The stimulus bill begrudgingly signed by President Trump on the Sunday after Christmas includes $284 billion for a revived Paycheck Protection Program, which would be available to small businesses whether they received loans the first time around or not.

How it will work: We don't know. And that's a problem.

History: In April, the Small Business Administration stood up the PPP and opened the application window just seven days after the CARES Act passed.

• Yes, there were glitches. And Treasury regularly rolled out new guidance, creating confusion for lenders and a billing bonanza for lawyers.
• But PPP did move quickly enough that it soon ran out of money. When refreshed just three weeks later, the SBA effectively just flipped the switch back on.

Fast forward: The new stimulus gives the SBA up to 10 days to release rules on how the revived program will work. That deadline is tomorrow, although we've not received official confirmation that it will be met.

• Similarly, no word from the SBA on when the actual application window will reopen.
• A source says that the goal this time around is to have more complete rules (i.e., no rolling guidance) and to better educate lenders on the rules, thus preempting some of the hiccups last time around. Or, put another way, applicants should cool their heels at least a little while longer.
• It remains unclear if applicants whose earlier loans remain under Treasury review will be eligible this time around.
• Also worth noting that, even if the SBA does open the window in a week or so, it's likely that many application processes will span administrations — although most career SBA staff are expected to remain in place.

The bottom line: The spring's sense of urgency doesn't seem present at the SBA this time around, despite the COVID-19 surge and dire straits faced by many restaurants and other small businesses.

• While it's laudable that the agency wants to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, it could and should have been prepared for a revived program, given the ongoing stimulus negotiations, and then tweaked as necessary once seeing the final legislative language.
• Speed, in this case, matters.

Gina Raimondo, a former venture capitalist who's currently in her second term as Rhode Island governor, has emerged as a leading candidate to be President-elect Joe Biden's commerce secretary, Axios' Hans Nichols scoops.

• Biden had been considering a prominent CEO or a Republican to lead the Commerce Department.

• In considering Raimondo, he appears to be moving to a more traditional choice (albeit one that might still raise hackles among certain progressives).
• Raimondo in 2001 co-founded Rhode Island-based Point Judith Capital, which has since relocated to Boston and rebranded as PJC, before leaving to successfully run for Rhode Island treasurer.

On the other side:

• Gary Cohn, President Trump's former chief economic adviser, announced this morning that he's joined IBM as vice chairman.
• Derek Kan, who last month resigned as deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), is joining VC-backed Deliverr to lead strategy and business operations, Axios has learned. Kan, a former Lyft general manager and Amtrak board member who spent Trump's first two years in the Transportation Department, also will serve as an adviser to Oaktree Capital Group, per Buyouts.

Source: Giphy

Vinci Partners Investments, a Brazilian alternative asset manager, filed for a $100 million IPO and said it plans to list on the Nasdaq.

• Why it's the BFD: The next wave of private equity firm IPOs is coming not from the U.S. but from Brazil, with Vinci's filing coming just days after a filing from Patria Investments.

• By the numbers: Vinci reports over $8.6 billion in AUM as of Sept. 30, 2020, and a $21 million profit on $44 million in gross revenue for the first nine months of 2020.
• The bottom line: "Brazilian asset managers are luring billions from investors seeking higher returns at a time when the benchmark interest rate in Latin American’s largest economy is at a record low of 2%." — Reuters

🚑 Color, a Burlingame, Calif.-based genetics and health testing company, raised $167 million in Series D funding at a $1.5 billion post-money valuation. General Catalyst and T. Rowe Price co-led, and were joined by Viking Global. http://axios.link/SyB4

• BayoTech, an Albuquerque-based producer of on-site hydrogen, secured up to $157 million in new funding. Newlight Partners led, and was joined by Fortistar and return backers Cottonwood Technology Funds and Sun Mountain Capital. www.bayotech.us

• Iboss, a Boston-based cloud delivered network security company, raised $145 million led by NightDragon, a VC firm of FireEye and McAfee CEO Dave DeWalt. www.iboss.com

• Fluence, an Arlington, Va.-based energy storage company, raised $125 million from the Qatar Investment Authority. http://axios.link/9njQ

• SimpleNexus, a Lehi, Utah-based homeownership platform, raised $108 million in Series B funding led by Insight Partners. www.simplenexus.com

🚑 Aro Biotherapeutics, a Philadelphia-based developer of tissue-targeted genetic medicines, raised $88 million in Series A funding. Northpond Ventures and Cowen Healthcare Investments co-led, and were joined by HealthCap, BVF Partners, Ridgeback Capital and return backers Johnson & Johnson, BioMotiv and Ionis Pharmaceuticals. www.arobiotx.com

🚑 IconOVir Bio, a San Diego-based developer of oncolytic virus therapies, raised $77 million in Series A funding. Nextech and Vida Ventures co-led, and were joined by Two River Group, Bellco Capital, Polaris Partners, GV, Wellington Partners and Logos Capital. http://axios.link/JZ36

• Citizen, a mobile app that provides users with notifications of nearby emergencies and crimes (and lets them livestream video), raised around $73 million in new funding led by Greycroft. http://axios.link/xFFz

• Echelon Fitness, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based connected fitness company, raised $65 million. Goldman Sachs Growth led, and was joined by insider North Castle Partners. http://axios.link/pz4R

🚑 Immuneering, a Cambridge, Mass.-based cancer drug developer, raised $62 million in Series B funding. Cormorant Asset Management led, and was joined by Surveyor Capital, Rock Springs Capital, T. Rowe Price, BlackRock, Perceptive Advisors and Lyfe Capital. www.immuneering.com

• ShareChat, an Indian social network, is in talks to raise more than $200 million in Series E funding from backers like Google and Snap, per TechCrunch. http://axios.link/G3YV

• AutoVitals, a portfolio company of Tritium Partners, acquired BayIQ, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based provider of marketing software to the independent tire and automotive repair industry. Sellers include Cobre Capital. www.autovitals.com

• Brookfield Asset Management offered to pay $5.9 billion to buy the 56% stake it doesn’t hold in its commercial real estate business, Brookfield Property Partners (Nasdaq: BPY). http://axios.link/HQTV

• Distribution International, a Houston-based portfolio company of Advent International, acquired RB LLC, a New Orleans-based marine specialty insulation distributor and fabricator. www.distributioninternational.com

• Golden Gate Capital acquired Tidal Wave Auto Spa, an Orange Park, Fla.-based car wash chain. PE Hub puts the price tag at around $950 million. http://axios.link/ppx2

• H.I.G. Capital acquired and will merge two California companies in the food and consumer packaging space: Action Point and Signature Flexible Packaging. www.higcapital.com

• Individual FoodService, a Bell, Calif.-based portfolio company of Kelso & Co., acquired Brady Industries, a Las Vegas-based janitorial supply and foodservice distributor, from A&M Capital. www.bradyindustries.com

• Long Arc Capital invested €25 million for a majority stake in TagPay, a Paris-based digital banking platform. www.tagpay.com

• NPM Capital acquired Futurewhiz, a Dutch consumer education company, from Levine Leichtman Capital Partners. www.squla.com

• Platinum Equity acquired a control stake in Mad Engine, a San Diego-based apparel maker. http://axios.link/XtnA

• USALCO, a Baltimore-based portfolio company of H.I.G. Capital, acquired AI Chem/CalChem, a provider of specialty chemicals for municipal water treatment and industrial applications. www.usalco.com

• Khoros, an Austin, Texas-based portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners, acquired Topbox, a Potomac, Md.-based provider of enterprise customer experience analytics software. It also secured an undisclosed amount of new funding from Vista and others. Topbox had raised $7 million from firms like Telescope Partners and Flyover Capital. www.khoros.com

• Knox Lane invested in Fingerpaint, a Saratoga Springs-based health and wellness marketing agency. www.fingerpaint.com

• MidOcean Partners acquired LYNX Franchising, a franchise platform for Jan Pro and other commercial and industrial services, from Incline Equity Partners.

• OpenGate Capital agreed to buy the amphoteric surfactant manufacturing business of Solvay (Brussels: SOLB). www.opengatecapital.com

🚑 Cardiva Medical, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of vascular closure devices, filed for a $75 million IPO. It plans to list on the NYSE with JPMorgan as lead underwriter, and reports $17 million net loss on $31 million in revenue for the first nine months of 2020. Cardiva raised nearly $200 million from firms like PTV Sciences (27.2% pre-IPO stake), EW Healthcare (22.6%) and Evidity Health Capital (16.3%). http://axios.link/eIhP

🚑 Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, a Raritan, N.J.-based maker of in vitro diagnostic products owned by The Carlyle Group, filed for an IPO that Renaissance Capital estimates could raise $800 million. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (OCDX) with JPMorgan as lead underwriter, and reports a $171 million net loss on $1.25 billion in revenue for the first nine months of 2020. http://axios.link/9OpD

• Sylebra Capital, a Hong Kong-based hedge fund, agreed to invest $200 million in Aeva, a Mountain View, Calif.-based lidar startup that previously agreed to go public via InterPrivate Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: IPV), in which Sylebra is also a shareholder. http://axios.link/tvTp

• Benessere Capital Acquisition, a mid-market tech-focused SPAC, raised $100 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/LlDs

• Crucible Acquisition, a tech-focused SPAC formed by Brad Feld (Foundry Group) and James Lejeal (ex-Splunk), raised $225 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/cxiY

• European Sustainable Growth Acquisition, a SPAC targeting a European sustainability company, filed for a $125 million IPO. http://axios.link/EUUS

• Fortress Value Acquisition III, a SPAC formed by Fortress Investment Group, raised $200 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/KD81

• North Atlantic Acquisition, a SPAC led by ex-Diageo exec Andrew Morgan and former Credit Suisse investment banker Gary Quin, filed for a $300 million IPO. http://axios.link/CaBF

• RMG Acquisition III, a SPAC formed by James Carpenter (Riverside Management) and Robert Mancini (ex-Carlyle), filed for a $350 million IPO. http://axios.link/MpGr

🚑 Hologic (Nasdaq: HOLX) paid $64 million to buy Somatex Medical Technologies, a German maker of breast cancer biopsy markers and guidance equipment, from Westlake Partners. http://axios.link/wRKw

• Niantic, creator of Pokémon Go, acquired Mayhem, a San Francisco startup focused on gaming league and tournament organization platform that had raised nearly $6 million from YC, Accel, Afore Capital and NextGen Venture Partners. http://axios.link/GvVf

• Twitter (NYSE: TWTR) acquired Breaker, a San Francisco-based social broadcasting app that had raised seed funding from Arena Ventures, Zeno Ventures, Ace & Co., Shrug Capital, 122 West Ventures, Weekend Fund and Betaworks Ventures. http://axios.link/Cvln

• Jiangsu Shagang Group and Avic Trust are seeking a buyer for London-based data center operator Global Switch, which could fetch around $11 billion, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/BhXV

• Mondelez International (Nasdaq: MDLZ) agreed to buy the remaining stake in paleo chocolate bar maker Hu Master Holdings at a valuation north of $250 million (per WSJ). Mondelez acquired a minority stake in April 2019. http://axios.link/iRcD

• RealPage (Nasdaq: RP) acquired WhiteSky Communications, a Tuscaloosa, Ala.-based provider of VOIP and other communications services to the business and multifamily housing markets. www.whitesky.us

• SVB Financial Group agreed to buy wealth management firm Boston Private (Nasdaq: BPFH) for around $900 million in cash and stock. http://axios.link/ikB5

• Teledyne (NYSE: TDY) agreed to buy Ohio-based thermal imaging company FLIR (Nasdaq: FLIR) for around $8 billion in cash and stock. http://axios.link/UvBX

• One Way Ventures, a Boston-based VC firm focused on immigrant founders, raised $57.5 million for its second fund. http://axios.link/G63z

• Vincent Gombault stepped down as head of funds-of-funds and private debt at Ardian, after 20 years with the firm, per PE International. http://axios.link/B6J7

🚑 Adam Fliss, former general counsel at TPG, joined Patient Square Capital as general counsel and a founding partner. www.patientsquarecapital.com

🚑 Shaan Gandhi left Longwood Fund to become a director with Northpond Ventures, per his LinkedIn. www.northpondventures.com

• Jerry Nowak (ex-Kirkland & Ellis) joined Thoma Bravo as a managing director and general counsel. Thoma Bravo also said that IR and marketing head Jennifer James will assume the additional position of COO. www.thomabravo.com

• Harrison Lung joined private equity firm Siris as a partner of portfolio value creation. He previously was a partner with McKinsey & Co. www.siris.com

• Aneesha Raghunathan joined Susquehanna Growth Equity as a vice president. She previously was with TA Associates. www.sgep.com

• DCM Ventures promoted David Cheng to principal. www.dcm.com

• Long Ridge Equity Partners promoted Andrew Cedar and Jason Melton to principal. www.long-ridge.com

• Ten Eleven Ventures promoted Kaiti Delaney to principal and Megan Dubofsky to operating partner and CMO. www.1011vc.com

• Two Sigma Ventures promoted Dusan Perovic and Frances Schwiep to partner. www.twosigmaventures.com

• Worthy of your time: The IPO gender gap, by Business Insider's Alyson Shontell