There's a growing push to use new technology to boost U.S. copper processing amid surging demand from the AI boom.

Why it matters: The U.S. has decent copper resources, but the majority of processing happens in large, toxic smelters overseas, much of it in China.

• Copper wires are the building block of electrical systems for data centers, the power grid and vehicles.

The big picture: The Trump administration has made production of domestic critical minerals a priority, and the U.S. Geological Survey added copper to its critical minerals list in November. But substantial funding has yet to follow.

• "I think we'll see some new [federal] activities with regards to that metal," says Brandon Tinianov, managing director, building technologies of advisory Clark Street Associates.

What they're saying: "The U.S. is copper rich and refining poor," says Gigascale Capital founding partner Victoria Beasley, whose firm has backed startups Red Metals and Skouria.

• "Copper is AI. If we don't have copper, we are at major risk for all aspects of that, from power to bits and flops," says Clark Street CEO Stephen Empedocles.
• Bringing copper processing to the U.S. is a more solvable challenge than reshoring supply chains for minerals like rare earths, experts say.

Zoom in: A crop of startups are building new processing technologies and facilities, with backing from major VCs and miners.

Red Metals, backed by Future Ventures and Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, is outfitting its 42,000-square-foot facility with processing, refining and casting equipment, Red Metals CEO Jackson Switzer says.

• It also secured a $3.5 million equipment financing facility with CSC Leasing to fund the project's first phase, says Switzer.

Still Bright has built pilot-scale reactors in Newark, New Jersey, that use a reusable reagent to electrochemically process copper, with capacity of two tons a year.

• Still Bright is weighing a $40 million Series A round in 1Q27, CEO Randy Allen says. It's backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, SOSV, and Fortescue.

The VC arm of BHP, which runs one of the world's largest copper mines in Northern Chile, has backed processing startups Jetti, Ceibo and PH7 Technologies.

Follow the money: It's hard to quantify VC dollars in copper startups, but mining tech funding rebounded after a 2024 as deeptech gains favor amid AI-driven pressure on software.

• Still, Gigascale's Beasley says: "I think it's an underinvested in category, and not just from a venture standpoint, but from a total U.S. infrastructure standpoint."

Katie Fehrenbacher covers climate and energy for Pro Deals.

Silver Lake and Workday are discussing a take-private of the (now) $51 billion HR software company.

Why it's the BFD: The deal would rank among ‌the largest software buyouts in history, in a stand-out year for big-dollar M&A.

Follow the money: Workday was valued at $43 billion before yesterday's Reuters report. Shares jumped 18% on the report, closing at $206.45 and roughly flat year to date.

• The company's stock was down in early trading this morning.

Behind the scenes: Conversations have been ongoing for months, per Reuters, and Silver Lake could ​bring in additional investors to finance the deal.

• The sponsor teamed up with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and Affinity Partners for its roughly $55 billion ​take-private of video-game maker Electronic Arts last year.

Context: Thoma Bravo agreed to a $16 billion acquisition of Workday rival Dayforce earlier this year.

The bottom line: "The potential deal indicates Silver Lake believes large systems of record are less vulnerable to AI disruption, given they're ingrained in enterprises, hard to replicate, and can leverage data for AI initiatives." — Chris Metinko, Axios Pro Deals

• Databricks raised $5b at a $190b valuation from Coatue, Blackstone, MGX, T. Rowe Price and Sixth Street Growth. New investors include BOND, Clearlake Capital, Point72, Premji Invest, and TPG. Existing investors a16z, Dragoneer, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, GIC, Goldman Sachs, Insight Partners, JPMorgan Private Capital, Kinetic, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, NEA, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Temasek, Thrive Capital, and WCM Investment Management also joined. axios.link/4zgRqBV

• Core Automation, an AI continual learning model developer founded this year, is looking to raise up to $500m in new funding, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4xAxVT6

• Yuno, an SF-based payments infrastructure company, raised $45m in Series B funding. Global PayTech Ventures led, joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, QuantumLight Capital, Monashees and Kaszek. axios.link/4wsU0Sy

⚡️ Sizable Energy, an Italian pumped hydro startup, is raising $25m to store and generate electricity at sea, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4zexWxG

• Aligned Marketplace, an NYC-based company that connects self-insured employers with primary care clinics, raised $20m in funding. It raised a $16m Series A led by Venrock. axios.link/4ga8PDz

🌎 Ranchbot, an Australian water-management tech developer for farms and livestock, raised US$15m in Series B funding. Lewis & Clark Partners led, joined by Fulcrum Global Capital, Builders VC, The Cultiv8 Livestock Technology Fund, Lever VC and Macdoch Ventures. axios.link/4ga90id

• Worldscape, a decision-making software developer for government and mission-engineering applications, raised a $10m seed extension. Scout Ventures led, joined by Radius Capital. axios.link/4wwORZV

• Agape-1 Technology, a Silicon Valley-based developer of autonomous security robots and drones, is raising between $5m-$8m for commercialization. axios.link/4wUtbru

🌎 Millow, a Swedish alt meats developer, raised €2m, led by Visit Group founder Magnus Emilson. axios.link/4gvuFCH

• Lemma, an SF-based agentic AI monitoring tool, raised a $2.3m pre-seed round led by Matrix and YC. Liquid 2 Ventures, Vermilion Cliffs Ventures, Cervin Ventures, and prominent operators from OpenAI, xAI, Meta, and DoorDash joined. axios.link/3UynRvx

🌎 Metal Morph, a U.K.-based startup recovering chemicals and aluminum from wastewater, raised £700k in pre-seed funding led by Sustainable Ventures and Green Angel Ventures. axios.link/4cCOWnu

• Astara Capital Partners acquired Dynatec Systems, a Burlington, N.J.-based provider of membrane-based industrial wastewater treatment services. axios.link/4fZwoQM

• CAI Software, a portfolio company of STG Partners, acquired LLumin, a Springfield, Mass.-based computerized maintenance management system for manufacturers. axios.link/4wuUKqr

• Chatham Financial received a strategic investment from GIC, Atairos, and Vikram Pandit, CEO of The Orogen Group. axios.link/4ziMpbO

• Fisher Management Partners, a Dallas-based management consultant, received a growth equity investment from Trinity Hunt Partners. axios.link/460d8fW

• Linden Capital paid 15x to 16x EBITDA for pharma marketing business Relevate Health from Mountaingate Capital, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4600wp0

• R&B Wholesale Distributors, a portfolio company of Platinum Equity, acquired Grand Appliance, a Sturtevant, Wis.-based appliances and electronics distributor. axios.link/3UyoFk3

• Vetspire, an SF-based veterinary software company, received a growth investment from Battery Ventures. axios.link/4zcbOUB

• Wolf-Gordon, a Charger Investment Partners portco making interior surface finishes, acquired Andor Willow, a wood wall panel and room divider maker, and Look Walls & Interiors, a custom wallcovering maker. axios.link/4xLVJnf

• Airtel Africa, a telecom operator planning to list its mobile payments arm in London, is considering having the shares trade in U.S. dollars to match its reporting currency, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gcWUVG

• Quest Global Services, a Singaporean engineering services firm backed by Carlyle, hired banks for a Mumbai IPO that could raise as much as $1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4qpwdBO

• Robinhood Ventures Fund II began trading on the New York Stock Exchange yesterday. The fund raised roughly $200m in its IPO at $25 per share. axios.link/4wwYxU6

• Svatantra Microfin, an Indian non-banking lender backed by Advent, filed for an IPO worth $314.33m. axios.link/4zxHYKC

• ACCO Brands, a Lake Zurich, Ill.-based branded consumer products company, is buying Trust, a Netherlands-based consumer electronics company backed by Egeria. axios.link/4g8L3I2

• Core Scientific (Nasdaq: CORZ), an Austin, Texas-based blockchain infrastructure and software company, completed its previously announced $444m acquisition of cryptocurrency mining company Polaris DS from Altair Capital. axios.link/3TWFEMS

⚡️ Diversified Energy is in early talks to buy Birch Resources, which is backed by Elliott Investment Management and operates in the Permian Basin. axios.link/4x2gxHd

• Goldman Sachs Asset Management is looking to sell clinical trial software company 4G Clinical, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4bRZUoV

• Renovus Capital Partners is exiting Thought Logic Consulting through Braemont Capital's recapitalization of the Atlanta-based enterprise consultancy. axios.link/4xCGDAc

• ZPG, backed by Silver Lake, will sell Hometrack, which provides residential property valuation and risk data & analytics in the U.K. and Netherlands, to Providence Equity Partners. axios.link/462vE7o

• C&S Wholesale Grocers agreed to buy a majority stake in Winn-Dixie, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based privately held grocery and liquor store chain. axios.link/4cheuqc

• Activist investor Engine Capital told H.B. Fuller (NYSE: FUL) that it should run a market check for its building adhesive solutions business and engage with Ancora's more than $1b offer for it. axios.link/4g0hKZy

⚡️ Ensign Energy Services, a Canadian oilfield services company, closed its acquisition of Citadel Drilling for $65m. axios.link/45ZN4Bz

• Frasers bought Harvey Nichols, the British luxury department store chain founded in 1831, out of administration. axios.link/4i8IFU8

• Mobix Labs is buying Special Project Delivery, a Newport Beach, Calif.-based infrastructure developer focused on national security, critical resources and public-infrastructure finance. mobixlabs.com

• Nasdaq is buying Level Markets, an off-exchange equity execution venue. axios.link/4xzKQok

• Semtech, a Camarillo, Calif.-based semiconductor provider, is selling its cellular module business to Compal Electronics for $62m in cash. axios.link/4wZXDjW

• Volkswagen is preparing to reduce its roughly €16.6b majority stake in truckmaker Traton, as part of its broader cost-cutting effort. axios.link/4i9uJJy

• Xylem (NYSE: XYL), a Washington, D.C.-based water technology company, agreed to acquire the Cornell Pump and Roper Pump businesses from Indicor for $1.46b. axios.link/4xGcFLO

• 1789 Capital has closed a $1.2b real estate development fund. axios.link/4gdqg64

• Nick Pacilio will join Thrive's communications team in September. He was Axel Springer's senior vice president, head of U.S. communications. thrivecap.com

• Steven Price, who was FINRA's SVP of market investigations, is joining fintech Finalis as chief compliance officer. axios.link/4gzl7Wr

Retail sales unexpectedly fell by 0.6% in July.

Yes, but: The data, which is not adjusted for inflation, overstates some of the shopping pullback, writes Axios' Courtenay Brown.

• Gas station sales fell as energy prices retreated.
• One soft spot: autos, where sales fell 1.8% even as vehicle prices rose.