A few years back, some friends decided to take me to Level 99 for my birthday. When I asked what it was, they said they weren't sure but that they'd heard it was lots of fun. Plus, there would be beer.

• They were right. On both counts.

Driving the news: Level 99, which is best-described as a real-world gaming venue for adults, tells Axios that it's raised $50 million from ACT III Holdings, the investment firm led by Panera founder and Cava chairman Ron Shaich.

• Act III previously invested $10 million.
• "This could be the most exciting business I've ever been involved with, and that includes Cava," Shaich says.

Zoom in: I went to the inaugural Level 99, which is located inside what once was a suburban shopping mall Sears.

• It features around 50 physical and mental challenges inside small rooms, ranging from relatively easy to maddingly difficult. And everyone wears wristbands to access the rooms and keep track of your performance (yes, there's a giant scoreboard).
• Plus immersive art, a scratch kitchen serving comfort food, and a full-service bar that's partnered with a local brewery. Its team includes vets of Disney Imagineering and Meow Wolf.
• Level 99 has three open locations, will open a fourth in early 2026 and just broke ground in Disney Springs. Other leases are signed, although the company isn't disclosing geographies.

By the numbers: Shaich sold Panera for $7.5 billion, which is around the same figure as Cava's current market cap.

What they're saying: "My last company, which now is part of Level 99, had a team that for 17 years did designs and builds for third-party clients," says Matt DuPlessie, founder and CEO of Level99. "Disney. Museums. Major theme parks. Theatrical productions. We built stage sets for Blue Man Group. We put exhibits in the Smithsonian."

• He adds: "I started to see patterns of what was working in location-based entertainment and what would go stale."
• A big key, he and Shaich say, is engaging people without relying on screens.

Anglo American (LSE: AAL) agreed to buy Teck Resources (TSX: TECK), via an all-stock deal that would give the combined company a market cap of around $53 billion.

Why it's the BFD: This would create one of the world's largest miners of copper, a metal essential to both data centers and renewable energy.

• It also comes after both Anglo American and Teck have fended off acquisition efforts by larger rivals.

Zoom in: The companies are referring to this as a "merger of equals," and say it's expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months.

The bottom line: "A Teck-Anglo combination has long been discussed behind the scenes. Both companies have been seeking to simplify their businesses — Teck sold a majority stake in its coal division to Glencore, while Anglo has exited platinum mining and is in the process of trying to sell its own coal mines and offload its De Beers diamond unit." — Bloomberg

• Cognition, a New York-based AI coding startup, raised $400m at a $10.2b post-money valuation. Founders Fund led, joined by Lux Capital, 8VC, Neo, Elad Gil, Definition Capital, and Swish VC. axios.link/4nkwJOD

• ElevenLabs, an AI audio startup, is launching a $100m tender offer valuing it at $6.6b, per Bloomberg. Sequoia Capital and Iconiq Growth are leading, with participation from a16z. axios.link/3V3B5h4

• Epigenic Therapeutics, a Shanghai-based clinical drug development company, raised $60m in Series B funding. Lapam Capital led, joined by Qiming Venture Partners and OrbiMed. axios.link/3I9JEUw

• DataCrunch, a Finnish AI infrastructure company, raised €55m in Series A equity and debt funding from byFounders, Skaala, Varma, Tesi, and J12 Ventures. axios.link/4m6AEh0

• Motion, developer of "Microsoft Office for AI agents," raised $38m in Series C funding at a $550m valuation. Scale Venture Partners led, joined by HOF Capital, 468 Capital, SignalFire, Valor Equity Partners, Fellows Fund, and Leonis Capital. axios.link/4pjgdQW

🌍 AMSilk, a German developer of biomaterials from silk-based proteins, raised €30m in equity funding and €22m in debt. Athos led, joined by fellow insiders MIG Capital and Novo Holdings. amsilk.com

• Fyxer.ai, a workplace productivity assistant, raised $30m in Series B funding. Madrona led, joined by Lakestar Capital. axios.link/4nmwQJl

• Inversion Labs, a startup seeking to apply blockchain tech to PE-style deals, raised $26.5m at a $100m valuation. Dragonfly led, joined by ParaFi, Lightspeed, VanEck, Balaji Srinivasan, Volt Capital, and Wintermute Ventures. axios.link/46dfgRp

• Interaction, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based consumer AI lab, raised $15m in seed funding at a $100m valuation. General Catalyst led, joined by Village Global and Earlybird VC. axios.link/4pkT14L

🌎 Puro.earth, a Finnish carbon credits startup, raised €11m in Series B funding. Nasdaq led, joined by Fortum Innovation and Venturing. axios.link/4pg5Lt4

• Speedchain, an Atlanta-based spend management platform for construction, raised $11m in Series A funding from GTM Fund, Village Global, TTV Capital, K5 Global, Tandem, and Emigrant Bank, per Axios Pro. It also secured $100m in debt from Community Investment Management. axios.link/47tZMdY

• Cassidy, a New York-based AI automation platform for non-technical teams, raised $10m in Series A funding. HOF Capital led, joined by The General Partnership, Neo, and Alumni Ventures. axios.link/4gdi8Cd

• Sphinx, which builds AI agents for data teams, raised $9.5m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Lightspeed led, joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, BoxGroup, K5, and Impatient VC. axios.link/41G64n5

⚡️ Maeving, a U.K.-based electric motorcycle developer, raised £8m in Series A funding from Venrex, Future Planet Capital, and Elbow Beach. axios.link/4gkW0WQ

• Rock Flour, a Danish carbon removal startup, raised a €6.1m seed round led by the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark, with participation from Novo Holdings. axios.link/4pfgnIU

• Architect AI, a developer of agentic websites, raised $4.75m in seed funding. Project A led, joined by Concept Ventures and Insiders Ventures. axios.link/4pg78Ip

⚡️ Otovo USA, a Houston-based home power services provider, raised $4m led by EIC Rose Roc. axios.link/3V7kuZH

⚡️Act-ion Battery Technology, a Dallas-based battery materials manufacturer, raised $4m in led by Kyobo Life Insurance Group and KB Investment. axios.link/47uAWuv

⚡ Kora, developer of a home battery storage system, raised $2.6m from Moneta Ventures and Growth Factory Ventures. axios.link/425kUnt

🚀 Space Dots, a startup focused on detecting orbital threats, raised $1.5m in seed funding led by Female Founders Fund. axios.link/4m83WMe

• Arcapita acquired a majority stake in C&K Paving, a Winder, Ga.-based provider of parking lot maintenance services. axios.link/3VM1SP3

• Archimed acquired Groupe Laboratoire Rivadis, a French maker of skincare products. axios.link/4gzsRY5

• Arsenal Capital Partners agreed to buy the ThermoSafe packaging business from Sonoco Products (NYSE: SON) for up to $725m. axios.link/3I1ia3A

• Capitol Meridian Partners and Stellex Capital Management agreed to buy Beaufort, the aerospace and defense units of Survitec, a Searchlight Capital Partners portfolio company. survitecgroup.com

🚑 Cresso Health, a Cypress Ridge Capital portfolio company, acquired Florida-based health insurance distributor GPS Insurance. axios.link/46sON3m

• Dissan, a Canadian janitorial products distributor backed by BDC Capital, acquired local rival V-TO. axios.link/4npp41F

• LDC completed its purchase of a 45% stake in British commercial law firm Harper James. axios.link/483OHjV

• Property Finder, a property portal in the Middle East and North Africa, raised $525m led by Permira, with Blackstone participating. axios.link/3VGUmoG

• Signal Hill invested in Kluber, an Aurora, Ill.-based architecture, engineering, and design firm. axios.link/47zmXng

🌎 TorQuest Partners invested in Waste Solutions Canada, a managed service provider for waste and recycling services. axios.link/45Ub89T

• Gemini, the Winklevi-founded crypto exchange expected to go public this week, secured a strategic investment from Nasdaq, per Reuters. axios.link/4md5pB1

🚑 LB Pharmaceuticals, a New York-based biotech focused on neuropsychiatric diseases, set IPO terms to 16.67m shares at $14-$16. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (LBRX), and has raised over $135m from firms like Deep Track Capital, Vida Ventures, Pontifax and TCG. axios.link/47InGSW

• Range Capital Acquisition II, a SPAC focused on capital-constrained sectors, filed for a $200m IPO. axios.link/4pgxWrV

⚡ WaterBridge Infrastructure, a Houston-based provider of water services and infrastructure for E&Ps, set IPO terms to 27m shares at $17-$20. It would have a $2.1b fully diluted valuation, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (WBI). Backers include Five Point Energy. axios.link/41HCMV4

• Mitsubishi Electric (Tokyo: 6503) agreed to acquire Nozomi Networks, an SF-based provider of industrial cybersecurity software. No financial terms were disclosed, but Axios has learned that the sale price was around $1b.

• Nozomi has raised around $250m from firms like Notable Capital, Lux Capital, Energize Capital, Honeywell Ventures, and Partners Group.

• GIC and SoftBank are seeking to sell their stakes in Vietnamese fintech VNLife at around a $1b valuation, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4mrs8cN

Source: Giphy

• News Corp (Nasdaq: NWSA) and Fox Corp. (Nasdaq: FOXA) announced that the Murdoch family has resolved its dispute over the succession of both companies.

• Lachlan Murdoch will gain corporate control, and pay his three siblings — Prudence, Elisabeth and James — a reported $1.1b each for their shares. Go deeper.

• Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS) completed its $2.4b acquisition of rival retailer Foot Locker.

🚑 Novartis (NYSE: NVS) agreed to acquire Tourmaline Bio (Nasdaq: TRML), a New York-based biotech focused on systemic inflammation, for $1.4b, or $48 per share. axios.link/42ha0uz

Correction: Rockbridge raised $360m for its third fund. Yesterday we wrote $1.7b, which was the firm's total AUM.

• Legal & General raised €600m for a digital infrastructure fund. axios.link/3HSb0P7

• Alain Carrier, former CEO of Bregal Investments, joined the Abu Dhabi Investment Council as executive director of private equity. axios.link/4nfucoI

• Adam Freiman joined Orrick's tech companies group as a partner. He previously was with WilmerHale. axios.link/41HIq9K

• Tom Pinks joined OpenGate Capital as a London-based principal of biz dev. He previously was with Aurelius Equity Opportunities. axios.link/3JLIgrV

• Michele Raba is leading Apollo, where she was lead partner for European private equity, per Bloomberg. His replacement in the role will be Alex van Hoek. axios.link/41HcmCV

• Phiras Soubra joined Hunter Point Capital as a managing director focused on the Middle East. He previously was with Campbell Lutyens. axios.link/46g85rC

🌎 JD Vargas joined TPG Rise Climate as a partner. He previously was with EQT Infrastructure. axios.link/45WzSOX

• Thomas Vermeiren joined Baird as a director of GP solutions. He previously was with Morgan Stanley. axios.link/4mbKE8P