The corporate espionage fight between Rippling and Deel again has escalated, and this time appears to involve a third HR software "unicorn."

Catch up quick: Rippling sued Deel in March, accusing Deel of hiring a spy inside of Rippling.

• Deel, which is valued by VCs at around $12 billion, denied the allegation and countersued for defamation.
• Rippling last week announced $450 million in new funding at a $16.8 billion valuation, and also said it would launch a $200 million tender offer for current and former employees.

Fast forward: The tender launched Monday, and related documentation included some information on the Deel conflict in its "Risk Factors" section.

• It then dropped two bombshells.
• The first was a claim that Rippling has reported Deel's alleged conduct to U.S. federal law enforcement, and that Rippling "understands" that there is "an active criminal investigation." The NY Times' DealBook newsletter was first to report on this.
• The second, not mentioned by DealBook, is an allegation that Globalization Partners "has also discovered and reported similar conduct to U.S. federal law enforcement and that an active criminal investigation into that conduct is ongoing."

Zoom in: Globalization Partners is a Boston-based employment software firm that in 2022 raised $200 million from Vista Credit Partners at a $4.2 billion valuation.

• It hasn't addressed the Deel situation, nor has it sued civilly, but a source familiar with the company says that language in the Rippling tender is an accurate representation.

What they're saying: "This is the latest example of Rippling trying to use the court of public opinion to drive its years-long smear campaign against Deel," a Deel spokesperson tells Axios. "This media cycle is proof. We are not aware of any active investigations into our business. As detailed in our lawsuit, Rippling has a long history of making false or sensationalized allegations to governmental authorities about competitors, which prompt 'inquiries' from the government that Rippling then leaks to the media."

The bottom line: Most customers are unlikely to care about a civil dispute between rivals, so long as the software works. But criminal proceedings would be a much different animal, particularly in a sector where compliance plays a major role.

Bain Capital agreed to lead a $2.1 billion investment in Michigan-based insurer Acrisure at a $32 billion valuation.

Why it's the BFD: Insurance is one of the few sectors that is relatively insulated from macro trade tensions, as evidenced by successful IPOs this month from both Aspen Insurance and American Integrity.

Zoom in: The deal is structured as convertible senior preferred stock, and partially redeems some existing Acrisure backers like BDT & MSD Partners.

• Participants include Bain Capital Special Situations, BDT & MSD Partners, Fidelity, Apollo, and Gallatin Point Capital.

The bottom line: Bain and Acrisure began talking last year about ways to optimize the company's balance sheet — for both future M&A (it's been a serial acquirer of small brokerages) and an IPO (the structure means it wouldn't need to use most proceeds for refinancing).

• Airwallex, an Australian payments firm, raised US$300m in Series F funding at a $6.2b valuation. Backers include Square Peg, Visa Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, DST Global, Blackbird, and Airtree, and undisclosed Australian pension funds. axios.link/3HjxBTN

• Legora (fka Leya), a Swedish legaltech startup, raised $80m in Series B funding. Iconiq Growth and General Catalyst co-led, joined by insiders Redpoint Ventures, Benchmark, and YC. axios.link/45iesLY

🚑 Juvenescence, a British biotech focused on "healthy lifespans," raised $76m in a first close of its Series B1 round led by M42. juvlabs.com

• Gravitee, an API management startup, raised $60m in Series C funding. Sixth Street Growth led, joined by Riverside Acceleration Capital and AlbionVC. axios.link/43zHMwh

• Veesion, a French provider of surveillance software for physical stores, raised €38m in Series B funding from White Star Capital, Red River West, Bpifrance and insiders Odyssée Ventures, Verve Ventures, and Founders Future. axios.link/3H5G8d0

• DataHub, a data context management startup, raised $35m in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. datahub.com

🚑 Phase Scientific, a Hong Kong-based urine diagnostics biotech, raised $34m in Series A funding led by Value Partners Group. axios.link/3F1Tuqf

• Blues, a Boston-based IoT connectivity startup founded by Ray Ozzie, raised $25m led by Sequoia Capital. axios.link/3H2vxzH

• Clair, a New York-based embedded earned wage access startup, raised $23.2n in Series B funding, per Fortune. Upfront Ventures led, joined by insider Thrive Capital. axios.link/3H5FX1k

• Sweep, a New York-based agentic workspace for business systems, raised $22.5m in Series B funding led by Insight Partners with participation from fellow insider Bessemer Venture Partners. axios.link/4km5MIO

• Converge, a concrete sensor startup, raised $22 million in new Series A funding, per Axios Pro. ABN Amro led, joined by Climate Investment, Move Energy, Pi Impact, J-Impact, TO Ventures, and Force Over Mass Capital. axios.link/438bo3N

• Lendflow, an Austin, Texas-based embedded credit infrastructure provider, raised $15m from Trinity Capital. axios.link/3SPtMrW

🚑 Reperio Health, a Portland, Ore.-based home health screening startup, raised $14m led by Caduceus Capital. axios.link/3ZpDaq0

• Barndoor AI a New York-based enterprise AI governance startup, raised $13.6m in seed funding led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from Preface Ventures, Precursor Ventures, and Gaingels. barndoor.ai

• True Markets, a DeFi trading mobile app, raised $11m in Series A funding. Accomplice and RRE Ventures co-led, joined by Reciprocal Ventures, Variant Fund, and PayPal Ventures. axios.link/438ppOQ

⚡ Rivan, a U.K. developer of modular synthetic fuel plants, raised £10m led by Plural, with 20VC, NFDG, and the Collison brothers also participating. axios.link/4dqEX41

• Seeds, a New York-based personalized investment startup, raised $10m in Series A funding led by Portage. useseeds.com

🚑 Rad AI, an SF-based radiology AI startup, raised $8m from Advocate Health, Memorial Hermann Health System, Corewell Health, and Atlantic Health System. radai.com

• Ravical, a Belgian developer of AI agents to automate professional services, raised €7.3m in pre-seed funding led by Lakestar. axios.link/3HjxcRh

• XP, a Solana-based ticketing platform, raised $6.2m in seed funding led by Blockchange, with participation from L1D and Reflexive. axios.link/4ji6LZN

• AskElephant, a Lehi, Utah-based AI orchestration platform for customer-facing teams, raised $6m in seed funding. Jump Capital led, joined by High Alpha, Tandem, and SaaS Ventures. askelehpant.ai

• Zoca, a Tempe, Ariz.-based developer of agentic AI for local service businesses, raised $6m led by Accel, with participation from GTMfund, Elevation Capital and Better Capital. zoca.com

• Pay-i, a Redmond, Wash.-based cost management platform for GenAI projects, raised $4.9m in seed funding co-led by Fuse Partners and Tola Capital, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4dnLoVk

• Ontik, a British provider of B2B trade credit automation, raised $3.7m in seed funding led by Firstminute Capital. axios.link/4552CVJ

⚡ Sention Technologies, a U.K.-based battery diagnostics startup, raised £3.7m in seed funding. Twin Path Ventures led, joined by UKI2S, Energy Revolution Ventures and Endgame Capital. sention.io

• Spott, a recruitment agency platform, raised $3.2m in seed funding from Base10, True Equity, and Fortino. spott.io

• VERO, a property renter screening and leasing platform raised growth equity funding co-led by Fifth Wall and Sunriver Capital Partners, with Rebuild Capital participating. sayvero.com

• Alba Wheels Up, a Southfield Capital portfolio company, acquired The Perishable Specialist, a Doral, Fla.-based provider of produce logistics. albawheelsup.com

🚑 Blackstone is the frontrunner to buy Indian revenue cycle management provider AGS Health from EQT for at least $1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4k716Hb

• Providence Equity Partners acquired a control stake in GCL, a provider of live events and luxury goods logistics, from ATL Partners (which retains a minority position). axios.link/4dvj7MP

• Textainer, a Stonepeak portfolio company, agreed to acquire Global Sea Containers from Bohai Leasing for $1.75b. textainer.com

• Vista Equity Partners invested in RollKall, an Irving, Texas-based provider of management software for public safety agencies. rollkall.com

•Armada Acquisition II, a SPAC led by Stephen Herbert (ex-CEO of Cantaloupe), raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/3DWHtBH

• FIGX Capital Acquisition, a financials SPAC, filed for a $131m IPO. axios.link/4jZxcEA

• ProCap Acquisition, a SPAC led by Anthony Pompliano, raised $220m in an upsized IPO. One of its advisers is Brent Saunders, CEO of Bausch + Lomb. axios.link/44jCPZs

🚑 Hengrui Pharma, a Chinese drugmaker focused on cancer and cardiovascular disease, raised $1.3b in a Hong Kong IPO. axios.link/4dr2OR3

• BC Partners is weighing the sale of a minority stake in British insurance services firm Davies Group, after talks to sell the entire company failed, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4moHLTn

• Match Group (Nasdaq:MTCH) acquired Her, a dating app for queer women. axios.link/43ajEjP

• Motorola (NYSE: MSI) is in advanced talks to buy LA-based wireless radio maker Silvus from TJC for around $4.5b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4mmdDIl

• PNC (NYSE: PNC) agreed to acquire private equity placement agent Aqueduct Capital Group. axios.link/4jdLhgv

🚑 Dementia Discovery Fund, managed by SV Health Investors, raised $269m for its second fund. axios.link/4ktUdzw

• Invictus Growth Partners, a San Mateo, Calif., lower midmarket growth buyout firm, raised $574m for its second fund. axios.link/4jd6LKr

• Munich Re Ventures raised $125m for a fund to invest in the "built world," per Axios Pro. axios.link/4kqZEim

• South Loop Ventures of Houston, raised $21m for its debut fund. LPs included Rice Management Co. and Chevron Technology Ventures. axios.link/43tIEBu

• QuantumLight, a quant VC firm founded by Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky, raised $250m for its debut fund. axios.link/3YRlnb7

• Katherine Taylor joined Crayhill Capital Management as a managing director and head of marketing and IR. She previously was with First Eagle Alternative Credit. crayhill.com

Medical device giant Medtronic this morning announced plans to spin off its diabetes business, most likely via an IPO within the next 18 months.

• The unit generated nearly $2.8 billion in sales during Metronic's last fiscal year, or around 8% of the company's total top line.