Deel and Rippling are scheduled for a California court hearing in September, to begin hashing out their dueling charges of corporate espionage.

• Until then, it seems the HR software unicorns plan to keep escalating.

The latest: Rippling yesterday filed an amended complaint against Deel, which includes claims that Deel also illicitly targeted four other competitors (only one of which was named).

• It also gets more explicit in accusing Deel CEO Alex Bouaziz of orchestrating the alleged plot, and adds a RICO charge with references to the defendants as part of a "criminal syndicate."

Catch up quick: This comes just days after Deel filed its own amended complaint, having countersued in April, alleging that a Rippling employee impersonated a Deel customer to access some of Deel's systems.

• There are some parallel legal proceedings in Ireland, which could impact the California timeline.

Why it matters: There's a ton of venture capital at stake.

• Deel has raised $680 million, most recently in 2012 at a $12 billion valuation.
• Rippling has raised $1.85 billion, most recently last month when it raised $450 million at a $16.8 billion valuation (with a $200 million tender to follow).

Why it matters less: This fight doesn't seem to be hurting either company in the eyes of customers or investors.

• Deel recently announced that it surpassed a $1 billion revenue run rate in Q1 2025, plus 75% year-on-year revenue growth between April 2024 and April 2025. It's also been profitable for the past three years, and the board continues to support Bouaziz.
• Rippling remains unprofitable, but did just manage to score that new funding.
• One source close to Deel suggests that the rivalry is more intense in court than in the marketplace, arguing that Deel focuses more on companies with global workforces whereas Rippling targets startups and other companies that are predominantly domestic. There is overlap in both areas, as the lawsuits have shown, but it's not constant.

The bottom line: Neither side seems to have much appetite to settle their beef behind closed doors, let alone back down.

Source: Giphy

My inbox has been blowing up with hedge fund managers asking for intel on the U.S. Steel situation, such as if Nippon Steel has really agreed to the "golden share," and I keep telling them all the same thing: The rules are no longer relevant.

For starters, the stock just shouldn't be trading. But it still is.

Second, we may not get a White House decision as soon as expected. Under normal procedures, the president is required to give approval or block a deal within 15 days of receiving a CFIUS recommendation (i.e., today).

• But you may recall our May 20 report that CFIUS didn't plan to provide a traditional recommendation. Instead, it gave him information and analysis (even though Trump said last Friday that he hadn't even seen the final deal). Thus, the 15-day deadline may be moot.
• Plus, Trump has shown a willingness to ignore mandated deadlines if deal negotiations are ongoing (e.g., TikTok), so it's not even clear that a traditional CFIUS requirement would have mattered.

The only date that really matters now is June 18, which is when the merger is slated to close.

EQT agreed to acquire Waga Energy (Paris: WAGE), via a two-part deal that would value the French biomethane producer at over $600 million.

Why it's the BFD: This could set up expansion for Waga into the U.S., where biomethane may be one of the few types of renewables unhampered by the Trump administration — given that it utilizes existing natural gas infrastructure.

• It also appears to be the first renewable natural gas deal for EQT (the global private equity giant, not the Pittsburgh-based energy producer).

Zoom in: EQT agreed to initially buy a 54.1% stake for €289 million, or €21.55 per share (27% premium to yesterday's closing price). Once that tranche closes, EQT would launch a mandatory tender for the remaining shares.

The bottom line: "The gas is coming from landfills, but you can just add it to the conventional natural gas you're already producing, transporting, and consuming. It's a drop-in." — Alan Neuhauser, Axios Pro

• Anduril, the defense-tech giant, raised $2.5b at a $30.5b valuation from existing backers like Founders Fund, a16z, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, and Altimeter. axios.link/3Zhy2o6

• Anysphere, an AI coding assistant, confirmed an earlier FT report that it raised $900m at a $9.9b valuation. Thrive Capital led, joined by a16z, Accel and DST Global. axios.link/3FN2csv

🚑 Allay Therapeutics, a San Jose, Calif.-based developer of analgesic pain relief products, raised $57.5m in Series D funding co-led by Lightstone Ventures and ClavystBio. axios.link/4kO5cDP

🌎 Aircapture, a Berkeley, Calif.-based direct air capture startup, raised $50m in Series A funding led by Larsen Lam Climate Change Foundation, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3ZTNmau

• Kargo, a warehouse inventory management startup, raised $18.4m, per Axios Pro. Matter Venture Partners led, joined by Sozo Ventures, Founders Fund, Lineage, and Armada Supply Chain Solutions. axios.link/3HoZVEF

• Deep Sentinel, a Pleasanton, Calif.-based physical security startup, raised $15m in Series B funding. Egis Capital Partners led, joined by Intel Capital, Shasta Ventures, UP2398, and Slow Launch Fund. axios.link/3Fp8cry

🚑 Signify Bio, a Dallas-based developer of personalized medicines, raised $15m led by Actium, with participation from Gates Foundation Strategic Investment Fund, Danaher Ventures, Eli Lilly, and BrightEdge. signifybio.com

🚑 Qure Biotechnology, a Chinese antibody and protein therapeutics startup, raised $14m in Series C funding led by Efung Capital. qurebio.com

• Crabi, a digital-first auto insurer in Mexico, raised $13.6m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Kaszek and Ignia co-led, joined by 30N, Redwood, Carao, Azuro and Newtopia. axios.link/43SrSMA

• Impart Security, an AI security platform, raised $12m in Series A funding. Madrona Ventures led, joined by CRV and 8-Bit Capital. axios.link/4mPyu6U

• Flank, a German AI legal agent, raised $10m. Insight Partners led, joined by Gradient Ventures, 10x Founders, and HV Capital. axios.link/3FLwgot

• AgentSmyth, an autonomous agent platform for trading and investment, raised $8.7m in seed funding. FinTech Collective and Thomson Reuters co-led, joined by BNY. axios.link/3ZSSmMu

• Latent Technology, a London-based game-tech startup focused on "physical animation." raised $8m in seed funding. AlbionVC and Spark Capital co-led, joined by Root Ventures and Alumni Ventures. axios.link/3FzMnFH

🚑 BC Partners acquired a majority stake in IGS GeboJagema, a Dutch injection molding company focused on medical devices. axios.link/4jNFrmw

• Greybull Stewardship acquired VSSTA, a provider of collision repair solutions. vssta.com

⚡ Hull Street Energy acquired certain generating assets in Illinois from Elwood Energy, a subsidiary of J-Power USA. axios.link/43N7jRr

⚡ KKR and PSP Investments completed their previously announced purchase of a 19.9% stake in American Electric Power's (Nasdaq: AEP) transmission companies in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan. axios.link/4j7Zmxf

• PGW Auto Glass, a Cranbury, N.J.-based portfolio company of One Equity Partners, acquired Sioux Falls, S.D.-based Dakotaland Autoglass from West Edge Partners. pgwautoglass.com

• PSG made a growth investment in Uptick, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based provider of job management software for fire, safety, security, and field services. uptickhq.com

⚡ Stonepeak Partners is in exclusive talks to acquire Yinson, a listed Malasysian energy infrastructure company that could fetch $2.1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3T8QpYG

Circle stock jumped 168% yesterday, with Renaissance Capital saying it was the biggest pop ever for a $1 billion+ IPO. And it's up again in early trading today, despite a GOP defection on the stablecoin bill.

🚑 Omada Health, an SF-based chronic care management platform, raised $150m in its IPO. It priced in the middle of its $18-$20 range, for a $1.2b fully diluted value, and plans to list on the Nasdaq (OMDA). Omada raised around $450m in VC funding, most recently at a $1.1b valuation, from firms like Revelation Partners (10.9% pre-IPO stake), USVP (8.5%), a16z (9.6%), Fidelity (9.3%), Cigna Ventures (7.2%), aMoon (5.8%), and NVP (5.3%). axios.link/4jHO2Hg

• Miniso Group (HK: 9896) is weighing a spinoff listing of its pop toy business (Top Toy). axios.link/3ZOSGvQ

• Oxley Bridge Acquisition, a consumer and tech SPAC led by Jonathan Lin (L2 Capital), filed for a $220m IPO. axios.link/4kvIl0g

• CPE agreed to sell Chinese hair treatment chain Zhuhai Hairology Spa to Kidswant Children Products (SHE: 301078) for $230m. axios.link/43T3GcY

• Genpact (NYSE: G) acquired XponentL Data, a Philadelphia-based data strategy and design startup that had raised $3.5m from Databricks Ventures and Inoca Capital Partners. xponentl.ai

• Roark Capital Partners sold its remaining shares in Canadian pet supplies retailer Pet Valu (TSX: PET) via a C$576m secondary offering. axios.link/3FqN18x

🚑 Juvenescence, a British biotech focused that recently raised $76m led by M42, acquired Ro5, an Irving, Texas-based AI drug discovery startup. juvlabs.com

🌎 8090 Industries, a New York-based VC firm, raised over $90m for a decarbonization fund, per an SEC filing. axios.link/3Huwgd9

• Carlyle AlpInvest raised $4.1b for its ninth co-investment fund. carlyle.com

• Vineeta Agarwala, a general partner with a16z, was elected chair of the National Venture Capital Association's board of directors. nvca.org

• Max Gazor is stepping down as a general partner with CRV to launch a solo fund, per Alex Konrad. axios.link/4kNnPIN

• Arielle Ring joined JetBlue Ventures as president. She previously was CFO of both Northvolt North America and Ohmium International. axios.link/4dMxyMw

The U.S. economy added 139k jobs in May, while the unemployment held steady at 4.2%.

• The headline figure was slightly higher than expectations, but below the April adds. It's not the sort of report that will force the Fed to pull out its scissors.
• There also were 95k in downward revisions over the past two months, which hopefully will put to rest Biden-era conspiracy theories about BLS juking the initial stats.