Sometimes there's a simple solution to an intractable problem. The sort of thing that feels obvious, but only in retrospect.

The problem: Online publishers and other content creators face an existential crisis, as AI eventually helps search engines provide contextual, ad-supported answers instead of link-based traffic.

• Meanwhile, the AI companies face legal challenges in scraping content, and scaling challenges in signing licensing agreements.

The solution: Create a two-sided marketplace for publishers and AI companies.

• That's the strategy of TollBit, a Boston-based startup coming out of stealth with around $7 million in pre-seed and seed funding.
• Sunflower Capital led the seed round, while other investors include AIX, Lerer Hippeau, Operator Collective, and Liquid 2 Ventures.

Zoom out: Two-sided marketplaces aren't novel, but haven't yet been applied to this market.

• TollBit, co-founded by Toast alumni Olivia Joslin and Toshit Panigrahi, basically lets publishers make their verified content available to AI companies, for a fee.
• Those fees can be dynamic — based on keyword prompt trends, for example — with TollBit providing both sides with pricing insights.
• It claims that a publisher can get on the platform with just about 15 minutes of IT integration, and that it's already signed some up (without providing names). Moreover, it believes that a third-party will be able to provide valuable usage analytics to companies that instead sign "traditional" licensing agreements.

The big picture: This isn't just about training data, which is what most current licensing deals focus on. Instead, it's looking around the corner on on-demand use cases, in which the app layer company will need to reference primary, real-time content.

Caveats: TollBit is young, founded just months ago, and faces the same chicken/egg problem as other two-sided marketplaces.

• There's also potential competition from Fox Corp., although its blockchain-based solution seems to only address the first piece of the problem (i.e., verification).

The bottom line: If TollBit succeeds, it could be the sort of win-win that lets publishers survive and AI companies leap their copyright hurdles. Same goes for VCs, many of whom have investments in both.

Deel, a San Francisco-based payroll and HR platform valued by VCs at over $12 billion, agreed to buy South Africa-based rival PaySpace.

Why it's the BFD: This reflects a dizzying amount of consolidation within the payroll sector, in which large providers are seeking to quickly add both services and geographies.

Details: No financial terms were disclosed, although sources put the price-tag at above $100 million.

• PaySpace, which was bootstrapped more than a decade before last year raising money from Netcash, claims to have 14,000 customers in 44 countries.

The bottom line: Deel also today announced that it's hit $500 million in ARR, on top of being profitable with around $600 million in the bank. But don't expect an IPO in 2024, as it is expected to follow the stay-private path of fellow fintech unicorns Stripe and Plaid.

• MiniMax, a Chinese AI startup, is raising at least $600m in a round led by Alibaba, per Bloomberg. HongShan also committed. https://axios.link/3TopYPQ

• Monzo, a British digital bank, raised £340m at a £4b post-money valuation. CapitalG led, and was joined by GV, HongShan and insiders like Passion Capital and Tencent. https://axios.link/3P85uYK

⚡ Sunfire, a German maker of electrolyzers for green hydrogen production, raised €215m in Series E funding from LGT Private Banking, GIC, Ahren Innovation Capital, and Carbon Equity. It also secured a €100m term loan from European Investment Bank. https://axios.link/4a2Lkrv

• Salla, a Saudi provider of website building and payments software for ecommerce businesses, raised $130m. Investcorp led, and was joined by STV and Sanabil. https://axios.link/3P9dfOp

• RapidSOS, a New York-based emergency response data platform, raised $75m in Series D extension funding led by BlackRock. www.rapidsos.com

• Ema, an SF-based developer of a "universal AI employee," raised $25m. Accel, Section 32 and Prosus Ventures co-led, and were joined by Wipro Ventures, Venture Highway, AME Cloud Ventures, Frontier Ventures, Maum Group, and Firebolt Ventures. https://axios.link/3uPeqvw

• Multiverse Computing, a Spanish quantum computing startup, raised €25m led by Columbus Venture Partners. https://axios.link/49APqqT

• Yuno, a Colombian payments orchestration startup, raised $25m in Series A funding at a $150m valuation. DSTled, and was joined by Andreessen Horowitz, Tiger Global, Kaszek Ventures and Monashees. https://axios.link/3Tm9Myf

• Moego, an LA-based provider of payments and scheduling software for pet groomers, raised $24m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Base10 Partners led, and was joined by Digitalis Ventures, Conductive Ventures, and Uphonest Capital. https://axios.link/3PtrvBR

• Wagely, an Indonesian earned wage access startup, raised $23m in debt and equity funding led by Capria Ventures. https://axios.link/48FetI5

• Formalize, a Danish provider of whistleblower and compliance software, raised €15m. BlackFin Capital Partnersled, and was joined by West Hill Capital. https://axios.link/49DCjVN

• Taiko, an Ethereum Layer-2 blockchain developer, raised $15m in Series A funding from Lightspeed Faction, Hashed, Generative Ventures, Token Bay Capital, Wintermute Ventures, Flow Traders, Amber Group, OKX Ventures, and GSR. https://axios.link/48LFhX

🚑 Limbic, a London-based mental health triage startup, raised $14m in Series A funding led by Khosla Ventures, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/49G4W4M

• Haiper, a London-based video-generative AI startup, raised $13.8m in seed funding led by Octopus Ventures. www.haiper.ai

⚡ HData, a Birmingham, Ala.-based data analytics platform for energy regulatory filings, raised $10m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Backers include Buoyant Ventures, Victorum Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners, and Firebrand Ventures. https://axios.link/3IlIaDc

🚑 Tiny Health, an Austin, Texas-based infant microbiome testing startup, raised $8.5m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Spero Ventures led, and was joined by TheVentureCity, Overwater VC, Next Coast Ventures, and Peterson Ventures. https://axios.link/49VFat0

• Sahara, an LA-based decentralized network for knowledge sharing, raised $6m in seed funding led by Polychain Capital, and was joined by Samsung Next, Matrix Partners, and Motherson Group. www.saharalabs.ai

• RemotePass, a UAE-based employee onboarding and management startup, raised $5.5m in Series A funding led by 212 VC. https://axios.link/3V6R3Im

🚑 Bone Health Technologies, an SF-based medical equipment manufacturer, raised $5m from Esplanade Ventures and Berkeley Catalyst Fund. https://axios.link/49AS5k9

• Jabali, an AI startup focused on gaming engines, raised $5m in seed funding. Bitkraft Ventures led, and was joined by Sapphire Sport, Sony Innovation Fund, and Canonical Ventures. www.jabali.ai

• Agio Ratings, a London-based crypto risk analytics startup $4.6m, per Axios Pro. Portage led, and was joined by MS&AD Ventures. https://axios.link/4c14G1O

• StackOne, a London-based embedded integration platform-as-a-service startup, raised $3.6m in seed funding led by Episode 1. www.stackone.com

🌎 Gridcog, a decarbonization tracking startup, raised £3.3m led by AlbionVC. https://axios.link/4a1eSpn

• Catalog, a French B2B commerce platform for small companies, raised €3m led by LocalGlobe. https://axios.link/4cffOsf

• Stack, an on-chain points and rewards startup, raised $3m in seed funding. Archetype led, and was joined by Coinbase Ventures, Scalar Capital, and A.Capital. www.stack.so

• AE Industrial Partners acquired Calca Solutions, a Lake Charles, La.-based maker of hydrazine. www.calcasolutions.com

• Charlesbank Capital Partners acquired EverDriven Technologies, a Greenwood Village, Colo.-based alternative student transportation platform, from Palladium Equity Partners. www.everdriven.com

• Data Clean, a Des Plaines, Ill.-based portfolio company of Angeles Equity Partners acquired DP Guardian, a Littleton, Colo.-based provider of environmental cleaning and airflow containment systems for data centers. www.dpguardian.com

• Fairbank Equipment, a Wichita, Kan.-based portfolio company of Pfingsten, acquired Big W Sales, a Stockton, Calif.-based maker of agricultural equipment. www.fairbankequipment.com

• Induver and Clover, two Belgian corporate insurance brokers, are merging, with Hg investing in the combined entity. www.hgcapital.com

• L Catterton acquired a stake in AmaWaterways, a Calabasas, Calif.-based luxury river cruise line, from an investor group led by Certares. www.amawaterways.com

• Phoenix Tower International, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based tower operator backed by Blackstone, agreed to buy the Irish unit of Cellnex Telecom (Madrid: CLNX) for around €971m. https://axios.link/48WggJ3

• PGW Auto Glass, a Cranberry, Pa.-based portfolio company of One Equity Partners, acquired AutoglassCRM, a Charlotte, N.C.-based provider of VIN decoding services. and software for auto replacement glass installers. www.pgwautoglass.com

🔥 Sentinel Capital Partners agreed to buy the industrial fire unit of Carrier (NYSE: CARR) for $1.43b. https://axios.link/49YiVm7

• Svatantra Microfin, an Indian microlender, raised $230m from Advent International and Multiples. https://axios.link/3SVvXKc

• TruArc Partners acquired Meyer Lab, a Canadian maker of industrial and institutional cleaning chemicals and application systems. www.meyerlab.com

🚑 WebMD, a portfolio company of KKR-backed Internet Brands, acquired Healthwise, a Boise, Idaho-based patient and member health education company. https://axios.link/49Eg2qP

• Douglas, a German cosmetics maker owned by CVC Capital Partners, launched its Frankfurt IPO with plans to raise nearly $1.2b. https://axios.link/49BPnew

• Plaid, a fintech valued by VCs at more than $13b, told Axios Pro's Lucinda Shen that it doesn't plan to go public in 2024. https://axios.link/3P6hWs1

• Bridgepoint is in advanced talks to sell its stake in MotoGP rights-holder Dorna Sports to Formula One owner Liberty Media (Nasdaq: FWONA) at a €4b valuation, per Sky News. https://axios.link/3VlN6Qr

• Cycode, a software supply chain security startup that's raised over $80m from firms like Insight Partners and YL Ventures, acquired Bearer, a French static application security testing startup that had raised around $8m from Alven Capital Partners, Kima Ventures, Partech, and Point Nine Capital. https://axios.link/3IoAFvq

⚡ Engie (Paris: ENGI) is seeking to sell around $1b of U.S. renewable assets, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3T5EmLv

• Viavi Solutions (Nasdaq: VIAV) agreed to buy British telecom testing firm Spirent Communications (LSE: SPT) for around £1b. https://axios.link/49FbzUS

• Ares Management is launching an equipment financing business called Ansley Park Capital, following its acquisition of a business from City National Bank of Florida. https://axios.link/3TlSzFb

• Capitol Meridian Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based PE firm focused on the intersection of the government and commercial markets, raised $900m for its debut fund. https://axios.link/49CX5F8

• Commerce Ventures raised $150m for its fifth fund. www.commerce.vc

• Fathom Fund, a Houston-based deep tech VC firm, raised over $100m for its debut fund. https://axios.link/3wLvwe2

• Silas Capital of New York raised $150m for its second consumer growth fund. www.silascapital.com

• Spark Capital raised a combined $2.3b for its eighth flagship VC fund and its fifth growth fund. www.sparkcapital.com

• Rob Bernshteyn, former CEO of Coupa Software, joined Iconiq Growth as a general partner. www.iconiqcapital.com

• Sam Blond stepped down as a partner with Founders Fund, just 18 months after joining. The former Brex chief revenue officer tweeted: "Full time investing / being a VC isn't the right fit for me." https://axios.link/3IkhUcu

• David Hernand joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as an LA-based partner focused on M&A. He previously was with Paul Hastings. https://axios.link/3TlimNI

• Khosla Ventures added three partners: Ethan Choi (ex-Accel), Jai Sajnani (Flight Deck Capital, NEA), and Alex Bentley (Block). https://axios.link/49Bjhzj

• Ruchir Swarup, former CTO at Addepar, joined KKR as a partner and chief information officer. www.kkr.com

• Zachary Tcheyan is joining Blue Owl Capital's GP stakes business, per Bloomberg. He previously was with Goldman Sachs' Petershill business. https://axios.link/3Ir2kMd

🚑 Ally Bridge Group promoted Kevin Reilly to managing director and head of med-tech private equity, Andrew Lam to managing director and head of biotech private equity, and Slanix Paul Alex to portfolio manager and president of public equities. www.ally-bridge.com

• JLL Partners promoted Vikas Mouli and James Shillito to managing directors. www.jllpartners.com

• Seward & Kissel named Kevin Neubauer as co-head of its investment management group. www.sewkis.com

ESG and impact investing may be under political fire, but they're increasingly popular as private markets strategies, according to a new survey of 100 limited partners conducted by Chicago's Adams Street Partners.

• Super Tuesday bonus fact: 55% of respondents cited the U.S. political climate as the top threat to global economic stability and growth.