It's Friday, so we're doing a bit of a lightning round to wrap up the week!

🌎 SEC climate disclosure hearing — again: The House Committee on Financial Services held another hearing about the (newly stayed) SEC climate disclosure rules, rehashing whether the agency is overstepping its regulatory power.

• One notable discussion point was whether Scope 3 emission disclosures, while formally taken out of the final version, could be still required for companies that report goals and targets related to these emissions. They'd have to disclose information about those emissions, some worry.
• They also debated the costs of implementing the disclosures and whether this is information investors want or just an activist move about climate change.

🤑 Startup CEO pay: The average pay of startup CEOs has held steady over the past year to about $141,000.

• Seed and Series A chiefs saw small increases (2.3% to $132,000 and 6.5% to $179,000, respectively), while Series B CEOs saw a 10% cut to $227,000, per new Kruze Consulting data.
• The gender pay gap also persisted at $14,000. The gap was smaller in 2019 (only $5,000), then widened during the pandemic to $45,000.

💰 Banking profits: The banks posted their quarterly earnings this morning, and investment banking fees are up again.

• JPMorgan: Revenue ($41.93 billion) and profits ($13.42 billion) rose and beat analyst expectations, though its stock fell 2.7% in pre-market trading.
• Citi: Profits ($3.37 billion) and revenue ($21.1 billion) are down year over year, beating and missing analyst expectations.
• Wells Fargo: Beat analyst expectations on revenue ($20.9 billion) and profits ($4.6 billion), though the latter was down 7% from a year ago.
• BlackRock: Not a bank, but while we're at it, net income ($1.57 billion) is up 36% YoY, beating analyst estimates. Revenue ($4.73 billion) rose 11%, also beating expectations. Its AUM also reached a record $10.5 trillion.

Clearlake Capital is exploring a new effort to take the cloud software company Blackbaud (Nasdaq: BLKB) private, per Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: Clearlake, with an 18.9% stake, has already tried to acquire the Charleston, S.C.-based Blackbaud.

Context: Blackbaud's stock price has been down 16% since the beginning of the year (until a Thursday bump).

The bottom line: "Blackbaud rejected an unsolicited $71 per share cash offer from Clearlake in March 2023, which it said at the time was 'highly opportunistic' and significantly undervalued the 'tangible momentum' in its business." —Ryan Gould, Dinesh Nair, and Gillian Tan, Bloomberg.

• Factorial, a Spanish HR management software company, raised $80m from General Catalyst. factorialhr.com

• Auradine, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based bitcoin miner maker, raised $80m in Series B funding from StepStone Group, Top Tier Capital Partners, MVP Ventures, and Maverick Capital. axios.link/3xw9jRM

• Anrok, an SF-based sales tax compliance software company, raised $30m in Series B funding at a $250m valuation led by Khosla Ventures with participation from existing investors like Sequoia and Index Ventures. axios.link/3Jgxruc

• Simbian, a Mountain View, Calif.-based AI security startup, raised $10m from Gokul Rajaram, Aditya Singh, Icon Ventures, Firebolt, and Rain Capital. axios.link/3PZoDg0

• Uplink, an NYC-based blockchain telco company, raised $10m in funding led by Framework Ventures. axios.link/3JcwwuW

• Patlytics, an SF-based patent analytics startup, raised $4.5m in seed funding led by Gradient Ventures, with 8VC, Joe Liquid 2 Ventures, Tribe Capital, Vermilion Ventures, Gaingels, Alumni Ventures, Position Ventures, Amit Agarwal, and others participating. axios.link/3xwEU5L

• Writ, an SF-based business data analytics startup, raised $3.8m in seed funding led by Gradient Ventures, with Defy.vc, High Alpha, Toba Capital, and others participating. axios.link/49xsgAY

• Knostic, an Israeli provider of business data security for AI, raised $3.3m in pre-seed funding from Shield Capital, Pitango First, DNX Ventures, and Seedcamp. axios.link/4cVuIEg

• Coda, an SF-based collaborative workplace software company, received funding from data company Snowflake. axios.link/3xyWFBs

• Brookfield is in advanced talks to buy a majority stake in Castlelake, a Minneapolis-based private credit manager, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4cRnL73

⛽️ OceanSound Partners and Energy Impact Partners acquired Message Broadcast, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based provider of electric utility customer engagement software, from LINK Mobility (OB:LINK). messagebroadcast.com

• Secur-Serv, a division of Transom Capital Group-backed Scantron Corporation, completed its acquisition of Btech, a Pasadena, Calif.-based managed IT services provider. secur-serv.com

• Sign Zone's Showdown Displays, backed by Pfingsten, acquired AAA Innovations, a Norwood, N.J.-based maker of custom umbrellas, coolers and outdoor recreational products. signzoneinc.com

• New York Life acquired a minority ownership stake in Fairview Capital, a West Hartford, Conn.-based private investment firm. fairviewcapital.com

🚙 Proficient Auto Logistics, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based roll-up of auto transportation and logistics services providers, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq under the symbol PAL. Stifel, Raymond James, and William Blair are the joint bookrunners on the deal. Pricing was not disclosed. axios.link/3vFOP8J

• UL Solutions, a Northbrook, Ill.-based provider of product testing, inspection, and certification services, raised $946m in an IPO. It sold 33.8m shares (100% secondary) at $28, above its $26-$29 range, and selling 5.8m more shares than anticipated. It will be listed on the NYSE (ULS). axios.link/3VW6jZ3

• Mission Space Acquisition, a blank check company targeting the aerospace and defense services industries, filed for an IPO. axios.link/3VYb3xu

• Postman acquired Orbit, an SF-based developer community growth company. orbit.love

• Zscaler acquired Airgap Networks, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based enterprise security company. axios.link/3vLUdqT

Andreessen Horowitz is supposed to close its new set of funds today, Axios has learned. No word from the firm.

• Cendana Capital and Kline Hill Partners raised a $105m fund for venture stake secondaries. axios.link/3Ue2lJV

• Hudson Structured Capital Management closed a continuation fund with more than $175m led by StepStone Group and existing investors. hscm.com

• Lakestar, a Europe-focused venture firm, raised about $600m for a pair of new funds. axios.link/4aIePz4

• Lone View Capital, an LA-based tech private equity firm investing across the technology ecosystem, closed $850m for its first fund. loneviewcap.com

🌎 Toyota Ventures added two $150m, the Frontier Fund II and the Climate Fund II. toyota.ventures

🚑 Jefferies hired Philip Ross as vice chair and global chair of health care investment banking, per Bloomberg. He was previously at JPMorgan. axios.link/3W2WxEm

• Owl Ventures, an SF-based edtech-focused venture firm, hired Jessie Woolley-Wilson as operating partner. owlvc.com

Crypto VCs appear to be getting their groove back, investing $2.5 billion globally in startups this past quarter, per PitchBook.

Why it matters: Startups need cash to make new things and live another day, and the recent crypto winter hit hard — forcing many to cut headcount and projects, according to my colleague Crystal Kim (subscribe to Axios Crypto).

The big picture: The first quarter haul this year is in line with the year-ago period, but it's a bump better than the previous quarter.