeling yourself an ESG fund.”
• Case also tells me that there’s also an argument for breaking up the three letters – as a firm could be legitimately strong on climate but disastrous on diversity or governance. (As an aside, how many ESG funds really focus on governance?)

The bottom line: ESG is at the edge of becoming goopy jargon; something slapped onto investment funds for marketing purposes. The question now is if it can be pulled back from that cliff.

Source: Giphy

Epic Games, the Cary, N.C.-based maker of Fortnite, bought Bandcamp, an Oakland-based indie music publishing platform and store, for an undisclosed amount.

Why it's the BFD: This is about who will control music in the metaverse, with Epic ahead of the clef curve. It's already hosted concerts within Fortnite, featuring top artists like Ariana Grande and Travis Scott, and late last year bought Rock Band and Guitar Hero maker Harmonix.

Cap tables: Epic Games is valued by its private backers like Tencent at around $42 billion, while Bandcamp had raised nearly $5 million from firms like True Ventures.

The bottom line: It's not yet clear what this means for independent artists who rely on Bandcamp, with Axios Gaming's Megan Farokhmanesh noting that some are already expressing concerns via Twitter.

🐉 Fanatics, the Jacksonville, Fla.-based sports merchandising giant, raised $1.5b at a $27b valuation from backers like Fidelity, MSD Capital and BlackRock. http://axios.link/Yusi

• Thatgamecompany, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based game publisher whose titles include Sky: Children of the Light, raised $160m from TPG and Sequoia Capital. www.thatgamecompany.com

• Insider, a marketing SaaS platform with offices in New York and Singapore, raised $121m in Series D funding at a $1.22b post-money valuation. Qatar Investment Authority led, and was joined by Sequoia Capital, Riverwood Capital, 212, Wamda Capital, Esas Private Equity, and Endeavor Catalyst. www.useinsider.com

• Apollo.io, an S.F.-based provider of B2B sales intelligence and engagement software, raised $110m in Series C funding. Sequoia Capital led, and was joined by insiders Tribe Capital, Nexus Venture Partners and NewView Capital. http://axios.link/MFJG

• Luminous Computing, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of AI accelerator chips, raised $105m in Series A funding from Bill Gates, Gigafund, 8090 Partners, Neo, Third Kind Venture Capital, Alumni Ventures Group, Strawberry Creek Ventures, Horsley Bridge and Modern Venture Partners. http://axios.link/Yejz

• OpenSpace, an S.F.-based construction tech imaging startup, raised $102m at an $800m pre-money valuation. PSP Growth led, and was joined by BlackRock, Alkeon, Menlo Ventures and Jones Lang LaSalle. http://axios.link/SWbS

🚑 Visby Medical, a San Jose, Calif.-based maker of handheld PCR diagnostic tests, raised over $100m in Series E funding. Ping An Voyager Partners led, and was joined by HOOPP and insiders John Doerr, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, ND Capital, Artiman Ventures, Pitango VC, Blue Water Life Science Advisors and Nissim Capital. http://axios.link/91If

• Sanctuary, a Vancouver-based developer of human-like general purpose robots, raised C$75.5m in Series A funding from Bell, Evok Innovations, Export Development Canada, Magna, SE Health, Verizon Ventures and Workday Ventures. http://axios.link/ZPFS

• Reforge, an S.F.-based career development platform, raised $60m in Series B funding. Insight Partners led, and was joined by Andreessen Horowitz, True Ventures, NextView Ventures, TCV and Long Journey Ventures. www.reforge.com

• Federated Wireless, an Arlington, Va.-based provider of shared spectrum and CBRS tech, raised $58m in Series D funding. Cerberus led, and was joined by insiders Allied Minds and GIC. www.federatedwireless.com

🚑 NextRNA Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass-based non-coding RNA biotech, raised $46.8m in Series A funding. Cobro Ventures and Lightchain Capital co-led, and were joined by Circle Alternative Investments, Evans Capital, Jefferies, Rivas Capital and Willett Advisors. www.nextrnatx.com

• Shares, a London-based social investing app, raised $40m in Series A funding led by Valar Ventures. www.shares.io

• CardinalOps, a cyber threat coverage optimization startup, raised $17.5m in Series A funding. Viola Ventures led, and was joined by insiders Battery Ventures, Glilot Capital and Symbol. www.cardinalops.com

• Filtered, a Boston-based automated technical interview platform, raised $10m from AI Fund, Silicon Valley Data Capital and TDF Ventures. www.filtered.ai

• Inworld AI, a Mountain View, Calif.-based platform for creating "AI-powered" virtual world characters, raised $10m. Bitkraft Ventures led, and was joined by The Venture Reality Fund and insiders Kleiner Perkins and CRV. www.inworld.ai

• Owner.com, an SF-based restaurant management and ordering platform, raised $15m in Series A funding. Altman Capital led, and was joined by Redpoint Ventures, Day One Ventures, SaaStr Fund and Browder Capital. http://axios.link/8a5T

• OwnIt, an S.F.-based connected checkout startup, raised $8m from Caffeinated Capital, SciFi VC, GGV Capital and Abstract Ventures. http://axios.link/GnuV

• AgriAku, a Jakarta-based B2B marketplace for farmers, raised $6m led by Go-Ventures. http://axios.link/tosV

• MyPlace, a New York-based social network for home-sharing, raised $5.8m in seed funding. Freestyle led, and was joined by Haystack, Oceans and OnDeck. www.myplace.co

• Plum Life, a Berkley Heights, N.J.-based digital life insurance sales platform, raised $5.3m in seed funding. ManchesterStory led, and was joined by MTech Capital and Sonostar Ventures. www.helloplum.com

• Exeest, an L.A.-based entertainment content marketplace startup, raised $3.1m in seed funding, as first reported by Axios' Tim Baysinger.

• SecureCo, a Tampa, Fla.-based cybersecurity startup focused on data-in-transit, raised $2.5m led by Florida Funders. www.secureco.com

• Advent International and Permira completed their $14b take-private buyout of cybersecurity company McAfee. Other buyside participants included Crosspoint Capital, CPP Investments, GIC and ADIA. http://axios.link/1MiR

• Elliott Investment Management offered to buy Mercury Systems (Nasdaq: MRCY), an Andover, Mass.-based defense contractor with a $3.7b market cap, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/ERMF

• Hudson Hill Capital acquired a majority stake in Blue.cloud, a Tampa, Fla.-based digital transformation firm valued at more than $100m. www.blue.cloud

• One Rock Capital Partners agreed to buy Therm-O-Disc, a Mansfield, Ohio-based maker of thermostats and related products, from Emerson (NYSE: EMR).

🚑 Sheridan Capital Partners acquired SpendMend, a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based provider of spend management software for the healthcare market. www.spendmend.com

Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU), a St. Louis-based coal miner, launched a renewable energy development company called R3, in partnership with Riverstone and Summit Partners. http://axios.link/WckW

• Thoma Bravo agreed to buy a majority stake in UserZoom, a San Jose, Calif.-based customer experience software firm, at around an $800m valuation. UserZoom had raised $135m in VC funding (plus got a PPP loan), including an April 2021 round at a $520m valuation, from firms like Sunstone Partners, Owl Rock Capital, StepStone Group and Trident Capital. http://axios.link/ziTk

• WestJet, a Canadian budget carrier owned by Onex Partners, agreed to buy rival Sunwing Airlines. http://axios.link/ztrN

• Perfect, a Shanghai-based provider of AR and AI SaaS to the beauty and fashion industries, agreed to go public at an implied $1.02b valuation via Provident Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: PAQC). Perfect has raised around $100m from firms like Goldman Sachs, Alibaba, CyberLink and China Creation Ventures. www.perfectcorp.com

• Snowflake (NYSE: SNOW) agreed to buy Streamlit, an S.F.-based model comparison tool for machine learning development, for $800m in cash and stock. Streamlit had raised $62m from firms like GGV Capital, Gradient Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Fresh Ventures. http://axios.link/MSG5

🚑 Thompson Street Capital Partners sold Alpaca Audiology, a Springfield, Mo.-based audiology clinic network, to Sonova (SWX: SOON). www.alpacaaudiology.com

• Groupe Bruxelles Lambert is considering a takeover bid for Belgian diaper maker Ontex Group, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/5Yer

• MSD Partners agreed to buy $50m of Peloton (Nasdaq: PTON) shares from company founder and exec chair John Foley. http://axios.link/awp2

• Silver Lake agreed to invest $400m in Zuora (NYSE: ZUO), a San Mateo, Calif.-based subscription management software provider. Zuora's CEO says the investment could help enable acquisitions. http://axios.link/Ar5y

🚑 CBC Group raised nearly $1.6b for an China-focused healthcare PE fund. http://axios.link/OVOh

• Hg, a European tech PE firm, is expected to close next quarter on $10b for its third large-cap fund and is targeting €5.5b for its latest mid-cap fund, per PE International. http://axios.link/h3us

• Morgan Stanley Capital Partners raised $2b for its seventh mid-market fund (North Haven Capital). www.morganstanley.com

• PA Capital raised $473m for its ninth flagship small-cap PE fund and $200m for a co-investment fund. www.pacapital.com

🚑 Blackstone made three promotions in its healthcare group: Ram Jagannath to global head of healthcare investing, Anushka Sunder to lead for private equity and Mike Kirkman to lead for growth equity. www.blackstone.com

• Expa, the venture studio founded by Garrett Camp, promoted Yuri Namikawa to partner. www.expa.com