I spent yesterday among the masters of the universe at the Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles, and walked away with one overriding thought: Most everyone was quite satisfied with the current state of affairs.

• These are the people who have internalized the economic data that the Biden administration keeps trying to highlight, without being stung much by inflation.
• Plus constant mentions of AI as the next great profit multiplier.

The big picture: Yes, there were mentions of Israel/Gaza, Ukraine/Russia, climate change, national debt, and the growing toxicity of domestic politics.

• But most of it was said to me as a perfunctory aside — almost as if it was done more for the sake of being polite than of being real.
• Or sometimes even as opportunistic. Such as bankers talking about how dealflow is getting pulled forward because the M&A market may grind to a halt ahead of the presidential election and any potential chaos that follows.

Zoom in: There was virtually no consternation over the lack of rate cuts so far in 2024.

• Not even from private equity bigs, who had been so excited about them going into the year.
• Now, they seem content with how high rates create buying opportunities, despite high equity prices, and what they mean for affiliated private credit businesses.

Behind the scenes: Sure, some of this was people talking their book to a reporter. For example, several buyout pros acknowledged fundraising challenges, as limited partners have grown tired of low distributions (in addition to other challenges, like foreign exchange rates).

• But those mentions were almost always as everyone else's problem, because their DPI was deep in the black.
• There weren't even any outside protests, which conference organizers seem to have expected given introduction of metal detectors and other new security measures.

The bottom line: Positivity was palpable. Not just because most everyone there is fabulously wealthy, but because they sincerely expect to get even richer in the year ahead.

Wayve, a British developer of self-driving software, raised $1.05 billion in Series C funding led by SoftBank.

Why it's the BFD: This made me double check that it's 2024 instead of 2019.

Other investors include Nvidia and insider Microsoft.

• Existing backers include Eclipse Ventures, D1 Capital Partners, Moore Strategic Ventures, and Linse Capital

The bottom line: "Wayve calls its hardware-agnostic mapless product an 'Embodied AI,' and it plans to distribute its platform not just to car makers but also to robotics companies serving manufacturers of all descriptions, allowing the platform to learn from human behavior in a wide variety of real-world environments." — Mike Butcher, TechCrunch

🚀 Privateer, a space data startup co-founded by Steve Wozniak, raised $56.5m in Series A funding led by Aero X Ventures and acquired Palo Alto-based analytics firm Orbital Insight, per Reuters. Orbital Insight had raised over $200m from firms like Sequoia Capital and In-Q-Tel. axios.link/3WyxtFE

🚑 Prologue Medicines, a drug developer focused on the viral proteome, raised $50m from founding investor Flagship Pioneering. axios.link/4btk5Xw

• Honeycomb, a Chicago-based digital insurer, raised $36m in Series B funding. Zeev Ventures led, and was joined by Arkin Holdings, Launchbay Capital and insiders Ibex Investors, Phoenix Insurance and IT-Farm. axios.link/3QziuaB

• Nivoda, a London-based diamond and gemstone marketplace, raised $30m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Avenir Growth led, and was joined by insiders Headline, Abstract Ventures, and Canaan Ventures. axios.link/3Wxihc4

🚑 OverT Bio, a New York-based developer of cell therapies for solid tumors, raised $16m in seed funding. Artis Ventures and Wing VC co-led, and were joined by Fusion Fund, OMX Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Gaingels, Civilization Ventures, Hawktail, and Cancer Research Institute. axios.link/4dvIPAs

🚑 Opmed.ai, a Boston provider of operating room workflow software, raised $15m, per Axios Pro. NFX and Grove Ventures co-led, and were joined by Secret Chord Ventures, Ronald Cohen, and Unbox Ventures. axios.link/3JQdDOx

• Futura, an Italian personalized education startup, raised €14m. Eurazeo led, and was joined by United Ventures and Axon Partners Group. futura.study

• Paxafe, a cold chain logistics startup, raised $9m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Framework Venture Partners led, and was joined by M12, Rosecliff Ventures, Elevate Ventures, AngelList Quant Fund, Gaingels, Mana Ventures, Ubiquity Ventures and Venture 53. axios.link/4afgzPA

• Infinity Fincorp Solutions, an Indian provider of loans for micro to mid-size businesses, raised $8m from Archerman Capital. axios.link/3UucHnZ

• Mitosis, a DeFi liquidity startup, raised $7m from Amber and Foresight Ventures. mitosis.org

🚑 Medeloop, a Menlo Park, Calif. clinical research analysis startup, raised $5m from Healthier Capital. medeloop.ai

• Seamfix, a Nigerian provider of digital identity solutions, raised $4.5m from Alitheia IDF. seamfix.com

• Volta, a Las Vegas non-custodial crypto platform, raised $4.1m in seed funding. Fika Ventures and Haven Ventures co-led, and were joined by Soma Capital, Dispersion Capital, and Uphonest Capital. voltacircuit.com

• Swypex, an Egyptian corporate cards platform, raised $4m led by Accel. axios.link/4bsbMLD

• Tuza, a London-based business card payments comparison site, raised £4m in seed funding from Connect Ventures, Northzone, Entrepreneur First, and Triple Point. axios.link/4a6N2Yu

🌎 Umgrauemeio, a Brazilian wildfire monitoring startup, raised $3.6m from Baraúna Investimentos, Indicator Capital, Yield Lab Latam, and Rural Ventures. axios.link/3y3UF4C

• EV3 Global, a Denver-based employment intelligence startup, raised $3m led by Real Tech Capital. ev3global.io

• Hemera, a web3 infrastructure startup, raised $2.6m co-led by LIF Capital and Nomad Capital. thehemera.com

• Mimic, a Swiss developer of humanoid hands, raised $2.5m led by Founderful. axios.link/3ww6Bvi

• Cultimate Foods, a German developer of lab-grown meats, raised €2.3m in seed funding led by High-Tech Gründerfonds. axios.link/4aaLyMJ

Steward Health Care, the troubled hospital chain once owned by Cerberus Capital Management, yesterday filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

🚑 Blue Owl Capital is in talks to buy a passive ownership stake in Chicago's Linden Capital Partners, a health care-focused PE firm, per Bloomberg. axios.link/44ujano

• Clearlake Capital and Francisco Partners agreed to buy the software integrity unit of Synopsys (Nasdaq: SNPS) for up to $2.1b. axios.link/3Wup7yK

• Global Infrastructure Partners and CPP Investments agreed to buy Duluth, Minn.-based utility Allete (NYSE: ALE) for $6.2b, or $67 per share. axios.link/3Uutsj5

• Halo Dream, a portfolio company of Transom Capital Group, acquired BreathableBaby, a Minneapolis maker of juvenile safe sleep products. breathablebaby.com

⚡ IOG Resources II, a portfolio company of First Reserve, acquired oil and gas working and royalty interests in the DJ Basin from Civitas Resources (NYSE: CIVI). iogresources.com

• Ironmark, an Annapolis, Md. marketing firm backed by Post Capital Partners, acquired both Deliver Media and L&D Mail Masters, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4bcJs0k

• KKR agreed to buy the corporate trust and wealth management unit of Perpetual (ASX: PPT), plus its brand name, for over A$1.5b, per Australian Financial Review. https://axios.link/3WwVblI

• MAI Capital Management acquired Colorado-based Harbor Wealth Management. axios.link/3UwQoOx

• MedRisk, a portfolio company of CVC Capital Partners, acquired the casualty claims solutions unit of Conduent (Nasdaq: CNDT). conduent.com

• Monomoy Capital Partners acquired Southern Exteriors, an installer of exterior building solutions in the southeastern U.S., from The Halifax Group. southernexteriors.co

⚡ Platinum Equity completed its purchase of a majority stake in Kohler's generators unit. axios.link/3u4TgIY

• Precision Aerospace, a portfolio company of CIC Partners and Juniper Capital Management, acquired Owens Machine & Tool Co., a Lewisville, Texas provider of CNC machining of titanium and nickel alloys. precisionaeroholdings.com

• Turnspire Capital Partners agreed to acquire the nutraceuticals business of Ashland (NYSE: ASH). ashland.com

• Momenta, a Chinese developer of self-driving tech, filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO that could raise $200m to $300m, per Bloomberg. It's raised around $1.2b from firms like GM, Toyota, Temasek, Tencent, SAIC Motor, Yufeng Capital, and Cathay Innovation. axios.link/3UnIJSs

• Rasan, an online insurer focused on Saudi Arabia, hired Morgan Stanley and Saudi Fransi Capital to lead a Riyadh IPO. Backers include Impact46. axios.link/4b9mcQO

• Triller, an LA-based video sharing and streaming platform, withdrew registration for a direct listing on the NYSE, following its recent agreement to go public via a SPAC. axios.link/3UPE25q

• Akamai (Nasdaq: AKAM) agreed to buy Noname Security, an enterprise API security startup, for around $450m in cash. Noname had raised around $220m from firms like Lightspeed, Insight Partners, Forgepoint, Georgian, and Cyberstarts. nonamesecurity.com

• Axon (Nasdaq: AXON) agreed to buy Dedrone, an SF drone defense company that's raised around $130m from firms like Aqton Partners, Menlo Ventures, Felicis Ventures, Target Partners, TempoCap, John Chambers, and General Dynamics. axios.link/4acf2tD

• DocuSign (Nasdaq: DOCU) agreed to buy Lexion, a Seattle contract workflow automation startup, for $165m in cash. Lexion has raised $36m from firms like Point72 Ventures, WSGR Ventures, Citi Ventures, Madrona, and Khosla Ventures. axios.link/3QyFHtv

• Sabadell (Madrid: SABE) rejected a €12b takeover approach from rival Spanish lender BBVA (Madrid: BBVA). axios.link/3UMuQPo

• Jim Langston is leaving Cleary Gottlieb to join the M&A practice at rival law firm Paul Weiss, per the WSJ. axios.link/3WszKSH

• Ramzi Moubarak joined Vision Ridge Partners as a managing director and head of Europe. He previously was with Macquarie. vision-ridge.com

• Jared Talisman joined Colbeck Capital Management as a managing director and head of originations. He previously was with Principal Alternative Credit. colbeck.com

Fusion energy, and its promise of near-limitless, zero-emissions electricity, is the ultimate climate moonshot. But it's devilishly difficult to know just how close we are to that goal, Axios Pro's Alan Neuhauser writes.

• Then again, ask a conventional nuclear developer if they can build a traditional large reactor in the U.S. within the next 10 years, and you'll be laughed out of the room.

The main buzzword is "net energy," or producing a fusion reaction that generates more energy than it consumes. But energy includes both electricity and heat.

• That's why some developers like Commonwealth Fusion distinguish between when they'll produce net energy, and when they'll achieve the more meaningful goal of "net electricity."