Venture capital has its vice presidential candidate, with Donald Trump yesterday picking J.D. Vance to be his running mate.

Catch up quick: Vance was a corporate lawyer who went to Silicon Valley and got connected with Peter Thiel, via a two-year stint at venture capital firm Mithril Capital.

• As his book "Hillbilly Elegy" blew up, he connected via Twitter with investor and AOL co-founder Steve Case, who at the time was on a bus tour to highlight geographies were underserved by venture capital.
• Vance agreed to join Case's firm, Revolution, to invest in Midwestern startups and help launch a new seed fund. While at Revolution he overlapped with Ron Klain, who would later become President Biden's first chief of staff.
• Two years later he left Revolution to co-found a Cincinnati-based firm called Narya Ventures with former Mithril colleague Colin Greenspon. Investors in its debut fund included Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Eric Schmidt and Scott Dorsey.
• Then came a successful Senate run in Ohio, and a full-bearded MAGA conversion, leading up to yesterday's announcement.

What to know: Vance wasn't a successful or failed VC. Namely because he didn't have enough time, spending just six years at three different firms.

• His only board seat was at AppHarvest, a Kentucky-based indoor farming startup that went public via SPAC but later filed for bankruptcy (after Vance had left).
• Some former colleagues, however, rave about his abilities. One VC told me that Vance is "one of the smartest guys I've ever met."
• Crystal McKellar, who worked with Vance at Mithril, tweeted: "As a former colleague who worked pretty closely with JD, I can tell you from personal experience that [he] was a great VC. Super smart, pragmatic, developed expertise in new industries very quickly (and before our founder meetings!), and he had great instincts about people."
• Both Ron Klain and Peter Thiel declined to comment.

Zoom out: Vance made his early bones in Silicon Valley, and has plenty of tech billionaire benefactors, but is sympathetic to FTC chair Lina Khan and dismantling what he's referred to as a "Big Tech oligarchy."

• He's supported breaking up Google, opposed the TikTok ban, and came out against AI regulation that he believes could help incumbants.

The bottom line: Expect the media to dig into Vance's venture work, including some things that don't really have anything to do with him (like an FBI investigation into Mithril, while Trump was president).

• But this won't be like Mitt Romney in 2012, when Bain Capital kept capturing headlines, because Vance just wasn't in the game long enough to become a major player.

Lineage, a Novi, Michigan-based real estate investment trust focused on cold storage facilities, set IPO terms to 47 million shares at $70 to $82 per share.

Why it's the BFD: It would easily be the year's largest U.S. IPO, even if it prices at the bottom of its range, topping a $1.5 billion raise by cruise operator Viking.

Dig in: Lineage, which has over 3 billion cubic feet in 482 global facilities, could raise upwards of $3.85 billion at a $17.2 billion market cap.

• It plans to list on the Nasdaq (LINE). Backers include Bay Grove Capital, Stonepeak, D1 Capital Partners, and Oxford Properties Group.
• For 2023, the company reports a $536 million net loss on $5.34 billion of revenue.

The bottom line: "The temperature-controlled warehouse operator partners with food and beverage companies for the storage, handling and movement of food around the world." — Reuters

🚑 Cardurion Pharmaceuticals , a Burlington Mass., developer of therapies for heart failure, raised $260m in Series B funding. Ascenta Capital led, and was joined by Bain Capital, NEA, GV, Fidelity, Millennium Management, Farallon Capital Management, Invus, Blue Owl, Delos Capital, and Digitalis Ventures. axios.link/3W80EgP

🚑 CatalYm, a German oncology biotech, raised $150m in Series D funding. Canaan Partners and Bioqube Ventures co-led, and were joined by Forbion, Omega Funds, Gilde Healthcare and insiders Jeito Capital, Brandon Capital Partners, Novartis Venture Fund, and Vesalius Biocapital. axios.link/3zHLLdH

🚑 Asceneuron, a Swiss neuroscience biotech, raised $100m in Series C funding. Novo Nordisk led, and was joined by QT Life Sciences Dementia Fund, OrbiMed, SR One and insiders M Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, GSK Equities Investments and JJDC. axios.link/464tlQo

🚑 Huma, a London-based "Shopify of digital health," raised $80m in Series D funding from backers like AstraZeneca, HAT SGR, Hitachi Ventures, and Leaps by Bayer. axios.link/3y192a6

⚡ LevelTen, a Seattle provider of transaction infrastructure for the energy transition, raised $65m in Series D funding. B Capital led, and was joined by Aster, Constellation, Google, Intercontinental Exchange, Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, NGP, Prelude Ventures, and ZOMA Capital. leveltenenergy.com

🚑 Octagos Health, a Houston provider of cardiac device monitoring tools, raised $43m Series B in Series B funding. Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital led, and was joined by insider Mucker Capital. octagoshealth.com

• One Data, a German provider of data management software, raised €32m in Series B extension funding from Vsquared Ventures, Molten Ventures, and HV Capital. axios.link/4cHTSFV

⚡ Heimdall Power, a Norwegian grid sensor startup, raised $25m in Series B funding from Orlen, NRP Zero, and the Steinsvik family office. axios.link/465ISj2

• Vectara, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based generative AI product platform, raised $25m in Series A funding. FPV Ventures and Race Capital co-led, and were joined by Alumni Ventures, WVV Capital, Samsung Next, Fusion Fund, Green Sands Equity, and Mack Ventures. vectara.com

🚑 Neuspera Medical, a San Jose, Calif., maker of implantable devices for bladder control, raised $23m in Series D funding. Vertex Ventures HC and Treo Ventures co-led, and were joined by Windham Venture Partners, Action Potential Venture Capital, and Olympus Innovation Ventures. neuspera.com

• Loopha, a Singaporean platform for finding affordable homes, raised $20m. IFC and Wavemaker Partners co-led, and were joined by Pavilion Capital, 10X Group, Concentric Equity Partners, Mirath Investments, NataRock Partners Fund and insiders Patamar Capital and Tekton Ventures. It also secured $60m in debt. axios.link/3Lq9r97

⚡ Naked Energy, a British solar thermal design and engineering firm, raised £17m in Series B funding. E.on EIS led, and was joined by Barclays. axios.link/3Y3sz4r

• Zap, a token distribution protocol, raised $15.1m from Rarestone Capital, Cypher Capital, and Sharding Capital. axios.link/3LqBkxQ

• Cubbit, an Italian geo-distributed cloud storage startup, raised $12.5m co-led by LocalGlobe and ETF Partners. axios.link/3LKUE9n

⚡ Dynelectro, a Danish developer of green hydrogen production systems using industrial waste heat, raised €11m from Denmark's Export & Import Fund Organisation, Yara Growth Ventures, Vsquared Ventures, PSV DeepTech, The Footprint Firm, and the EIB. axios.link/4bFhXvv

• Moving Tech (dba Namma Yatri), an Indian ride-share startup, raised $11m. Blume Ventures and Antler co-led, and were joined by Google. axios.link/3zJDi9V

🚑 Seven Starling, a Washington, D.C.-based virtual maternal behavioral health startup, raised $10.9m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. RH Capital led, and was joined by Pear VC, Magnify Ventures, Emerson Collective, and Expa. axios.link/3LobD0G

• Dusk, a developer of social multiplayer games, raised $8m co-led by Makers Fund and byFounders. dusk.gg

• Doinstruct, a German frontline working training startup, raised $7.6m led by Creandum. doinstruct.com

🚑 Predicta, a Boston-based precision oncology startup, raised $5.2m in seed funding. The Engine Ventures led, and was joined by Illumina Ventures, Time Boost Capital, and the American Cancer Society. predictabiosciences.com

🌎 Syntetica, a Swiss nylon recycling startup, raised €4.2m in seed funding led by EQT Ventures. axios.link/4cX18xT

• Presti, a French provider of AI solutions for product photos, raised $3.5m in seed funding led by Partech. axios.link/463EhxT

• Bima Labs, a developer of Bitcoin-backed stablecoins, raised $2.25m in seed funding led by Portal Ventures. axios.link/3Ln9umf

• CloudWalk, a Latin America-focused SMB payments startups, is in talks to raise up to $400m at a valuation of at least $4b, per The Information. axios.link/3zIsCZ9

• Auxilo Finserve, an Indian education financing company, raised around $30m from LeapFrog Investments. auxilo.com

• Banner Capital Management acquired Vision Graphics, a Salt Lake City provider of print and display solutions. visiondoesit.com

🚑 Carmelina Capital Partners invested in KVP International, a McKinney, Texas-based provider of veterinary supplies. kvpvet.com

🚑 Vālenz Health, a portfolio company of Kelso & Co., acquired Nashville-based price and quality data provider Healthcare Bluebook from Primus Capital. valenzhealth.com

• Varicent, a Toronto-based provider of sales performance management software, raised funding from Warburg Pincus and insiders Great Hill Partners and Spectrum Equity. varicent.com

🎲Hann, a Philippine casino operator, is prepping a $200m local IPO, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4cFBUUd

🚑 Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE: EW) exercised an option to acquire Innovalve, an Israeli maker of mitral valve replacement implants, for $300m upfront. Innovalve had raised funding from firms like Edwards and Alive Israel Healthtech Fund. axios.link/3S7xTje

• KBR (NYSE: KBR) agreed to buy LinQuest, a Herndon, Va., provider of nation security space tech, for $737m from Madison Dearborn Partners. linquest.com

• KKR is weighing a sale of Kito Crosby, a Richardson, Texas-based machinery maker that could fetch around $3b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3LK7gxv

🚑 Spectris (LSE: SXS) agreed to buy Micromeritics, a Norcross, Ga.-based provider of equipment to material sciences labs, from SFW Capital Partners for $630m. axios.link/3LoM7IQ

🚑 Stryker (NYSE: SYK), a Kalamazoo, Mich., medical device manufacturer, acquired Artelon, a Marietta, Ga., maker of foot and ankle reconstruction products that had raised around $17m from firms like Vensana Capital. artelon.com

• The FTC is launching an in-depth review of IBM's (NYSE: IBM) proposed $6.4b cash takeover of HashiCorp (NYSE: HCP), an SF-based multi-cloud automation software provider. axios.link/3WozPqj

🚑 Lantheus (Nasdaq: LNTH) acquired Meilleur Technologies, a Dublin, Ohio, provider radiopharmaceutical diagnostics for Alzheimer's disease. axios.link/3Wn8Taf

• SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) made a $200m preferred equity investment in SGH (Nasdaq: SGH), a Milpitas, Calif., maker of computing, memory, and LED products. sghcorp.com

• Starboard Value acquired a 6.6% stake in Tinder and Hinge parent company Match Group (Nasdaq MTCH), which already had activist involvement from Elliott Management and Anson Funds Management.

• United Refining Co. of Warren, Pa., bought the convenience retail assets of Pump N' Pantry. urc.com

• Cody Cowan joined Blackstone's private equity group, after having been a VP with Thoma Bravo. axios.link/4cASkNM

Alex Stanton, one of private equity's top PR pros, has passed away after an illness.

• He's best known for his decades-long work with Bain Capital.
• To me, he was simply one of the best at what he did. Fierce defender of his clients, but happily willing to engage with journalists in the sort of back-and-forth that helped get to the truth of a matter.

What they're saying:

"In addition to being one of the hardest working and smartest people we have known, Alex Stanton was a tremendous leader, mentor, colleague and friend. The outreach we have received from so many is a testament to the impact he had on employees, clients, media and the public relations industry over the past 50 years. No one will ever be able to fill Alex's shoes, but we will do everything possible to honor his legacy and his name."

— Tom Faust & Charlyn Lusk, managing directors of the firm Alex founded and led

Rest in peace Alex. It's hard to imagine this job without you on the other line.

President Biden today is expected to propose legislation that would slow residential rent increases, but the markets don't seem to be buying what he's selling.

• The bill wouldn't cap rents, but would remove a key tax write-off for landlords that raise annual rates by more than 5%.
• This only would be for existing rental properties, so as not to discourage new construction or building rehab.

Investor reax: Yawn. Blackstone, which is one of America's largest corporate landlords with over 6 million single-family rental properties, saw its shares rise 2% yesterday.

• Also up were some residential real estate ETFs.

The bottom line: If the markets don't believe Biden is going to be reelected, the markets aren't likely to sell off on his new proposals.