Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios
Last night I watched a screener copy of The Inventor, an upcoming HBO documentary from Alex Gibney on the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes and her blood-testing company, Theranos.
Bottom line: It's a smart summary of what happened, but it doesn't present much new information for those who've followed the saga (let alone those who read the brilliant Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, who appears in the doc). Still worth a watch, particularly for some of the previously-unheard audio.
A few things that jumped out:
🎧 The Pro Rata Podcast has returned, with an episode focused on Elizabeth Warren's plans to break up big tech companies. Listen here.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Genesee & Wyoming (NYSE: GWR), a Darien, Conn.-based freight railroad owner and leasor with a market cap of nearly $5 billion, is considering a sale of all or part of itself, per Bloomberg. Potential suitors include Brookfield Asset Management.
• Impact, a Santa Barbara, Calif.-based provider of partnership automation solutions, raised $75 million in new funding. Providence Strategic Growth led, and was joined by return backer Silversmith Capital Partners. www.impact.com
🚑 InventisBio, a Shanghai-based biotech startup focused on cancer and metabolic diseases, raised $70 million in Series C funding. Advantech Capital and CMBI co-led, and were joined by Pudong Innotek and return backers Lilly Asia Venture and OrbiMed Asia. http://axios.link/V2YM
🚑 Dental Monitoring, a Paris-based provider of remote dental and orthodontic monitoring systems, raised €45 million from Vitruvian Partners. http://axios.link/6Cg8
🚑 HealthJoy, a Chicago-based employee benefits platform, raised $12.5 million in Series B funding. USVP led, and was joined by Epic Ventures, Chicago Ventures and Sidekick Ventures. http://axios.link/BSsY
• StellaService, a New York-based customer feedback platform for online retailers, raised $11 million from Harbert Growth Partners and Zendesk. http://axios.link/x1mP
• Fairygodboss, a New York-based career community for women, raised $10 million in Series A funding co-led by GSV Accelerate and Signal Peak Ventures. http://axios.link/E2vm
• Livly, a Chicago-based developer of digital transformation solutions for multi-family rentals, raised $10 million in seed funding co-led by Pritzker Group VC, Navitas Capital and JLL Spark. www.livly.io
🚑 Unmind, a UK-based provider of a mental health platform for companies, raised £3 million led by Felix Capital. http://axios.link/Azzz
🚑 Olio, a Carmel, Ind.-based online collaboration platform for hospitals and physicians, raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by Innovatemap Ventures. www.olio.health
• Harren Equity Partners invested in Velosio, a Columbus, Ohio-based provider of business management software. http://axios.link/TwzB
• The Hilb Group, a Richmond, Va.-based portfolio company of ABRY Partners, has acquired Marsh-Kemp Insurance Agency, a Worcester, Mass.-based home, auto and business insurance broker. www.hilbgroup.com
🚑 ProPharma Group, an Overland Park, Kan.-based portfolio company of Linden Capital Partners, acquired Southwood Research, a UK-based provider of pre-approval regulatory science services. www.propharmagroup.com
• Tibco Software, a Palo Alto-based portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners, acquired SnappyData, an Indian in-memory data platform. http://axios.link/xb9r
• Tribus Aerospace, a Wilmington, Del.-based portfolio company of Shorehill Capital, acquired Midwest Precision, an Eastlake, Ohio-based precision manufacturer of complex components for markets like aerospace, defense and energy. www.tribusaerospace.com
• F5 Networks (Nasdaq: FFIV) agreed to buy NGIX, a San Francisco-based provider of an open-source web server, for around $670 million. NGIX had raised around $84 million from firms like NEA, Goldman Sachs, Runa Capital, Index Ventures and e.Ventures. http://axios.link/ST4a
• News Corp. (Nasdaq: NWSA) has expressed takeover interest in Acuris, the UK-based financial news and data business formerly known as MergerMarket, per the FT. The company is being sold by BC Partners with an asking price north of 1 billion, with other potential suitors including Axel Springer, KKR, EQT, Hellman & Friedman, S&P Global, Moody’s and Fitch. http://axios.link/MhO1
🚑 Fujifilm agreed to buy the Danish biologics manufacturing operations of Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB) for around $890 million. http://axios.link/K5XR
• Harvest Health & Recreation (CNXS: HARV) agreed to buy Chicago-based cannabis cultivator Verano Holdings for around $850 million, in what would be the largest U.S. pot deal to date. http://axios.link/Zdyi
• Temasek agreed to buy a 30% stake in Danish engineering firm Haldor Topsoe at an enterprise value of around $1.5 billion, per Reuters. http://axios.link/S0gJ
• 137 Ventures raised $210 million for its fourth fund focused on providing liquidity options to early employees of tech startups. It also hired Ching Wu (ex-Canvas Ventures) as an operating partner and head of investor relations, and promoted Andrew Hansen to COO and CFO. www.137ventures.com
• Five Arrows Principal, the European private equity arm of Rothschild & Co., raised €1.25 billion for its third fund. http://axios.link/55Ul
• Rob Delaney joined Carrick Capital Partners as a vice president. He was with Accenture before receiving his MBA from Harvard. www.carrickcapitalpartners.com