The U.S. government has earmarked more than $36 billion in funding under the CHIPS Act, the vast majority of which has gone to large incumbents like Intel, Micron, and Samsung.

• Now a VC-backed startup is getting in on the action.

Driving the news: Akash Systems announced this morning that it has secured $18.2 million in non-dilutive grants, plus $50 million in combined federal and California state tax credits.

• The Oakland-based company produces artificial diamond substrates that it puts on GPUs and other semiconductors, in order to more quickly cool them, and then packages those chips inside of servers for a variety of end market.
• It also has a smaller business making "diamond-cooled" satellite radios for use in space missions.
• Akash previously raised around $18 million from VC backers like Khosla Ventures, Founders Fund, and Kearny Jackson.

Behind the scenes: Akash spent more than a year trying to secure the funding, including successful negotiations with local labor unions that the company believed would carry sway with the Biden administration.

• CEO Felix Ejeckam says the effort was made because the funding is nondilutive, but added that it also came against the backdrop of a venture capital industry that's not always supported semiconductor startups.
• "The CHIPS Act got started because [private investors] decided hardware wasn't worthy enough to back, and the pandemic laid bare the problems with that," Ejeckam explains. "Plus, the U.S. is trying to compete with countries like China that do lots of direct grants to build out their semiconductor and infrastructure sectors."

Zoom out: House Speaker Mike Johnson said before the election that a GOP House would seek to repeal the CHIPS Act, although he then tried to walk it back.

• Ejeckam and fellow Akash co-founder Ty Mitchell didn't directly comment on Johnson's threat, but did note that they hope to break ground within a month (i.e., before Trump takes office).
• Trump himself has criticized the CHIPS Act, but hasn't made definitive statements about its future.

The bottom line: The CHIPS Act is onerous for startups to access, but Akash may have shown a path for companies willing to put in the time.

Wonder Group, the dining super-app led by Marc Lore, agreed to buy food delivery service Grubhub from Just Eat Takeaway for $650 million.

Why it's the BFD: This codifies one of the pandemic boom's biggest busts, with Just Eat Takeaway expecting to receive just $50 million in net proceeds after paying $7.3 billion to buy Grubhub in 2021.

Details: The deal value includes $150 million of cash and $500 million in assumed debt.

• Wonder Group also announced $250 million in new funding, but the investors declined to be disclosed. It previously raised $1.5 billion, including $700 million earlier this year from GV, American Express Ventures, and Alpine Group.

The bottom line: Just Eat realized its mistake very quickly, aided by some activist pressure, putting Grubhub on the market just one year after its purchase with hopes of fetching at least $1 billion. But it struggled to find a buyer, settling for the even deeper discount.

🚑 Metsera, a New York-based developer of medicines for obesity and metabolic diseases, raised $215m in Series B funding, Wellington Management and Venrock co-led, and were joined by Fidelity, Janus Henderson, T. Rowe Price, Viking Global Investors, Deep Track Capital, RA Capital Management and insiders Arch Venture Partners, Alpha Wave Ventures, GV, SoftBank, Newpath Partners, and SymBiosis. metsera.com

• Chaos Industries, an LA-based defense tech startup, raised $145m in Series B funding. Accel led, and was joined by 8VC, Overmatch Ventures and Lerner Enterprises.

• Be sure to watch our first Axios Future of Defense event, today at 4:30pm. Here's the lineup and the livestream link.

• Recogni, a San Jose, Calif., developer of generative AI inference systems, raised $102m in Series C funding. Celesta Capital and GreatPoint Ventures co-led, and were joined by Juniper Networks. axios.link/4fGMcEQ

🚑 Trace Neuroscience, a South SF-based developer of genomic medicines for neurodegenerative diseases, raised $101m in Series A funding. Third Rock Ventures led, and was joined by Atlas Venture, GV and RA Capital Management. axios.link/3ULRwyI

• Satispay, an Italian payments startup, raised €60m from insiders Greyhound Capital, Lightrock, and Addition. axios.link/4fmqExn

• ScaleOps, an Israeli cloud resource management startup, raised $58m in Series B funding led by insider Lightspeed. Others backers include NFX, Glilot Capital Partners, and Picture Capital. axios.link/3UOk7mS

• Conduktor, an enterprise data management platform, raised $30m in Series B funding. RTP Global led, and was joined by Ansa, M12, and Accel. axios.link/3UOPLko

• Robin AI, a London-based legal copilot, raised $25m in Series B extension funding from Paypal Ventures, Willets, and Cambridge University. axios.link/3AAT5J2

🌎 Klim, a German provider of regenerative agriculture software, raised $22m in Series A funding. BNP Paribas led, and was joined by Earthshot Ventures, Rabobank, Agfunder, Norinchukin Bank, Achmea, Ananda Impact Ventures, and Elevator Ventures. axios.link/3Z6naIP

• Bounce, an SF-based provider of free luggage storage for travelers, raised $19m in Series B funding. Sapphire Sport led, and was joined by a16z, General Catalyst, 20VC Growth, FJ Labs, Shilling, and Thayer Ventures. axios.link/4fisjUO

• Shiru, an Alameda, Calif., ingredient discovery platform, raised $16m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. S2G Ventures led, and was joined by CPT Capital, Lux Capital, Nourish Ventures, and Meach Cove Capital. axios.link/4extXke

🚑 Medeloop, a Menlo Park, Calif. clinical research analysis startup, raised $15m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Inovia Capital led, and was joined by Icon Ventures, General Catalyst and Maven Ventures, Healthier Capital, Up2 Opportunity Fund, and CFO Advisors. axios.link/48QzMIw

• Neon, a DTC platform for games, raised $14m from Renegade Partners, Thrive Capital, a16z Speedrun, SciFi VC, and Ribbit Capital. axios.link/3CkQh36

• Vatn Systems, a Portsmouth, R.I., developer of autonomous underwater vessels, raised $13m in seed funding. Dyne Ventures led, and was joined by Lockheed Martin Ventures, RTX Ventures, and In-Q-Tel. axios.link/4fqiILK

• Affiniti, a provider of co-branded credit cards for SMBs, raised $11m in equity funding from Indicator Ventures, Emigrant Capital Corporation, Day One Ventures, and RiverPark Ventures. axios.link/3AIvF4r

⚡ Kugu, a German proptech focused on energy management, raised €8.5m in Series A funding from Tengelmann Ventures and Gewobag ID. axios.link/3O3ziVx

• Pharos, a Layer-1 blockchain developer, raised $8m in seed funding. Lightspeed Faction and Hack VC co-led, and were joined by SNZ Capital, Reforge, Dispersion Capital, Hash Global, Generative Ventures, MH Ventures, Zion and Chorus One. axios.link/3CyM381

• Prelude, an SMS onboarding startup, raised $8m in seed funding co-led by Singular and Seedcamp. axios.link/4etbh4Y

• Pond, a decentralized AI startup, raised a $7.5m seed led by Archetype, with participation from Cyber Fund, Delphi Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Near Foundation. axios.link/3Z2ZAxK

🚑 Bluespine, a health claims analysis software provider for self-insured employers, raised $7.2m in seed funding led by Team8, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3YKtKo6

🌎 Helix Earth, a Houston-based developer of efficiency solutions for commercial HVAC, raised $5.6m in seed funding. Veriten led, and was joined by Anthropocene Ventures and Semilla Capital. axios.link/3Z18kUN

🚑 Biolux, a Swiss orthodontics tech startup, raised €4.3m in seed funding from Redalpine and Revere Partners. axios.link/3YOwfFW

🌎 NitroVolt, a Danish green ammonia startup, raised €3.5m in seed funding. BackingMinds and The Export and Investment Fund of Denmark co-led, and were joined by Breakthrough Energy Fellows, EQT Foundation, Satgana, and Koppert Cress. axios.link/40JcWQN  

• Craftt, a decentralized workforce benefits platform, raised $2m in seed funding. Superscrypt led, and was joined by DCG. axios.link/4fIOgvZ

• Aero Accessories, a Miramar, Fla.-based portfolio company of ATL Partners, acquired AirGroup America, a Pittsburgh-based aerospace MRO. aeroaccessories.us

• ATIS, an elevator and escalator services company owned by Thompson Street Capital Partners, acquired the assets of Vermont Elevator Inspection Services. atis.com

• Blackstone is investing $300m into hedge fund manager Brigade Capital, to help it build a private credit unit and expand its CLO business. axios.link/3UPYLWr

• Go Capital invested in Arketi Group, an Atlanta-based digital marketing and PR agency for B2B tech companies. axios.link/48NVi0v

• Golden Gate Capital invested in OneZero, a Cambridge, Mass., provider of multi-asset enterprise trading tech, from Lovell Minnick Partners (which retains a minority stake). axios.link/40Lgpyi

• Halifax Group acquired Universal Air Conditioner, a Mansfield, Texas-based designer and distributor of aftermarket auto parts. uacparts.com

• HighPost Capital invested in Front Row Group, an e-commerce agency and accelerator for beauty, health, wellness, and CPG brands. Charlesbank Capital Partners backed Front Row earlier this year. frontrowgroup.com

• Lone View Capital acquired CargoSprint, a Peachtree City, Ga.-based provider of cargo industry solutions. cargosprint.com

• May River Capital bought Cashco, an Ellsworth, Kansas-based provider of pressure management solutions. cashco.com

• Morgan Street Holdings bought Continental Services, a Troy, Mich.-based provider of contract dining services, from New Heritage Capital. continentalservices.com

• Stonepeak agreed to buy Boundary Street Capital, a private credit firm with more than $700m in committed capital. axios.link/48MejAa

• TPG acquired a minority stake in Demopolis Equity Partners, a tech-focused private equity firm based in Jersey City, N.J. demopolisequity.com

• Tria Federal, a portfolio company of Sagewind Capital, acquired Softrams, a provider of digital services and system modernization for federal agencies. triafed.com

🚑 Warburg Pincus is investing $525m into MB2 Dental, a dental partnership organization backed by Charlesbank Capital Partners, at a valuation north of $3.5b. mb2dental.com

• WSB, an infrastructure engineering and consulting firm owned by GHK Capital Partners, bought Tulsa-based civil engineering firm Meshek & Associates. wsbeng.com

• Wynnchurch Capital acquired Principal Industries, a San Antonio-based provider of LED components and engineered assemblies for signage and brand imaging. principalsloan.com

• FineToday, a Japanese personal care products maker that's owned by CVC Capital Partners, will go public in Tokyo next month with around a $1.4b market cap. axios.link/3UQHyw9

• FPA Energy Acquisition, a carbon-neutral real estate SPAC, refiled for a $100m IPO. axios.link/3Z32d2k

⚡ Aethon Energy Management is weighing a sale of IPO for its natural gas production and midstream assets, which could be worth around $10b (including debt), per Reuters. axios.link/4hNdGKY

• Anysphere, the VC-backed creator of code editor Cursor, acquired Supermaven, an AI coding assistant that recently raised $12m in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. axios.link/3YJyQkh

• Captions, a generative video creation and editing platform most recently valued by VCs at $500m, is buying AlpacaML, a generative AI design platform that raised $4m led by Index Ventures. axios.link/4hHSd5X

• Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) acqui-hired the team behind Utopia, a stablecoin and payments startup that raised around $25m from backers like Coinbase and Paradigm. axios.link/40HDhi7

Source: Giphy

• Seven & i (Tokyo: 3382) received a management buyout offer that values 7-Eleven owner at around $58 billion, and could scuttle takeover efforts from Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSE: ATD). axios.link/3CkPfUM

📺 AMC Networks (NASDAQ: AMCX) acquired full control of BBC America, its joint venture with BBC Studios, for $42m. axios.link/4eutMX1

🚑 BioNTech (Nasdaq: BNTX) of Germany is paying $800m upfront (plus up to $150m in earnouts) to buy Biotheus, a Chinese immune-oncology company with which it's previously partnered. axios.link/4fqzwSK

⚡ Coterra Energy (NYSE: CTRA) agreed to buy certain Permian Bain assets of Avant Natural Resources and Franklin Mountain Energy for $2.95b in cash and $1b of stock. axios.link/3YLk9xd

• DCC (LSE: DCC), an Irish conglomerate refocusing on energy, will put its health care unit for sale and consider options for its tech unit. axios.link/3Z6gVpC

⚡ ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) agreed to sell a portfolio of conventional oil-drilling assets in the Permian Basin of Texas and New Mexico to Hilcorp Energy for around $1b, per Reuters. axios.link/3Z6gETC

⚽ Jasmine International, a Thai telecom carrier, agreed to pay as much as $560m for English Premier League broadcast rights. axios.link/4fiuIii

🚑 Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) is exploring the sale of its hospital drugs unit, which could fetch a few billion dollars, per Reuters. axios.link/3YF994q

• Bek Ventures (fka Earlybird Digital East) of Turkey raised $250m for its third fund. axios.link/3CBD4D5

• Chicago Ventures raised a total of $80m for its fourth flagship fund and an opportunity fund. chicagoventures.com

• Stephen Harper, Canada's former prime minister, is being considered to lead Alberta's C$169b pension system. axios.link/3ULMsKI

• Terry Jackson joined investment bank Union Square Advisors as a managing director focused on software. He previously was with JPMorgan. axios.link/4hHyYcT

• Mike Petsky, co-founder of Petsky Prunier, launched a new investment bank called Woodland Park Capital Advisors. WPCapAdvisors.com

• Donald Trump Jr. is joining 1789 Capital, the VC firm led by Omeed Malik. axios.link/4fISW51

• Eran Westman joined Planven as a managing partner focused on growth equity. He previously was a general partner with Viola Growth. axios.link/4erDPfo

Inflation got a bit hotter in October, according to Labor Department data released this morning.

• The Consumer Price Index ticked up to 2.6% year-over-year, while core CPI held at 3.3%.

The big picture, per Axios' Courtenay Brown: "The worst of the inflation shock is over, but price pressures look stubborn and further progress on cooling those may be stalling."