President Trump loves nothing more than flashy investment promises, and the Saudis on Monday obliged to the tune of $600 billion.

Why it matters: This is an optics win for a White House cognizant of America's rising economic anxieties, even if some of the money never flows.

Driving the news: The Saudis agreed to buy nearly $142 billion of military equipment and services from U.S. defense contractors, nearly double the Kingdom's entire 2025 defense budget.

• Saudi Arabia also agreed to purchase gas turbines from GE Vernova, planes from Boeing, and to invest in U.S. companies via new private equity efforts in areas like energy, defense-tech, and sports.

Yes, but: An itemized list provided by the White House doesn't come close to $600 billion.

• Instead, it works out to $282.8 billion — nearly 30% of which involves private-sector tech investments "in both countries." Some of those are from U.S. entities like Google and Oracle.
• The remainder seems to fall under the unenumerated umbrella of "many other deals," which may include Nvidia's new agreement to sell chips to Saudi Arabia.
• The White House declined to provide more granular information when contacted by Axios, but reiterated the headline number.

Zoom in: Even if all $600 billion were accounted for, which it isn't, that doesn't necessarily mean there will be $600 billion of investment.

• Trump secured $450 billion via a Saudi pledge in 2017, but it didn't all materialize.
• The same goes for some other high-profile investment promises during Trump's first term, such as $10 billion from China's Foxconn to build a factory in Wisconsin. To date, less than $1 billion has been invested in that project.

Zoom out: Saudi Arabia also could be hampered by its own economic challenges, such as low oil prices and a growing budget deficit.

The bottom line: There's an old Arabic saying that there are no taxes on words.

• A corollary may be that there are no political penalties on vague investment promises.

Chime, a San Francisco-based neobank once valued at $25 billion, filed for an IPO that Renaissance Capital estimates could raise $1 billion.

Why it's the BFD: The IPO freeze created by Trump's initial tariff rollout is thawing.

• Hours after Chime filed, eToro raised $620 million in an upsized IPO that nearly matched its ZIRP-era valuation.

Zoom in: Chime reports a $23 million net loss on $1.67 billion in revenue for 2024, versus a $203 million net loss on $1.28 billion in revenue for 2023.

• It has 8.6 million active users who average 54 monthly transactions.
• Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan are leading a group of 14 IPO underwriters.
• Shareholders include DST Global, Crosslink Capital, Access Industries, General Atlantic, Menlo Ventures, FPCI, and Iconiq.

The bottom line: "Banks collect interchange fees, which are generally a percentage of the transaction value, plus a set amount for each transaction depending on the rates determined by card networks such as Visa. The banks then pass money on to Chime." — Jordan Novet, CNBC

• AI21 Labs, an Israeli enterprise AI business, raised $300m in Series D funding from Google and Nvidia. axios.link/4iWuzC9

🚑 Azafaros, a Dutch biotech focused on rare lysosomal storage disorders, raised €132m in Series B funding. Jeito Capital and Forbion Growth co-led, joined by Seroba, Pictet Group, Forbion Ventures, Schroders Capital and BioGeneration Ventures. axios.link/4iYjeSh

• Owner.com, an SF-based digital platform for independent restaurant owners, raised $120m, at a $1b valuation. Meritech and Headline co-led, joined by Alt Capital. axios.link/3YIN6e4

• Bestow, a Dallas-based life insuretech, raised $120m in Series D funding ($75m primary) co-led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Smith Point Capital. It also secured a $50m credit facility. axios.link/3S4zwxY

• TensorWave, a Las Vegas-based data center provider, raised $100m. Magnetar and AMD Ventures co-led, joined by Maverick Silicon, Nexus Venture Partners and Prosperity7. axios.link/42UGGuS

⚡Zeno Power, a Washington, D.C.-based developer of radioisotope power systems, raised $50m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Hanaco Ventures led, joined by Seraphim, Balerion Space Ventures, JAWS, Vanderbilt University, RiverPark Ventures, Stage 1 Ventures, 7i Capital, and Beyond Earth Ventures. axios.link/3GPWGG1

🚀 Space Forge, a Welsh space manufacturing startup, raised £22.6m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. NATO Innovation Fund led, joined by World Fund, NSSIF, and the British Business Bank. axios.link/4kp6aqd

• Flock Exchange, an exchange for retiring real estate owners, raised $20m in Series B funding. Renegade Partners led, joined by existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Primary Venture Partners, Susa Ventures, and 1Sharpe. axios.link/44vFRtE

🚑 Remedy Plan Therapeutics, a Gaithersburg, Md.-based developer of hyperbolic NAMPT inhibitors, raised $18m from insiders like Schooner Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. remedyplan.com

🚑 Complement 1, a cancer lifestyle modification startup, raised $16m in seed funding co-led by Owl Ventures and Blume Ventures. complement1.com

• FlexPoint, a New York-based payments platform for managed service providers, raised $12m in Series A funding. Foundry Group led, joined by insiders Haymaker Ventures, Garuda Ventures, Techstars, Far Out Ventures, and Cascade Seed Fund. axios.link/43fYLm7

• Scription Maintenance, a Canadian subscription equipment maintenance startup, raised US$7.9m in seed funding. IA Capital led, joined by Markd. scription.ai

• Hyperbots, a finance and accounting startup, raised $6.5m in Series A funding co-led by Arkam Ventures and Athera Venture Partners. axios.link/4myb8Tt

• Blank Beauty, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based customized nail polish startup, raised $6m in Series A funding from Evolution VC Partners, Kirker Enterprises, and Epson. axios.link/4iZKP5z

• Nirvana Labs, a Web3 infrastructure startup, raised a $6m seed extension co-led by Crucible Capital and Jump Crypto. axios.link/4mh9ULQ

🚑 Pluto Bio, a Denver-based computational biology startup, raised $3.6m from Kickstart and Silverton Partners. axios.link/4k2urmc

• Plakar, a French open‐source backup and restore platform, raised $3m in pre-seed funding led by Seedcamp. plakar.io

⚡Arclight Capital Partners acquired a 25% interest in Houston-based natural gas infrastructure company NGPL from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners. axios.link/43cfxCu

• Caymus Equity Partners acquired Valley Lighting, a Linthicum Heights, Md.-based lighting and shading business. valleylighting.com

• Coupa, backed by Thoma Bravo, acquired Austrian spend management platform Cirtuo. axios.link/44IBA6l

• GIC acquired a minority stake in asset-serving business Citco. citco.com

⚡️ HitecVision agreed to buy a 50% stake in Polska Grupa Biogazowa, a Polish biogas production business, from TotalEnergies (Paris: TTE) at a €190m enterprise value. axios.link/44x4Pc6

⚡️ Saber Power Services, backed by Greenbelt Capital, agreed to acquire inoLECT, a Baton Rouge, La.-based electrical engineering and field services firm. saberpower.com

• SiCarrier, a Chinese chip equipment maker with ties to Huawei, is raising up to $2.8b in first-time funding, per Reuters. axios.link/3GPyYJJ

• Silversmith Capital Partners invested in Rentsync, a Canadian provider of rental housing industry software. rentsync.com

🌎 True Environmental, backed by Halle Capital, acquired Padre Associates, a natural resources and geoenvironmental services business. true-environmental.com

• eToro, a London-based no-fee trading app, raised $620m in its IPO. It priced 11.9m shares at $52, per plans to offer 10m shares at $46-$50, for a $4.9b fully diluted market cap (just below where it raised private funding in 2022). The company will list on the Nasdaq (ETOR), while VC included Spark Capital, BRM Group, and CM Equities. eToro had planned to go public in 2021 via a SPAC, but the deal was later terminated. axios.link/42ZSk7P

• Churchill Capital X, a SPAC led by Michael Klein, raised $360m in an upsized IPO. axios.link/42xKzWo

• Pony AI (Nasdaq: PONY), a Chinese robotaxi operator with a $6.4b market cap, filed confidentially for a Hong Kong listing, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4kgJN63

• Databricks, valued by VCs at $62b, agreed to pay around $1b to acquire database startup Neon, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based database startup that had raised around $130m from General Catalyst, Notable Capital, Abstract Ventures, Menlo Ventures, and M12. axios.link/3YFTKlm

🚑 Livingbridge is seeking to sell Better Medical, an Australian medical clinic operator that could fetch up to A$300m, per The Australian. bettermedical.com.au

🏀 Paul Allen's estate said that it will seek to sell the NBA's Portland Trailblazers. axios.link/44Czbdi

• Alsea (MX: ALSEA) acquired a 30% stake in Colombia's Starbucks franchise operator from Nutresa (CN: NCH). axios.link/456AMIm

• DHL Group of Germany agreed to merge its U.K. ecommerce unit with rival Evri. axios.link/4kedggR

🚑 GSK (LSE: GSK) is paying up to $2b to buy a liver disease drug called efimosfermin from Boston Pharmaceuticals. axios.link/3F3iQnA

• Orca Security, a Portland, Ore.-based agentless cloud security valued by VCs at $1.8b, acquired automation and orchestration startup Optus. orca.security

⚡️ Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) agreed to sell its Gabon operations for $300m in cash to Gabon Oil Co. axios.link/459XjEe

• AE Industrial Partners closed its second aerospace leasing fund with $418m. axios.link/4kbyfAU

• Blackstone is in talks to raise at least $5.6b for its latest GP stakes fund, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3GSkyIZ

• BluePeak Private Capital held an $80m first close on a $250m-targeted African private credit fund. axios.link/457f0UY

⚡️ Kayne Anderson raised $2.3b for its third energy income fund. axios.link/3YIR72e

• Northleaf Capital Partners raised $2.6b for its fourth infrastructure-focused PE fund. axios.link/4de1n8s

• Work-Bench, a New York-based VC firm, raised $160m for its fourth fund. axios.link/3YJ2VkU

• Barclays named Avinash Thakur as head of Asia-Pacific investment banking, replacing the retiring Vanessa Koo, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3F9fkYP

⚡️ EnCap Flatrock Midstream promoted Matthew Melton to managing director and Ian Morris to vice president. fmidstream.com

• Andrew Peel stepped down as Morgan Stanley's digital asset markets head to launch a DiFi fund. axios.link/3S5nl3R

• Brian Shortsleeve, co-founder of M33 Growth and a onetime managing director with General Catalyst, announced his candidacy for the GOP nomination for Massachusetts governor. Neither Shortsleeve nor M33 responded to questions about what this means for the Boston-based firm, which raised $340m for its third fund in 2022. axios.link/3GSRocK