Today's column didn't quite come together in time, so let's dive into the notebook...

🚨 New fund alert: Revenant VC, led by Ryan Moore (ex-Accomplice), has held a $78 million first close on its debut fund, with a final close expected in the next couple weeks.

• I hear that that the strategy is direct secondaries — primary, not strips — partially enabled by an LP base that includes dozens of GPs at other venture firms.
• Moore's best-known deal at Accomplice was an early check for DraftKings, where he's still on the board of directors.

💼 Back in biz: Blake Masters, the former Thiel Capital COO who later ran unsuccessful Senate and House races as a Republican in Arizona, is returning to venture capital.

• He's raising up to $150 million for a new effort called Industrial Capital Fund, per an SEC filing. His partner is Brian Norgard, former chief product officer at Tinder.

🪖 Military move: Former U.S. Army General James Rainey, who last served as commanding general of the Army's Futures Command, is said to be joining Bain Capital as a senior advisor.

• It's a reminder that private equity continues to play a major role in defense-tech, as it has for decades, even if most of the PR heat is at the earlier stages.

⚡ Nuke note: Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Devens, Mass.-based nuclear fusion startup, last week announced $1 billion in new funding without identifying any investors. Multiple sources tell me that CalPERS is a major new investor in the company.

🚑 Slimdown: Pfizer yesterday scrapped an oral GLP-1 candidate it acquired as part of last year's $10 billion deal for Metsera, following an intense bidding war with Novo Nordisk.

• It's a surprise, given that Pfizer had hyped the upside of Metsera's oral drugs as a "differentiated set of assets" that could be cheaper and more tolerable than other oral GLP-1s.
• But, as Axios Pro's Claire Rychlewski notes, orals weren't part of the $2.3 billion of CVR payments within the Metsera buyout. Instead, those earnouts are tied to injectables.

💰 Bonus break: Bankers are set to get big bonuses this year, but private market investor bonuses are lagging behind, per a new report from Johnson Associates.

• Axios' Emily Peck writes: Bonuses are projected to be flat for those in real estate and at small PE and VC firms. Private credit bonus growth is projected to be flat to negative 10%.
• Private markets have led the pack for more than a decade. The reversal this year is a "seismic change," Johnson says.

Disney (NYSE: DIS) has agreed to sell its 50% stake in A+E Global Media for $1.2 billion in cash to Hearst, which would gain full ownership when the deal closes next month.

Why it's the BFD: Disney keeps cutting its legacy cable cords — mirroring its customers — even if that means losing a profitable business and deep content library.

By the numbers: A+E says its channels, including History and Lifetime, reach more than 414 million households in 200 territories in 40 languages.

• Disney, which today also announced a content partnership with TikTok, says the sale will help it boost upcoming share buybacks to at least $9 billion from $8 billion.

The bottom line: "Disney has been reshaping itself around streaming for years. Its new leadership wants to turn Disney+ into a super app to take on Netflix, and cable stakes that throw off cash but little growth do not fit that story." — Ana Maria Constantin, TNW

• Volta Infra, a U.K. AI cloud company, raised $300m at a $2.4b valuation and secured an additional $5b in financing. A16z and Altimeter Capital led, joined by Nvidia, Michael Dell, and Azora. axios.link/4hOguK6

• Moove, a UAE-based autonomous mobility startup, raised $250m in Series C funding at a $2.1b valuation. Mubadala led, joined by Woven Capital, Toyota's Growth Fund, and Ion Pacific. axios.link/3TsZBe5

• River, an Indian EV maker, raised $120m in Series C funding. Elev8 Venture Partners and Claypond Capital led, joined by Singularity AMC, Anicut Capital, 360 ONE Asset, JIF Capital, HDFC AMC and insiders Yamaha Motors, Al-Futtaim Group, and Mitsui. axios.link/4gcgdzk

🚑 Expedition Therapeutics, an SF-based developer of oral therapies for inflammatory and respiratory diseases, raised $115m in Series B funding. General Atlantic led, joined by RA Capital, Vivo Capital, Sofinnova Investments, Novo Holdings, Forbion, KKR-controlled Dawn Biopharma, Adage Capital Management, Balyasny Asset Management, Logos Capital, Sanofi Ventures, BVF Partners, and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners. axios.link/4wzkQt8

• Decade, a Brazilian AI wealth advisor, raised $85m in seed funding from Greenoaks, Benchmark and Diffusion. axios.link/3TSiJCb

• Faye, a Richmond, Va.-based travel insurance startup, raised $50m in Series C funding from BRM and insiders Portage, F2 Venture Capital, Viola Ventures, and Lumir Ventures. axios.link/4yV1Wys

• 10x Banking, a U.K. core banking platform, raised £40m from AshGrove Capital. axios.link/3TBG1w5

• Ambrook, a bookkeeping startup for agriculture, raised $30m in Series B funding. Lachy Groom led, joined by Thomson Reuters Ventures, Thrive Capital, Field Ventures, and Cameron Ventures. axios.link/4fPexub

🚀 Neuraspace, a Portuguese space domain awareness and traffic management startup, raised €15.6m from Lince Capital, Explorer Investments and Armilar Venture Partners and Portugal's Recovery and Resilience Plan. axios.link/4xpeZXx

• Wordsmith AI, an Edinburgh, Scotland-based AI platform for in-house legal teams, raised $14m in Series B extension funding from Intact Private Capital, FT Ventures and insiders Highland Europe and Index Ventures. wordsmith.ai

• RWX, a Columbus, Ohio-based software dev cloud platform, raised $12m in Series A funding. Hyde Park Venture Partners led, joined by Quiet Capital, The O.H.I.O. Fund, R1 Capital, and Deora Ventures. axios.link/3TsvhjI

🚽 Throne Science, an Austin, Texas-based maker of AI toilet sensors, raised $10m in Series A funding. Will Ventures led, joined by Emerson Collective, Workshop, LEAD VC, Salt VC, and Accomplice. axios.link/4pZgHfN

🚑 Wellinks, a New Haven, Conn.-based cardiopulmonary care provider, raised $10m in Series B funding from UMass Memorial Health and insiders. axios.link/4yS9gLb

🌎 Mitti Labs, a startup focused on reducing methane emissions from rice farming, raised $9.5m in Series A funding. Aramco Ventures led, joined by Lightspeed, Godrej Industries Group, Cisco Foundation, Francis Family Fund, and Volta Circle. axios.link/4bPYj39

🌎 InsectBiotech, a Spanish startup using fly larvae to convert ag byproducts into protein, oil, and fertilizer, raised €7.2m from investors like Arcano Partners. axios.link/4wPxrZl

• Vaaree, an Indian home decor and furnishings marketplace, raised $6.6m in Series A funding led by Hero Enterprise and Cap Alpha Ventures. axios.link/4fSuksw

• Conmeet, a German provider of construction software, raised €6m in seed funding led by Reimann Investors VC and Smedvig Ventures. axios.link/3TsXIhv

⚡️ LoopX, a Canadian developer of mining intelligence software, raised C$4.1m in seed funding led by BDC Seed Venture Fund and Orion Industrial Ventures. axios.link/4wzOaj7

• Superleap, an Indian enterprise CRM startup, raised $3.7m led by Peak XV. axios.link/4gdbtcM

🚑 Claryx, an NYC-based hospital infection monitoring platform, raised $3.5m in pre-seed funding. Outlander led, joined by Company Ventures, Boost VC, Neon, Mana Ventures, 640 Oxford, and Precursor Ventures. axios.link/4xhEYzT

• FuVeX, a Spanish developer of long-range, dual-use drones, raised €3m from Sodena, Sego Venture, and Izertis Ventures. fuvex.com

• Rivo, an SF-based fintech building autonomous cash management on top of existing bank accounts, raised $2.7m in seed funding from South Park Commons, Wisdom Ventures, Script Capital, 645 Ventures, and 20VC. rivofi.com

• Aavalynx, a London-based dispute resolution legal platform, raised £1.5m in pre-seed funding. European Omega Ventures led, joined by Two Ravens. axios.link/4pYBKij

Source: Giphy

Electronic Arts is now a private company, after completing its $55b buyout by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners.

• Advent International and HarbourVest agreed to acquire Germany's FNZ Bank, from wealth-tech firm FNZ. axios.link/4xpIVTs

🚑 AsymBio, a Shanghai-based biologics CDMO, raised $184m from parent company Asymchem Group, Hillhouse Qirui and others. axios.link/4yYQPEy

ATIS, a Thompson Street Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Buckley Belcher & Co., a provider of elevator consulting and managed services. axios.link/4hyORVx

• BlueAlly, backed by Source Capital, acquired GigaNetworks, a Miami-based provider of enterprise IT and network security solutions. axios.link/3SdX2Mv

• ContextLogic, backed by BC Partners and Abrams Capital, agreed to acquire gChem, a Covington, La.-based specialty chemicals company, for around $850m. axios.link/4fDwEVg

• Convey, backed by EIP and OceanSound, acquired Selectron, a provider of government and utility software. axios.link/4hechzh

• Francisco Partners acquired a 55% stake in Command Alkon, a Hilliard, Ohio-based construction software maker, from Thoma Bravo. Germany's Heidelberg Materials retains a minority stake. axios.link/4yWezJH

🚑 Sheridan Capital Partners invested in Carolina Components Group, a Durham, N.C.-based provider of bioprocessing assemblies and components for drugmakers. axios.link/4qfYhaN

• Trimlite, a Wynnchurch Capital portfolio company, acquired Barnett Millworks, a Theodore, Ala.-based distributor of residential door products. axios.link/4fCrVmP

• Vector Building Products, a portfolio company of Centre Lane Partners, acquired Prestige Distribution, a Northbrook, Ill.-based building products distributor. axios.link/4gafjn4

• Veritas Capital agreed to acquire Steampunk, a McLean, Va.-based provider of federal contracting software that will be merged with existing Veritas portfolio company MetroStar Systems. axios.link/4bWC0bS

• Veritas also acquired a majority stake in Trinity Consultants, a Dallas-based environmental consultancy.

• Waterland invested in Danish industrial services group Norisol. axios.link/45q63oV

🚑 Attovia Therapeutics, a San Carlos, Calif.-based biotech focused on autoimmune diseases, raised $289m in its IPO. It priced 17m shares at $17, versus initial plans to sell 12.5m at $15-$17, and will list on the Nasdaq (ATTO). It had raised $255m in VC funding from firms like Frazier Life Sciences, VenBio, Goldman Sachs, Deep Track Capital, Vida Ventures, Sanofi Ventures, and Mirae Asset Capital Life Science. axios.link/4geytIo

• Luminous Acquisition, a SPAC led by Ian Hanna (CEO of ARC Group Securities), filed for a $105m IPO. axios.link/4gduyeY

🚑 Hinge Health (NYSE: HNGE) agreed to acquire digestive health startup Cylinder Health for $105m in cash. Cylinder had raised around $47m from 7wireVentures, Human Capital, Intermountain Ventures, and SemperVirens. axios.link/4hMYjEy

• Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) agreed to buy supplements maker Thorne for $3.8b from L Catterton. axios.link/4yOMUdw

⚡️ Schneider Electric (Paris: SU) agreed to acquire AiDash, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based utility asset monitoring provider, for $350m in cash. AiDash had raised $91.5m from Duke Investments, G2 Venture Partners, Lightrock, Lightsmith Group, Marubeni, National Grid Partners, and Shell Ventures. axios.link/4w7G2Wg

• Walmart (Nasdaq: WMT) completed its purchase of VibeCo, a streaming ad platform that had raised nearly $80m from firms like Hedosophia, Revolut, Elaia and Singular. axios.link/4nt9ORD

Banco Santander (NYSE: SAN) secured U.S. Federal Reserve approval for its $12.34b takeover of Webster Financial (NYSE: WBS).

• Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF) is weighing options for its China business, including a possible stake sale, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3Ubh6j6

• FGS Global, an NYC-based strategic comms firm, acquired Rich Feuer Anderson, a bipartisan government affairs firm in Washington, D.C. axios.link/3UcJLUW

⚡️ Gran Tierra Energy (TSX: GTE) agreed to sell its Colombian and Ecuadorean oil operations to Maurel & Prom (Paris: MAUP) for $1.33b (including debt). axios.link/3Ueo0nG

• G Squared, a direct secondaries firm, raised $2.3b for its seventh flagship fund. gsquared.com

• Monolith Management, a Hong Kong-based VC firm that backed Moonshot, is raising $500m for a fund focused on Chinese AI, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4q0a7FI

• Alexander Addario left SVB, where he was a senior managing director focused on fintech. axios.link/4pZRhyv

• Paceline Equity Partners promoted Jonathan Rosen to partner. axios.link/4xlR5Mt

SpaceX reported higher-than-expected revenue in its post-IPO earnings report.

• Shares today are sharply lower, perhaps due to investor concerns about AI spend, ahead of tomorrow's first big lockup expiration.