Kamala Harris and Donald Trump each have asked voters to consider their economic records. To use the past as prologue.

• But it's impossible to do so impartially, because the COVID-19 pandemic created a stack of financial dominoes that disordered the data.

For Trump, which economy do we consider?

• The strong but slowing one that he inherited from Obama, which then kept chugging along with steady growth, low unemployment, and reasonable inflation?
• Or the disemboweled one during which America lurched into recession?

Same question for Harris, via her role within the Biden administration:

• Is it the economic rebound that kept defying Wall Street pessimism, headlined by record job creation?
• Or is it the inflationary one that often offset wage growth, leading to kitchen table consternation?

Both campaigns have cherrypicked the answers, trying to have their cake and eat it too.

• Trump pretends as if the final 20% of his term never happened, while blaming Harris for inflation that was sparked by pandemic spending and supply chain disruptions. He was late in recognizing COVID's ferocity.
• Harris touts four years of economic gains without noting that her starting point was artificially low, and that the last round of stimulus might have been too big. She was late in recognizing inflation's stickiness.
• COVID has been mostly memory-holed, even though it's the prism through which both candidates want themselves and the other to be judged.

The bottom line: Voters, including dealmakers and executives, should pay more attention to each candidate's economic promises than to their economic résumés. The latter are inextricably linked.

Sierra, a builder of custom AI agents for enterprise customer service, raised $175 million led by Greenoaks Capital at a $4.5 billion valuation.

Why it's the BFD: This is the poster child for most AI roads leading back to Google or OpenAI, as Sierra is co-founded by search giant vets Clay Bavor and Bret Taylor (who also chairs OpenAI's board).

Other investors include Iconiq and Thrive Capital, while the company previously raised over $100 million from Benchmark and Sequoia Capital.

The bottom line: There's a burgeoning belief in Silicon Valley that OpenAI has built a slew of AI agents that it hasn't yet released into the wild, thus threatening countless startups. A new spin on "Why won't Google or Amazon just build it?"

• Sierra and its investors either believe the narrative is wrong, thanks perhaps to insider knowledge, or that customization will prove a key differentiator.

• Armis, a cyber exposure management company, raised $200m in Series D funding at a $4.2b valuation. General Catalyst and Alkeon Capital were joined by insiders Brookfield Technology Partners and Georgian. axios.link/3YogEwv

• Fingercheck, a workforce management platform for SMBs, raised $115m. Edison Partners led, and was joined by StepStone Group and Columbus Capital. fingercheck.com

• Moniepoint, a Nigerian fintech, raised $110m in Series C funding at a valuation north of $1b. Development Partners International led, and was joined by Google's Africa Investment Fund, Verod Capital, and insider Lightrock. axios.link/3YJzGip

• Outrider, a Golden, Colo., developer of self-driving tech for electric yard trucks, raised $62m in Series D funding. Koch Disruptive Tech and NEA co-led, and were joined by 8VC, Ark Invest, B37 Ventures, FM Capital, Interwoven Ventures, NVentures, Prologis Ventures, Goose Capital, Lineage Ventures, Presidio Ventures, and Service Provider Capital. axios.link/3UlxHhl

• Blacklane, a Berlin-based provider of limos and other high-end transportation, raised €60m in Series G funding. Saudi PIF led, and was joined by Mercedes-Benz Mobility, Gargash Enterprises, Al Fahim Group, Alstin Family and RI Digital Ventures. axios.link/4fi3RlW

🚑 InBrain Neuroelectronics, a Spanish developer of graphene-based neura technologies, raised $50m in Series B funding. Imec.xpand led, and was joined by EIC Fund, Fond ICO Next Tech, CDTI-Innvierte, Avançsa and insiders Asabys Partners, Aliath Bioventures, and Vsquared. axios.link/3Ysfdgm

⚡ MobilityPlus, a Belgian EV charging startup, raised €40m. Suma Capital led, and was joined by insider Concentra. axios.link/3YpXI0b

• Zenity, an Israeli security startup focused on low-code/no-code apps, raised $38m in Series B funding co-led by Third Point Ventures and DTCP. zenity.io

🚑 Petfolk, a Charlotte-based veterinary urgent care network, raised $36m in Series C funding, per Axios Pro. Deerfield led, and was joined by Movendo Capital, White Star Capital, Cutting Horse VC, Idea Farm Ventures, and Parkview International. axios.link/3NJijYB

• Duetti, a music financing startup that acquires catalogs from independent artists, raised $34m in equity funding led by Flexpoint Ford, with Nyca Partners and Viola Ventures participating. axios.link/3YRUJ2p

⚡ Merlin Solar, a San Jose, Calif., developer of solar panels for trucks and rooftops, raised $31m in Series B funding. Fifth Wall led, and was joined by Saint-Gobain and Ayala. axios.link/3UtcFNV

• Reflexivity (fka Toggle AI), an AI-based financial research startup, raised $30m in Series B funding co-led by Greycroft and Interactive Brokers. axios.link/3UpBlqC

🚑 Innoventric, an Israeli medical device maker focused on heart valve diseases, raised $28.5 million in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. RA Capital Management led, and was joined by the EIC, BRM Group, JG Private Equity, and Mivtach Shamir Holdings. axios.link/3BZtFFo

🚑 Osigu, a health-care payments and claims management platform focused on Latin America, raised $25m in Series B funding. IDC Ventures led, and was joined by Visa. osigu.com

• Andium, a provider of remote field monitoring tech, raised $21.7m in Series B funding. Aramco Ventures led, and was joined by Climate Investment, Intrepid Financial Partners, and ex-Citadel CIO Thomas Miglis. andium.com

• Browserbase, an SF-based web browser automation startup, raised $21m in Series A funding. CRV and Kleiner Perkins co-led, and were joined by Okta Ventures and Sych CEO Reed McGinley-Stempel. browserbase.com

• Beyond Aero, a French developer of hydrogen-electric business jets, raised $20m in Series A funding. Giant Ventures and Bpifrance co-led, and were joined by Initialized Capital, Nate Blecharczyk, and Arash Ferdowsi. axios.link/3YpiUDH

• Elevate, a consumer-directed benefits administration platform, raised $20m. Fin Capital led, and was joined by Anthemis and SaaS Ventures. elevate.inc

• Infraspeak, a Portuguese facilities management platform, raised €18m in Series B funding. Endeit Capital led, and was joined by Bright Pixel Capital, Caixa Capital, Innovation Nest, and Indico Capital Partners. axios.link/3YFIbux

• Wildfire Systems, a San Diego-based loyalty and reward program startup, raised $16m in Series B funding. Intuit Ventures and Mucker Capital co-led, and were joined by Cohen Circle, Samsung Next, Evolution VC, and Gaingels. wildfire-corp.com

• Brightwave, a Boulder, Colo., AI agent for financial research, raised $15m in Series A funding. Decibel Partners led, and was joined by OMERS Ventures. axios.link/3YHYx6e

• GMI Cloud, a GPU cloud provider, raised $15m in Series A equity funding led by Headline Asia and $67m in debt financing. axios.link/3UsotQt

🚑 Semble, a British medical records management SaaS, raised $15m in Series B funding. Mercia Ventures led, and was joined by Octopus Ventures, Smedvig Ventures, and Triple Point. axios.link/4hlwq3X

🌎 Planetary Technologies, a Canadian ocean carbon removal developer, raised $11.4m in Series A funding. Evok Innovations led, and was joined by BDC Capital, Amplify Capital, DNX Ventures, and Iconiq Capital. axios.link/3YHf4qI

• Table22, an e-commerce subscription solution for food and beverages, raised $11 million in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Lightspeed Venture Partners led, and was joined by Footwork, Forerunner Ventures, and Alt Capital. axios.link/4fnFJhT

• Checkmate, an ordering solutions provider for enterprise restaurants, raised $10m in Series B funding, led by Tiger Global. axios.link/48ppsXs

• Casap, a New York-based dispute automation startup for banks and fintechs, raised $8.5m, per Axios Pro. Backers include Lightspeed Venture Partners, Primary Ventures, Commerce Ventures, Curql, and Alloy Labs. axios.link/4fiqgQc

• Ripsim Technologies, a provider of on-demand digital identity management solutions, raised $5m in seed funding led by Ten Eleven Ventures. ripsim.com

• Auquan, a developer of AI agents for financial services, raised $4.5m in seed funding. Peak XV led, and was joined by Neotribe Ventures. auquan.com

• Moondream, an open-source vision-language model, raised $4.5m in pre-seed funding. Felicis led, and was joined by M12 GitHub Fund and Ascend. moondream.ai

• Emidat, a German provider of environmental data solutions for the construction industry, raised €4m in seed funding led by General Catalyst. axios.link/3UrKJKw

🌎 Foodsai, a Polish surplus food marketplace, raised €1.2m in seed extension funding from AIP Seed, Satus Starter, and AC/VC Impact Fund. axios.link/3AdpCER

• Tidal Cyber, a threat-informed cyber defense platform, raised funding from USAA and Capital One Ventures. tidalcyber.com

• Nfinite, a French developer of e-commerce visuals that's raised $130m from VCs, is raising another $40m, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3YmdMQU

🚑 Astoriom, a U.K. portfolio company of Limerston Capital, acquired the biorepository business of Flagship Biosciences. astoriom.com

• Encore Consumer Capital acquired DeIorio, a Utica, N.Y., maker of pizza dough balls, pre-formed crusts, and shells. delorios.com

• Godspeed Capital acquired Concordia Technologies, a Huntsville, Ala., provider of hypersonic weapons and missile defense systems tech. concordiati.com

🚑 Leeds Equity Partners acquired Archer Review, a Dallas provider of medical exam prep services. axios.link/48sSeX9

• OceanSound Partners acquired Antenna Research Associates, a Laurel, Md., provider of integrated radio frequency and communications products to the aerospace and defense markets. ara-inc.com

🚑 Patient Square Capital acquired a majority stake in CorroHealth, a Plano, Texas, provider of revenue cycle management for health systems and health plans, sharing control with Carlyle. axios.link/3YnIwkk

• The Riverside Co. acquired Seatex, a Rosenberg, Texas-based provider of chemical manufacturing solutions, from Cotton Creek Capital. seatexcorp.com

• SV Labs, a CDMO backed by San Francisco Equity Partners, acquired Sigan Industries Group,  a CDMO serving beauty and personal care brands. svlabs.com

🚑 WellSky, a Kansas-based portfolio company of TPG and Leonard Green, acquired Bonafide, a Thousand Oaks, Calif., provider of business workflow management software for durable medical equipment and home medical equipment companies. axios.link/4f22jNc

• Dream Finders Homes (NYSE: DFH) agreed to buy Alliant National Title Insurance Co. from Presidio Investors. axios.link/3C6Xu72

⚡ Low Carbon sold a portfolio of Dutch battery storage projects to S4 Energy, which is owned by Connecticut's Castleton Commodities International. axios.link/4eYG6zV

• Carta acquired Tactyc, a provider of forecasting and planning software for private funds. axios.link/40mTyc4

• Ernst & Young acquired Dignari, an Alexandria, Va., tech consultancy specializing in digital identity and access management solutions. axios.link/4f1gYZe

• Vodafone (LSE: VOD) was blocked by South African antitrust officials from buying Remgro's (J: REMJ) fiber business for $745m. axios.link/4fjB8gI

• Adams Street Partners raised $1.1b for its 2024 global funds program. axios.link/3YGzFvl

• MaC Venture Capital raised $150m for its third fund. axios.link/3UvU3gj

⚡ Quantum Capital Group raised $5.25b for its eighth flagship energy PE fund, plus $2.8b for a structured capital fund and $2b for other associated funds. quantumcap.com

• Chris Hecht joined Silversmith Capital Partners as an operating partner. He previously was in top corp dev roles with Databricks, Atlassian, and Salesforce. axios.link/48pgw4o

• Will Tetler joined BayPine as a partner. He previously was a managing director of special situations for Bain Capital. axios.link/3YqWnqh

• Hillá Watkins joined Congruent Ventures as a partner focused on ecosystem and portfolio support. She previously was CMO at Scale Venture Partners. axios.link/3BXzJxW

• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett named Dave Azarkh and Alexandra Kaplan as co-heads of the law firm's global investment banking practice. stblaw.com

Alright, we can do at least a little Biden/Harris vs. Trump economy data stuff...

• The S&P 500 has grown by 53.3% during Biden's term, whereas it was up 50.2% at the same point in Trump's term.
• But the leaderboard flips for the Dow and the Nasdaq. On the Dow, Trump's time tops Biden's by 40.3% to 37%. The gap is much wider on the Nasdaq, with Trump at 105% and Biden at 40.7%.

Giant caveat: Stock market performance is not necessarily an indicator of broader economic health (or sickness).