We keep talking about record-breaking venture fundraising over the last couple of years, and how this year (and maybe beyond) will be different. Along those lines, let's look at the latest data from the annual NACUBO-TIAA endowment study to add some more color to the limited partner picture.

By the numbers: Endowments' allocations to private equity and venture capital at the end of FY2022 (that is, June 30, 2022) was 30% — higher than allocations to public equities, at 28%.

Flashback: If you look at the 2002 numbers, endowments with at least $1 billion only had 3.9% invested in VC and 4.3% in PE, and smaller institutions allocated even less. By 2012, the largest endowments had 61% in alternatives.

Why it matters: As the study notes, that skew toward private capital (driven by larger endowments) helped buttress the blow that the public markets dealt to portfolios last year.

• Looking at FY22's one-year returns, endowments of at least $1 billion — the ones putting more money into private capital — came in at -7.9% for the 25th percentile and -1.4% for the 75th percentile.
• Meanwhile, those with less than $25 million came in at -14.1% for the 25th percentile, and -10% for the 75th percentile.

The big picture: One-year average annualized returns for the year hit -8% — a big change from FY2021's 30.6%; it impacted nearly every other longer-term annualized return metric.

Bonus: More endowments are now implementing policies addressing diversity as part of their investment decisions, jumping from 7.7% of institutions in 2021 to 9.6% in 2022.

• And while smaller endowments still lag behind the larger ones, some of these cohorts saw the biggest increases in 2022.

Blackstone, the New York-based private equity firm, is aiming to raise as much as $10 billion for its latest tactical opportunities vehicles, according to Reuters.

Why it's the BFD: Blackstone's tactical opportunities funds, which have not limits on geography or asset class, have yielded the firm's investment in companies like women's shapewear company Spanx, and dating app Bumble.

Details: The firm has raised $5 billion for its fourth such fund, as well as $5 billion in separately managed investor accounts that will invest alongside the main fund, per Reuters.

The bottom line: "The $6.7 billion Blackstone Tactical Opportunities Fund II and the Tactical Opportunities Fund III, which raised $4.09 billion, had generated a net internal rate of return of 14.1% and 11.7%, respectively, as of June last year, according to the California Public Employees' Retirement System." — Chibuike Oguh, Reuters

• Chain Reaction, an Israeli semiconductor and blockchain company, raised $70m in its Series C funding led by Morgan Creek Digital, with Hanaco Ventures, Jerusalem Venture Partners, KCK Capital, Exor, Atreides Management, and BlueRun Ventures also participating. www.chain-reaction.io

• DataMesh, an Australian payments processing software company, raised $30m in Series A funding round led by NAB Ventures, with Deutsche Bank and 1835i Ventures also participating. www.datameshgroup.com

• Finch, a San Francisco-based HR API company, raised $40m in Series B funding led by General Catalyst and Menlo Ventures, with QED Investors, Altman Capital, and PruVen Capital also participating. www.tryfinch.com

• Vitally, a New York-based customer success software company, raised $30m in Series B funding led by Next47, with HubSpot Ventures, NewView Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz also participating. www.vitally.io

🚙 Slync, a Dallas-based logistics software company, raised $24m in new funding from Goldman Sachs (just weeks after its former CEO was charged with fraud), per Forbes. https://axios.link/3m0yR3M

⛽️ Electra Vehicles, a Boston-based battery management software company, raised $21m in new funding, led by United Ventures , with Stellantis Ventures, LIFTT, Club degli Investitori, and BlackBerry Limited also participating. www.electravehicles.com

• Kratos Studios, an Indian company developing a blockchain-based reputation system for gamers, raised $20m at a valuation of $150m led by Accel, with Prosus Ventures, Courtside Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Nazara and others. It also acquired IndiaGG via a token swap. https://axios.link/3Kwlxyn

• Zellerfeld, a New York-based 3D printing shoe company, raised $15m in seed funding led by Founders Fund. www.zellerfeld.com

• CyberSmart, a British SMB cybersecurity startup, raised an additional £12.75m in Series A funding led by Oxx, with British Patient Capital, Legal & General Capital, Solano Partners, IQ Capital, Eos Venture Partners, Winton Ventures and Seedcamp also participating. www.cybersmart.co.uk

• Future Fields, a Canadian synthetic biology startup, raised $11.2m in additional seed funding from Bee Partners, Toyota Ventures, Builders VC, AgFunder, Amplify Capital, BoxOne Ventures, Green Circle Foodtech, Siddhi Capital and Climate Capital. https://axios.link/3SqQENN

• Polyhedra Network, a Berkeley, Calif.-based crypto infrastructure startup, raised $10 million in funding led by Binance Labs and Polychain Capital, with Animoca Brands and dao5 also participating. https://axios.link/3ExMu0I

• Sublime Security, a Washington-based email security company, raised $9.8m in funding led by Decibel, with Slow Ventures and angel investors also participating. https://axios.link/3Zehnz1

⛽️ BioSqueeze, a Butte, Mont.-based commercial biomineralization, raised $7.4m in funding led by Valo Ventures, with Zero Infinity Partners, Riverstone, and Next Frontier Capital also participating. www.biosqueeze.com

• Green Check Verified, a Bonita Springs, Fla.-based cannabis banking startup, raised $6m in Series A funding from Mendon Venture Partners, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3ZfDVzr

• IrisCX, a Canadian maker of video-based customer support tools, raised $4.6m in seed funding from Arthur Ventures. www.iriscx.com

⛽️ Kita, a British carbon market insurance provider, raised £4m in seed funding led by Octopus Ventures, with Insurtech Gateway, Carbon13, Climate VC, Chaucer Group, and Hartree Partners also participating. https://axios.link/3m4Ikao

⛽️ GovForce, a Washington-based power performance and compliance company for government contractors, raised $2.5m in seed funding led by QED Investors and Humba Ventures, with Cambrian and NextGen Venture Partners also participating. https://axios.link/3lYXXzV

• Polybase, a New York-based decentralized database startup, raised $2m in pre-seed funding led by 6th Man Ventures, with Protocol Labs, Orange DAO, Alumni Ventures, NGC, CMT Digital, Upfront Ventures and others also participating. www.polybase.xyz

• Brale, a Des Moines, Iowa-based digital asset technology startup, raised $1.1m in funding led by NEA, with Matthew Prince and Albert Wenger also participating. www.brale.xyz

• Apollo Global Management is in talks to invest $750m as part of Credit Suisse's spinoff of First Boston, with the bank potentially matching it for a total of $1.5b in capital, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3xKQ6c3

• Beach Point Capital Management's Tactical Fund made a majority investment in Brightmore Brands, a sustainable retail thrift store chain. www.beachpoint.capital

• Levine Leichtman Capital Partners acquired Kilwin's Quality Confections and Kilwins Chocolates Franchise, a Petoskey, Mich.-based franchisor, retailer, manufacturer and distributor of premium quality chocolate, ice cream and confectionary products. www.kilwins.com

⛽️ Siguler Guff & Company invested in Envana Software Partners, a Houston-based emissions management software-as-a-service company, a joint venture with Halliburton Company. www.envana.com

• 99 Acquisition Group, a blank check company targeting the real estate sector, filed for a $80m IPO. https://axios.link/3ZipVFo

• Galaxy Digital completed the acquisition of GK8, an Israeli institutional digital asset custody platform, for about $44m. www.gk8.io

• Hubilo Technologies acquired Fielddrive, a Belgian in-person event technology company. www.fielddrive.com

🚑 Olive AI, a Columbus-based health care automation startup, plans to sell one of the two remaining business lines advertised on its website, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3klC1hU

• Doconomy acquired Dreams Technology, a Swedish fintech startup. https://axios.link/3InS4Ux

🦄 SkyBridge is seeking to raise $50m for its "SkyBridge Unicorn Recovery Fund" to invest via secondaries in tech unicorns with lowered valuations, according to an investor letter seen by Axios. https://axios.link/3xI6fyV

⛽️ Contrarian Ventures, a European climate tech fund, secured €25m from the European Investment Fund as part of a €100m it's raising. https://axios.link/3ZhVbnG

• Main Capital Partners, a Dutch software-focused private equity firm, has promoted Daan Visscher to co-head of USA and Ferdinand Obenheimer to associate, and hired Alex McKinney as an associate, and Bennett Link as an analyst. They will all be based in Boston. www.main.nl

• FEG investment Advisors, a Cincinnati-based investment advisory firm, has appointed Alan Lenahan as CEO and Bill Goslee as president, effective January 1, 2024. www.feg.com

• Paladin Capital Group, a Washington-based venture firm focused on cybersecurity and advanced technology, hired Keith Mason as a venture partner. www.paladincapgroup.com

• Building Ventures, a Boston-based venture firm focused on the built environment, promoted Gregg Wallace to partner. www.buildingventures.com

• KKR promoted Pete Stavros and Nate Taylor to global co-heads of private equity. https://axios.link/3IxzRUK