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

📝 Letter vs. spirit: OpenAI did not contractually require investors in its new mega-round to abstain from backing its competitors, despite some media speculation to the contrary, Axios has learned.

• Instead, it was an informal request, reflecting OpenAI's desire to share information with investors, but without it being then shared with rivals.
• But there is a bit of an implicit stick, in that OpenAI will almost certainly raise private capital again, and likely would look askew at an investor that violated its handshake agreement.

🏀 Tip-off: The Boston Celtics sale process is said to be underway, as BDT & MSD and JPMorgan last week began outreach to a select group of individuals who could be control buyers.

• That includes both individuals who have expressed interest, plus those who the bankers have identified. The actual bidding process remains seeral weeks away.
• We originally reported that the Celtics could fetch the highest price ever for a pro sports team, but that might be off the table because of a reported stake sale involving the Miami Dolphins.

⏪ Back to the future: Venture firm CRV told limited partners that it won't call more than half of the capital from a "Select" fund it raised in 2022, arguing that market changes have reduced the number of reasonable, later-stage opportunities.

• The big question now is if other VC firms follow suit, either proactively or because of LP pressure. The latter that caused a series of fund size cuts after the dotcom bubble, although it may be mitigated in 2024 by the AI investment surge.

✔️ Mission accomplished: In January we reported that Australia's largest pension fund, AustralianSuper, planned to double the size of its U.S. investment team to over 60 professionals.

• It's now hit that goal, via both new hires like Americas fund services head Maria Reed (ex-BlackRock) and relocations like new Americas head Mikaël Limpalaër.

👀 What to watch: DOJ signaled that it may seek to break off a giant piece of Google, according to a Tuesday court filing, following its August victory in a landmark antitrust case.

• Axios' Ashley Gold tells me: "It's an ambitious play by the DOJ lawyers, who are riding high after their initial win, but Google will fight vehemently against it. If the government is successful; it will mark an unprecedented chapter for big tech in U.S. antitrust."

👀 Watch this too: FTX customers this week learned that they'll get made whole, and then some, after a bankruptcy court approved the company's repayment plan.

• What we still don't know, however, is exactly how much FTX shareholders might recover, although it does now appear that this won't be a complete loss for those who backed a "unicorn" company that lacked both a CFO or board of directors.

💰 Axios BFD is 13 days away. Be sure to request your invite.

Rio Tinto, a metal miner whose shares trade in both London and Sydney, agreed to buy Philadelphia-based lithium miner Arcadium (NYSE: ALTM) for $6.7 billion in cash.

Why it's the BFD: This is a giant bet on rising demand, in the face of falling demand.

• Lithium, which is a key metal inside both EV and stationary storage batteries, has seen its price drop by more than 50% over the past year.
• But Rio Tinto believes the energy transition trend will eventually overwhelm today's pricing challenges, referring to the deal as "counter-cyclical expansion."

By the numbers: Rio Tinto will pay $5.85 per Arcadium share, which represents a 90% premium to where shares traded before last week's report of a possible deal.

• Arcadium was formed earlier this year via the merger of Livent and Allkem.

The bottom line: "Lithium prices have floundered due to Chinese oversupply and a slowdown in EV sales. ... [Rio CEO Jakob] Stausholm told investors that by the end of the decade the company expects a shortfall in supply, with a more than 10% compound annual growth rate in demand through to 2040." — Reuters

• Asaas, a Brazilian provider of financial automation solutions for SMEs, raised $148m in Series C funding. Bond led, and was joined by SoftBank, 23S Capital, and Endeavor Catalyst. axios.link/3U34l7k

• Gropyus, an Austrian startup that uses robots to make prefab buildings, raised €100m co-led by Semapa and Practical VC. axios.link/3XYLsnj

🚑 ShiraTronics, a Minneapolis developer of neurostimulation therapies for chronic migraine patients, raised $66m in Series B funding. Norwest Venture Partners led, and was joined by Seroba, OSF Ventures, Global BioAccess and insiders U.S. Venture Partners, Amzak Health, Treo Ventures, and Aperture Venture Partners also participated in the round. shiratronics.com

🚑 Basecamp Research, a London-based "GPT for biology," raised $60m. Singular led, and was joined by S32, Redalpine, and individual angels. axios.link/4gUQx8V

• Human Security, a New York cybersecurity startup, raised over $50m led by WestCap, with participation by Goldman Sachs, ClearSky, NightDragon, and Vertex. axios.link/4gVzmnE

🚑 Arda Therapeutics, a San Carlos, Calif., developer of cell depletion therapies for chronic diseases, raised $43m in Series A funding led by insider a16z. Other backers include Two Sigma Ventures, RV Invest, Eli Lilly, GV, Biovision Ventures, Valhalla Ventures, Indicator Ventures, Alumni Ventures, LifeLink Ventures, Mana Ventures, Gaingels, and ExitFund. ardatx.com

🌎 Paebbl, a Swedish developer of carbon-storing materials, raised $25m in Series A funding. Capnamic led, and was joined by Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, Holcim, Aurum Impact, and insiders Pale Blue Dot and the Grantham Foundation. axios.link/3YfqbqF

• Xfarm Technologies, an Italian provider of farm management software, raised €36m in Series C funding. Partech led, and was joined by Mouro Capital, Swisscom Ventures, and United Ventures. axios.link/3ZWdzGc

• Unify, an SF-based provider of go-to-market tech, raised $19m in seed and Series A funding. Emergence Capital and Thrive Capital co-led the Series A, and were joined by OpenAI Startup Fund, Neo, Abstract, 20Sales, and Altcap. unifygtm.com

🚑 Centaur Labs, a Boston-based health data annotation startup, raised $16m in Series B funding. SignalFire led, and was joined by Samsung Next, Alumni Ventures and insiders Matrix, Accel, Susa and YC. axios.link/4dy8B5O

• BizzyCar, a St. Peters, Mo., provider of vehicle recall solutions, raised $15m led by Dealer Tire. bizzycar.com

⚡ Airloom Energy, a Laramie, Wyo., wind energy startup, raised $13.8m. Lowercarbon Capital led, and was joined by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, the state of Wyoming, the U.S. Defense Department, WYVC, Crosscut Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, Adiuvans, and the Kutnick Family Office. axios.link/3Njk0Mk

• Claim, a social shopping app, raised $12m in Series A funding. VMG Technology led, and was joined by Sequoia Capital, Susa Ventures, and Lightbank. axios.link/3zFsE4B

⚡ Lithios, a Medford, Mass., lithium extraction tech developer, raised $10m in seed funding. Clean Energy Ventures led, and was joined by GS Futures, Lowercarbon Capital, MassCEC, and TechEnergy Ventures. axios.link/3U03ODa

• Driver, an Austin, Texas-based provider of technical documentation simplification tools, raised $8m in seed funding led by GV, with YC also participating. axios.link/4gUC6lb

• Kiva AI, an SF-based provider of data annotation and labeling solutions, raised $7m in seed funding. CoinFund led, and was joined by Protagonist, Hashkey, and Peer VC. axios.link/4eSTHbf

• Cyrisma, Rochester, N.Y., risk management platform for MSPs, raised $7m in Series A funding. Blueprint Equity led, and was joined by SaaS Ventures, Golden Venture Partners, LaunchNY, and Eddie Lou. cyrisma.com

• Third Dimension AI, an SF-based provider of 3D generation solutions for real-time engines, raised $6.9m in seed funding. Felicis led, and was joined by Abstract Ventures, MVP, Soma Capital, and Salt Fund. thirddimension.ai

• Cove, a hyper-visual AI collaboration startup, raised $6m in seed funding led by Sequoia Capital. cove.ai

• Quartr, a Swedish public market research platform, raised $6m from Altos Ventures. quartr.com

🚑 Clock.bio, a British longevity startup raised $5.3m in seed funding. LocalGlobe led, and was joined by BlueYard Capital, Onsight Ventures, and Abcam founder Jonathan Milner. clock.bio

• The Jackfruit Co. and its consumer brand, Jack & Annie's, raised $5m in Series B extension funding from insiders InvestEco, Creadev, and Grosvenor Food & AgTech, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4gWiexY

• Windmill, a New York-based air conditioning equipment startup, raised $5m in Series A funding co-led by Yeti Capital and Pentland Ventures, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4dB7iTD

🌎 Forward Earth, a German provider of environmental management software, raised €4.5m in seed funding. Mosaic Ventures led, and was joined by Speedinvst and Revent. axios.link/3NkklOQ

• Vectorize, a Boulder, Colo., data integration startup, raised $3.6m in seed funding led by True Ventures. vectorize.io

• Edgee, an open-source edge computing platform, raised $2.9m in pre-seed funding from Serena and VentureFriends. edgee.cloud

• Keychain, a B2B marketplace for CPG manufacturers, raised $2.5m from chocolate maker Hershey, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3ND8AmN

• Round, a British banking and treasury management platform, raised $2.1m in pre-seed funding. Passion Capital led and was joined by Tiny VC, Ascension, Samos Investments, and Entrepreneur First. axios.link/482NI1E

• Fortius Metals, a Lafayette, Colo., metals additive manufacturer, raised $2m from Finindus. axios.link/4gUy3Fv

⚡ Quixotic, a Spanish energy management software startup, got investors to ignore its name and raised €1.3m in seed funding co-led by Demium and Bynd VC. axios.link/3Bzkawi

🚑 Avania, a Dutch med tech contract research organization backed by Astorg, acquired Spanish med tech CRO Anagram. avaniaclinical.com

• BlackRock and JPMorgan Asset Management bought minority stakes in Dynasty Financial Partners, an RIA network whose existing backers include Abry Partners and Charles Schwab. axios.link/4eXCHRw

• Broco Rankin, an Ontario, Calif., portfolio company of Salt Creek Capital, acquired Ready Welder, a Wilmington, Calif., maker of mobile welding tools. readywelder.com

• CC Capital agreed to invest $250m into Canadian investment firm Westaim (TSX: WED), as part of a deal that will combine Westaim with Arena Investors and CC portfolio company Ceres Life Insurance. It appears that CC Capital, founded by ex-Blackstone private equity co-head Chinh Chu, is looking to ape what Apollo did with Athene. axios.link/4eBgAR0

🚑 Cloudbreak Health, a portfolio company of GTCR, acquired Voyce Global, a Sunrise, Fla., provider of language interpretation services for health care. axios.link/3Y1s8Ws

🚑 HealthQuest Capital acquired a minority stake in Cellipont Bioservices, a Texas-based cell therapy CDMO. axios.link/4gSKWQl

• H.I.G. Capital acquired STS Aviation Group, a Jensen Beach, Fla.-based aviation services company, from Greenbriar Equity Group. stsaviationgroup.com

• Peterson Partners sponsored a merger of three government accounting software firms — Caselle, Civic Systems, and Black Mountain Software — to form a new company called Govineer. axios.link/4eCCumI

• Radial Equity Partners invested in Plasticade, a Des Plaines, Ill., maker of traffic safety and signage products. plasticade.com

🚑 Reveleer, a Glendale, Calif., health insurance risk management SaaS backed by Oak HC/FT, acquired Annapolis, Md.-based clinical insights provider Curation Health, which had raised VC funding from Echo Health Ventures. reveleer.com

🚑 Staple Street Capital agreed to buy bankrupt medical equipment maker Avante Health Solutions. axios.link/3zNnnb7

• Kindercare, a Portland, Ore.-based childcare provider owned by Partners Group, raised $576m in its IPO. It priced at $24 ($23-$27 offering range) and will list on the NYSE (KLC). Kindercare previously sought to go public in 2021, and reports $27m of net income on $1.34b in revenue for the first half of 2024. axios.link/4eGT4lK

• MMC Ports is considering a $1.6b IPO in Kuala Lumpur, which would be Malaysia's largest float in more than a decade, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gQvzIa

• Novelis, an Atlanta-based maker of aluminum products, withdrew registration for an $878m IPO that it had previously postponed. axios.link/4exXr2r

🌎 Allied Industrial Partners sold Dovetail Infrastructure Services, a Houston-based developer and operator of water infrastructure, to an undisclosed strategic buyer. dovetailinfrastructure.com

• Cloudflare (NYSE: NET) acquired Kivera, a New York-based cloud security and compliance platform that had raised around $5m from Round13 Capital and General Advance. kivera.io

🌎 GIC is weighing options for its 50% stake in India's Greenko Energy, including a $5b sale, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4eR5pTK

• Infinite Reality, a VC-backed metaverse company that had tried to go public via SPAC, acquired Zappar, a London-based extended reality platform and creative studio, for $45m in cash and stock, per Axios Pro. Zappar had raised nearly $4m from Hargreave Hale, The Brandtech Group, and iDreamSky. axios.link/3NkS5vn

• Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX: ATD) raised its nonbinding takeover offer for 7-Eleven owner Seven & i (Tokyo: 3382) by 22% to $47b, per multiple reports. axios.link/487smAc

• Cetera Financial agreed to buy the assets of Alabama-based RIA Concourse Financial Group from Protective Life. axios.link/3YfX7zs

⚡ Woodside Energy (ASX: WDS) acquired Houston-based LNG developer Tellurian (ASX: TELL) for US$1.2b (including debt). axios.link/3YeRL7G

🌎 Activate Capital is raising $500m for its third climate-focused fund. axios.link/4fe8uhd

• Renovus Capital Partners raised $875m for its fourth buyout fund. renovuscapital.com

• VanEck, an ETF and mutual fund manager, is launching a $30m VC fund focused on crypto, fintech, and AI. vaneck.com

🚑 Paul Parker, former co-chair of global M&A for Goldman Sachs, joined Flagship Pioneering as managing partner of capital solutions and value realization. axios.link/4dVg5QJ

🚑 Water Street Healthcare Partners promoted Katie Ossman to partner. axios.link/4dEdqdG

• John Wierzba joined Audax Private Debt as a managing director of wealth management. He previously led private assets for Stifel, Nicolaus & Co. audaxprivatedebt.com

The Fed made an aggressive rate cut last month, but business borrowing costs are suddenly rising, Axios' Neil Irwin writes.

What's going on: The bond market believes that last Friday's blowout jobs number will cool the clamor for more short-term rate cuts.

What to watch: St. Louis Fed president Alberto Musalem in a speech yesterday that "the economy might be unusually sensitive to asset prices," due to abundant capital for corporate borrowers and high housing prices.