Adam Boehler was one of very few VC-backed founders who joined the Trump administration, leaving Landmark Health in 2018 to become director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Now he's back in the private sector, with a new startup that wants to disrupt the kidney care market.

Why it matters: The CDC estimates that 15% of U.S. adults suffer from some form of chronic kidney disease, including more than 38% of those over 65 years old.

• There are plenty of businesses servicing this population, including a pair of publicly traded dialysis center giants. But Boehler argues they're too focused on fees, and too little on helping patients get at-home treatments or kidney transplants.
• It's a case that's been made by several academic nephrology centers, with which Boehler says he wants to partner. It's also reminiscent of Landmark Health, which focused on at-home medical services and which was bought earlier this year by a UnitedHealth subsidiary for billions of dollars.

The new company is called Evergreen Health, and will be publicly unveiled later today.

• It's under the umbrella of a healthcare incubator called Rubicon Founders, which Boehler recently formed with an undisclosed amount of funding from Oak HC/FT and Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. At least $25 million is being dedicated to Evergreen's launch.

Lessons learned: Boehler says his big takeaway from Landmark Health was that physicians will change their behavior if compensation is linked more to patient outcomes than to their procedures.

• "We told physicians that we were going to pay them very well, but pay them very well for treating patients the way they wanted to when they went to medical school ... Who gives a shit how many patients you can see in a day at a dialysis center? Instead of seeing 20 patients, see three and get them to a place where they can be treated at home or get a transplant."
• Boehler, who also served as the first-ever CEO of the U.S. International Development Finance Corp., adds that his big lesson from government was that it has a lot more smart and talented people than he realized while in the private market, and says "there's no platform like it in terms of making an impact if you're willing to lean in."

Look ahead: Expect Rubicon Founders to continue launching new companies focused on health markets that it considers to have at least $1 billion of value opportunity.

Ramp, a New York-based corporate card and spend management platform, raised $300 million in Series C funding at a $3.9 billion valuation led by Founders Fund. It also acquired Buyer, a "negotiation-as-a-service" platform focused on large purchases like annual software contracts.

• Why it's the BFD: Ramp tries to differentiate itself from rivals by emphasizing its spend management tools, but venture capitalists aren't taking the thrifty hint. This is Ramp's third round of equity funding in the past nine months, with its valuation more than doubling since an April infusion.

• Other investors include Redpoint Ventures, Thrive Capital, D1 Capital Partners, Spark Capital, Coatue, Iconiq, Altimeter, Stripe, Lux Capital, A* Partners, Definition Capital, Vista Public Strategies, Honeycomb and Kinetic.
• The bottom line: "Ramp, founded by [Eric] Glyman and Karim Atiyeh in 2019, is among a new breed of business lenders taking on a sector that hasn't seen much change in decades. Like Brex, another young company with an eye-popping valuation (it raised at a $7.4 billion valuation in April), Ramp offers cash-back charge cards and a suite of software tools for business owners." — Hugh Son, CNBC

• ICON, an Austin, Texas-based developer of 3D-printed homes, raised $207 million in Series B funding. Norwest Venture Partners led, and was joined by 8VC, Bjarke Ingels Group, BOND, Citi Crosstimbers, Ensemble, Fifth Wall, LENx, Moderne Ventures and Oakhouse Partners. http://axios.link/8zDr

• Cora, a Brazilian lender to SMBs, raised $116 million in Series B funding led by Greenoaks Capital. http://axios.link/0tx6

• Khatabook, an Indian provider of merchant bookkeeping and online payments solutions, raised $100 million in Series C funding. Tribe Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures co-led, and were joined by Balaji Srinivasan, Alkeon Capital and insiders B Capital Group, Sequoia Capital, Sriram Krishnan, Tencent, RTP Ventures, Unilever Ventures and Better Capital. http://axios.link/DiuU

• Plentific, a London-based property management services marketplace, raised $100 million in Series C funding. Highland Europe and Brookfield Technology Partners co-led, and were joined by Mubadala, RXR Digital Ventures and insiders A/O PropTech and Target Global. http://axios.link/hW0Z

• Caddi, a Tokyo-based B2B ordering and supply platform for the manufacturing and procurement markets, raised $73 million in Series B funding. Globis Capital Partners and WiL co-led, and were joined by Arena Holdings, DST Global, Minerva Growth Partners, Tybourne Capital, JAFCO and SBI Investment and insiders DCM and Global Brain. http://axios.link/7wnC

• Upstream, an Israeli auto cybersecurity startup, raised $62 million in Series C funding. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance led, and was joined by I.D.I. Insurance, 57 Stars, La Maison Partners and insiders Glilot Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Volvo, Nationwide and Delek US. http://axios.link/4KvK

🚑 Atavistik Bio, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech focused on metabolite-protein interactions, raised $60 million in Series A funding. The Column Group led, and was joined by Lux Capital and Nextech Invest. www.atavistikbio.com

🚑 Bridge to Life, a Northbrook, Ill.-based provider of organ preservation solutions, raised $56 million led by Perceptive Advisors. www.bridgetolife.com

• Shelf.io, a Stamford, Conn.-based enterprise knowledge stack startup, raised $52.5 million in Series B funding co-led by Tiger Global and Insight Partners. http://axios.link/ZE3o

• Bazaar, a Pakistan-based B2B marketplace and digital ledger platform, raised $30 million in Series A funding. Defy Partners and Wavemaker Partners co-led, and were joined by Indus Valley Capital, Global Founders Capital, Next Billion Ventures and Alter Global. http://axios.link/td0E

• Hunters, an open extended detection and response startup, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led, and was joined by insiders YL Ventures, Blumberg Capital, M12 and USVP. http://axios.link/Vazc

🚑 Xalud Therapeutics, a New York-based developer of nonviral gene therapies to treat pathologic inflammation, raised $30 million in Series C funding led by PBM Capital. www.xlaudthera.com

🚑 Elixiron Immunotherapeutics, an Alzheimer's drug developer, raised $27 million in Series A funding. Pangu Capital and Taiwania Capital co-led, and were joined by Daiwa Securities Group, Mega International Commercial Bank, Fubon Financial Holdings and Hong Tai Electric Industrial and CDIB. http://axios.link/pjCR

🚑 Covera Health, a New York-based patient care analytics startup focused on reducing medical errors, raised $25 million in Series C funding. Insight Partners led, and was joined by Equity Group Investments. www.coverahealth.com

🚑 Equum Medical, a New York-based provider of acute care telehealth solutions, raised $20 million from Heritage Group. www.equummedical.com

• Armored Things, a Boston-based crowd analysis and intelligence software startup, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Nimble Ventures led, and was joined by Gutbrain Ventures, PBJ Capital, Micromanagement Ventures and insiders Glasswing Ventures, Will Ventures and iNovia Capital. www.armoredthings.com

• Tango, an employee onboarding startup, raised $5.7 million in seed funding. Wing VC led, and was joined by General Catalyst, Global Silicon Valley, Outsiders Fund and Red Sea Ventures. http://axios.link/aXvU

• Pry Financials, a San Francisco-based provider of startup financial planning software, raised $4.2 million from Global Founders Capital, Pioneer Fund, NOMO VC, Liquid2 and Hyphen Capital. http://axios.link/ZASV

• Prospr, a New York-based deskless workforce management platform, raised $3.2 million in seed funding. Bonfire Ventures led, and was joined by Quiet Capital and ANIMO Ventures. www.prospr.work

• Shimmy, a Boston-based DTC and B2B hand sanitizer brand, raised $3 million in seed funding led by Wayfund. www.getshimmy.com

• GrowthGenius, a Toronto-based sales automation platform, raised C$2.3 million in equity and debt funding led by FirePower Capital. www.growthgenius.com

• Xiaodu Technology, an AI voice assistant unit of Baidu, said it raised Series B funding at a $5.1 billion valuation. No additional info was disclosed, except that Baidu remains Xiaodu’s “super majority shareholder.” http://axios.link/C9Mh

• Audax Private Equity acquired Covercraft Industries, a Pauls Valley, Okla.-based manufacturer of custom vehicle protection products, from Century Park Capital Partners. www.covercraft.com

• The Blackstone Group is in talks to buy Singapore-based tech services provider Inteplex from Baring PE Asia for at least $1 billion, per Reuters. http://axios.link/WDH6

• CityFibre, a British telecom infrastructure firm, is in talks to raise new funds at around a £2 billion from firms like Mubadala and Interogo Holding, per the FT. http://axios.link/9Cj4

• CVC Capital Partners acquired RiverStone Europe, a British consolidator of non-life run-off insurance books, from Fairfax Financial and OMERS. www.rsml.co.uk

• Deutsche Beteiligungs bought Dantherm Group, a Denmark-based provider of climate control products, from Procuritas. www.danthermgroup.com

• Gauge Capital invested in Centegix, an Atlanta-based provider of location-aware emergency communications. www.centegix.com

⚡ I Squared Capital invested around $200 million in AG&P City Gas, a Singapore-based developer of city gas distribution networks. http://axios.link/tyIO

• Incline Equity Partners acquired Weaver Parts, a Carnesville, Ga.-based distributor of recycled OEM auto parts to collision and mechanical repair shops. www.weaverparts.com

• Mainsail Partners invested in Centerbase, a Dallas-based provider of legal practice management software. www.centerbase.com

• TA Associates invested in PDQ, a South Salt Lake-based provider of IT asset management software for SMBs. www.pdq.com

• Tamarix Equity Partners and Pacific General invested in Playa Bowls, a Belmar, N.J.-based better-for-you restaurant chain. www.playabowls.com

🍓 Worldwide Produce, a Los Angeles-based portfolio company of Sole Source Capital, acquired Los Angeles-based produce importer and distributor Vision Produce. www.wwproduce.com

• A.K.A. Brands, a Gen Z-focused online fashion brands portfolio owned by Summit Partners, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (AKA) and reports $15 million of net income on $215 million in revenue for 2020. http://axios.link/CogA

• ForgeRock, a provider of identity management tools for the enterprise, filed for an IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE (FORG), reports a $20 million net loss on $85 million in revenue for the first half of 2021 and has raised $273 million from firms like Riverwood Capital, Meritech Capital Partners, KKR, Foundation Capital, Accel and Accenture Ventures. http://axios.link/kU3S

• Paradox, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based provider of conversational recruiting software, acquired Traitify, a Baltimore-based personality assessment platform. Paradox has raised over $50 million from firms like Brighton Park Capital, while Traitify raised over $20 million from firms like JMI Equity. www.paradox.ai

• Banco Santander U.S. agreed to buy the 20% stake it doesn’t already own in its consumer unit for around $2.5 billion, a 6.4% premium to what it agreed to pay back in July. http://axios.link/6VoI

• Siebert Financial (Nasdaq: SIEB) agreed to buy a 24% stake in Tigress Financial Partners. www.tigressfp.com

• Volvo will pay around $126 million to buy a heavy duty truck subsidiary of China’s Jiangling Motors. http://axios.link/ka8h

🍸 Vox Media agreed to buy Punch, a cocktail content site, from Penguin Random House. http://axios.link/etys

• Axcel Management, a Nordic-focused PE firm, raised €810 million for its sixth fund. http://axios.link/zovO

• Asia Alternatives is seeking to raise $1.3 billion for its sixth fund-of-funds, per PE International. http://axios.link/x8Dy

• Fika Ventures of Los Angeles raised $160 million for its third seed fund, and $35 million for its first opportunities fund. www.fika.vc

• The Jordan Company raised $1.3 billion for a continuation fund to a 2007 vintage fund, led by Hamilton Lane. www.thejordancompany.com

• RCP Advisors of Chicago is raising up to $650 million for its fourth midmarket secondaries fund, per Secondaries Investor. http://axios.link/kcdz

• Michael Bernard joined Riverside Partners, a Boston-based midmarket PE firm, as a principal. He previously was with Linden Capital Partners. www.riversidepartners.com

• Beat Frühauf joined Germany-based Golding Capital Partners as a managing director and head of a new Zurich office. He previously was with BNP Paribas Schweiz. www.goldingcapital.com

• Mariel Seidman-Gati joined The Blackstone Group as a VP of global public affairs. She previously was with Prosek Partners. http://axios.link/CMMG

• Mike Sutter joined Blue Wolf Capital Partners as an operating partner focused on the industrials sector. He previously was CEO of Airtech Vacuum. www.bluewolfcapital.com

• There have been more IPOs so far in 2021 than in any other full year over the past decade, per Renaissance Capital.
• The year-to-date figure, through yesterday, is up 153.2% over 2020.