Congress yesterday lived down to its reputation, uncovering little new information about the GameStop stock surge. But it did illustrate how Silicon Valley has overtaken Wall Street as public enemy number one, particularly among Democrats.

What happened: No one received more questions, and more rhetorical brickbats, than Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev, despite the presence of hedge fund titans Ken Griffin and Gabe Plotkin.

• Tenev was partially a victim of Robinhood's own ham-handed communications last month — for days refusing to acknowledge that it stopped trading in GameStop and other "meme stocks" because of unprecedented collateral requirements from their clearinghouse. And his continued insistence that Robinhood didn't have a liquidity problem, even though that's precisely what it had.
• But he mostly seemed to be an avatar for anger at Big Tech, even if that anger wasn't particularly focused.
• In some cases, Robinhood was hammered for stopping retail investors from buying GameStop shares. In other cases, it was hammered for not warning people about the dangers of buying GameStop shares. In one case he was challenged to disclose information the company already discloses.

Griffin and Plotkin, by comparison, were bit players. They were pressed a bit on short-selling, including the fact that more GameStop shares were floated than are outstanding, and Griffin was once asked to confirm that no one at Citadel (the hedge fund) discussed GameStop with Robinhood (which does business with Citadel Securities, the market-maker).

• In past eras, it's the hedge fund managers that would have felt most of Congress' ire.

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman received even less questions than did Griffin and Plotkin, which complicates my Silicon Valley narrative a bit. But it really just felt like none of the representatives really knew what to do with him at this particular hearing. Plus, Tenev was the easier target to hit in five-minute questioning sessions.

The bottom line: Where you find D.C. scrutiny, some sort of regulation is likely to follow. Even if the path isn't direct.

More than a dozen venture capital firms have formed SPACs, including shops that otherwise focus on early stage investing. Some limited partners might be worried about strategy creep, particularly if they're unable to share in the economics, but so far they're staying supportive, Axios' Kia Kokalitcheva reports.

• Between the lines: LPs are drunk on distributions right now, thus happily going along to get along. So if a seed investment firm wants to bring an eight year-old electric vehicle company public via SPAC, more power to it.
• Yes, but: We might need to revisit this tranquility if asset class performance sags.

Other SPAC news: On Tuesday we reported that Sixth Street Partners sued to block the three-way deal between Dyal Capital Partners, Owl Rock Capital and a SPAC sponsored by HPS Investment Management.

• Bloomberg reports that Golub Capital, another private credit firm in which Dyal is an investor, "has confronted executives at Dyal with opposition to the deal."
• It's unclear if Golub also plans to sue. But, as we reported Tuesday, I continue to hear that Sixth Street won't be the only plaintiff.

Source: GIPHY

IBM (NYSE: IBM) is considering a sale process for its Watson Health business, with both private equity and SPACs viewed as options, per multiple media reports.

• Why it's the BFD: This reflects how CEO Arvind Krishna is willing to drop weighty baggage as he aims IBM at the cloud, where rivals like Amazon and Microsoft are miles above.

• Dollars: Watson Health generates around $1 billion in annual revenue but isn't profitable.
• The bottom line: "Watson was one of IBM’s highest-profile initiatives in recent years and a big bet on the growing healthcare sector, though results disappointed in part because physicians were hesitant to adopt artificial intelligence." — Laura Cooper & Cara Lombardo, WSJ

• Xingsheng Youxuan, a Chinese grocery shopping app, raised $2 billion in new funding at a $6 billion pre-money valuation. Sequoia Capital China led, and was joined by Tencent, KKR, Primavera Capital Group, FountainVest Partners, Hengda, DCP and Temasek. http://axios.link/AXjJ

🚑 Evox Therapeutics, a British exosome therapeutics startup, raised £69.2 million in Series C funding. Redmile Group led, and was joined by OrbiMed, Invus and insiders Oxford Sciences Innovation, GV, Eli Lilly and Cowen Healthcare Investments. http://axios.link/We5m

• Photomath, a San Mateo, Calif.-based math learning app, raised $23 million in Series B funding led by Menlo Ventures. http://axios.link/Rwrl

• Census, a San Francisco-based data warehouse automation platform, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Sequoia Capital led, and was joined by seed backer Andreessen Horowitz. http://axios.link/PxmF

• AccountsIQ, an Irish financial management software startup, raised €5.8 million from Finch Capital. http://axios.link/XWwS

🚑 Rx Redefined, an Oakland-based medical supply chain distribution and billing platform, raised $2 million in seed funding. Silverton Partners led, and was joined by Saturn Five. www.rxredefined.com

• 3i agreed to pay $120 million for a majority stake in WilsonHCG, a Tampa, Fla.-based provider of recruiting and human capital management solutions. www.wilsonhcg.com

• 3i, Antin Infrastructure and InfraVia were shortlisted for the auction of DNS:Net Internet Service, a German fiberoptic firm being sold by DBAG for between €400 million and €500 million, per Reuters. http://axios.link/LKzd

• TPC Wire & Cable, a Macedonia, Ohio-based portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, acquired ICS, a Longmont, Colo.-based provider of custom cables, harnesses, electro-mechanical assemblies and industrial panels. www.tpcwire.com

• Autodis, a French car parts group owned by Bain Capital, hired Goldman Sachs, BNP Paribas and Barclays for an IPO, per Reuters. http://axios.link/6GVj

• Dingdong Maicai, a Chinese grocery delivery app, is considering a U.S. IPO, per Bloomberg. It's raised over $400 million from such firms as Sequoia Capital China, Starquest China, Qiming Venture Partners, Bertelsmann Asia Investments and General Atlantic. http://axios.link/cMsX

• Karat Packaging, a Chino, Calif.-based maker of environmentally friendly single-use food packaging, filed for a $75 million IPO. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (KRT) and reports $15 million of net income on $225 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2020. http://axios.link/7nEF

• Volkswagen is considering a listing for its Porsche unit, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/ke0i

• Aerion, a Reno, Nev.-based supersonic plane developer whose backers include Boeing, is in talks to go public via reverse merger with Altitude Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: ALTU), per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/O3af

• Alpha Capital Acquisition, a Latin America tech SPAC led by LetGo co-founder Alec Oxenford, raised $200 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/RbvU

• B. Riley Principal 150 Merger, a SPAC formed by B. Riley Financial, raised $150 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/gilq

• CF Acquisition VI, a SPAC formed by Cantor Fitzgerald, raised $300 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/eTSk

• Figure Acquisition I, a financial services SPAC, raised $250 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/VShT

• Forest Road Acquisition II, a TMT SPAC led by Disney vets Tom Staggs and Kevin Mayer, filed for a $300 million IPO. http://axios.link/uiWo

• Pine Technology Acquisition, a tech SPAC formed by Stone Point Capital, filed for a $300 million IPO. http://axios.link/t266

• Simon Property Group Acquisition, a SPAC formed by Simon Property Group, raised $300 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/XUQq

• Soar Technology Acquisition, a tech-enabled business SPAC led by Jonathan Poulin (ex-Airbnb), filed for a $250 million IPO. http://axios.link/zNLj

• Tailwind International Acquisition, a tech SPAC led by Pierre Denis (ex- CEO of Jimmy Choo Group), raised $300 million in an upsized IPO. http://axios.link/huUb

• Trine II Acquisition, a TMT SPAC led by Leo Hindery, filed for a $425 million IPO. http://axios.link/9Am5

🚑 VIDA Flash Acquisitions, a U.S. health care SPAC, filed for a $175 million IPO. http://axios.link/LXxC

🎧 Acast, a Swedish podcast ad company that’s raised around $160 million, acquired RadioPublic, a Somerville, Mass.-based provider of podcasting products that raised nearly $5 million from firms like Bose Ventures and Project 11 Ventures. http://axios.link/duXr

• Navis Capital Partners is seeking a buyer for The Food Purveyor, a Malaysian supermarket chain that could fetch around $250 million, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/MbjM

• SailPoint (NYSE: SAIL) agreed to buy Intello, a New York-based SaaS application management startup that had raised around $4 million from backers like Emerge, Resolute Ventures, Harrison Metal and BoxGroup. http://axios.link/P6IR

• Danone (Paris: BN) agreed to buy Earth Island, a California maker of plant-based foods under the Follow Your Heart and Vegenaise brands. http://axios.link/E28U

• Thyssenkrupp of Germany ended talks to sell its steel unit to U.K.-based Liberty Steel, after failing to agree on price. http://axios.link/Gc9C

• Arctos Sports Partners, a private equity firm focused on buying minority stakes in pro sports clubs, has secured around $1.4 billion in debut fund and co-investment commitments, Axios has learned. www.arctospartners.com

• Creador, a Kuala Lumpur-based private equity firm focused on South and Southeast Asia, is raising $600 million for its fifth fund, per the WSJ. http://axios.link/DdS5

• HighGear Ventures, a San Francisco-based tech VC secondaries firm, raised $43 million for its second fund. www.highgearventures.com

⚡ Volta Energy Technologies, an Illinois-based energy VC firm, has secured nearly $90 million of a new $150 million-targeted VC fund, per TechCrunch. http://axios.link/K8J6

• Jeff Doran joined Spark Capital as head of investor relations. He previously was with Bain Capital Credit. www.sparkcapital.com

• Anthony Lin was named managing partner and head of Intel Capital. He had been serving as interim head since last summer’s departure of Wendell Brooks. http://axios.link/Vwrb

• Nyca Partners promoted Jeremy Solomon to partner and Sol Lee to principal. http://axios.link/OWo8