Many venture capitalists are alarmed by the Trump administration's cuts to academic research, at Harvard and beyond, given that such funding has helped forge such foundational technologies as the internet and gene editing.

• Lux Capital wants to help fill the void.

Driving the news: Lux, whose portfolio includes Anduril and Databricks, last month carved $100 million out of existing funds to back stranded scientists.

• It refers to the effort as a "helpline" for researchers at a crossroads, including those who haven't viewed themselves as entrepreneurs or who feel their work is too early for commercialization.
• In some cases this could mean forming and funding a de novo startup.
• In others, it could mean having an existing Lux portfolio company sponsor, license, or acquire ongoing research.

What they're saying: "You look at so many of our publicly traded companies that come from academically-derived science, from Genentech ... to Google," explained Lux co-founder Josh Wolfe, during our on-stage conversation yesterday at the Axios AI+ Summit. "It's absolutely critical — probably 10 or 15% of our portfolio are things totally derived from university research."

• "The sort of sledgehammer approach as opposed to a surgical approval is hurting American science ... [and] national security," he adds.

Behind the scenes: Lux's endeavor began when its partners began getting inundated with calls for advice from friends and peers. Eventually, a decision was made to take it national.

Look ahead: The big question now is if other VC firms will do something similar, either in partnership with Lux or on their own.

• Particularly the small cohort of investors who have cheered the cuts on social media, saying private industry can make up the difference. At the very least, they could put their money where their mouths are.

The bottom line: Time is of the essence. A lot of research, particularly in medicines for such conditions as cancer and Alzheimer's, is very difficult to restart once stopped.

Circle, the largest U.S. issuer of stablecoins, raised $1.05 billion in an upsized IPO.

Why it's the BFD: It's a giant vote of investor confidence for both the U.S. crypto market and the VC-backed IPO market.

By the numbers: Circle sold 34 million shares at $31 a piece, both above both initial and upwardly revised plans. It gives the company around an $8 billion fully diluted market value.

• The company had raised around $1.2 billion from firms like Accel, Breyer Capital, General Catalyst, IDG Capital, Oak Investment Partners, and Fidelity.

Caveat, per Axios Crypto's Brady Dale: "Tether is already miles ahead of it and all the world's biggest banks are about to jump in too. The big question is whether or not even a billion dollars will be enough to make a difference."

Flashback: I remember visiting Circle when it was still in Boston's then-nascent Seaport district, next door to a Dunkin' Donuts. At the time, its goal was to enable Bitcoin payments — with CEO Jeremy Allaire pointing at my Dunkin' iced coffee and saying that someday I'd buy it using Circle/Bitcoin.

• That still hasn't panned out, but the pivot sure did.

🚑 Neuralink, the brain-implant startup founded by Elon Musk, confirmed that it raised $650m in Series E funding from ARK Invest, DFJ Growth, Founders Fund, G42, Human Capital, Lightspeed, QIA, Sequoia Capital, Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners, and Vy Capital.

• Vivrelle, a New York-based luxury accessories membership service, raised $62m in Series C funding from Protagonist. axios.link/3Zf6gbN

• Simetrik, a New York-based reconciliation platform for finance teams, raised $30m in Series B extension funding led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives. axios.link/43CFStu

• Reserv, a New York-based insurance claims admit, raised $25m in Series B funding led by Flourish Ventures, with Accenture Ventures participating. axios.link/4581QXZ

• Obvio, a developer of AI-powered traffic cameras, raised $22m in Series A funding. Bain Capital Ventures led, joined by Khosla Ventures and Pathlight Ventures. axios.link/3HqNmIQ

• Ciroos, a developer of agentic AI tools for ops teams, raised $21m led by Energy Impact Partners. axios.link/3FHqGU2

• Thread AI, a startup that helps enterprises design and manage complex workflows, raised $20m in Series A funding. Greycroft led, joined by Index Ventures, Scale Venture Partners, Meritech Capital, and Homebrew. threadai.com

• Rails, a Miami-based hybrid crypto exchange, raised $14m from Slow Ventures, CMCC, Kraken, Round13, and Quantstamp. axios.link/4knK0or

• Nectar Social, a social commerce platform, raised $10.6m. GV and True Ventures co-led, joined by BAM Ventures, Charge Ventures, FAB Ventures, Flying Fish Ventures, Mercury Fund, Trust Fund by Sophia Amoruso, and XRC Ventures. axios.link/4kWbhhU

• Manex AI, a provider of industrial quality management and process steering software, raised €8m in seed funding co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and BlueYard Capital. manex.ai

• Kiwi, a fintech focused on underbanked Latinos in the U.S., raised $7.8m in Series A funding. LIP Ventures and Advent-Morro Equity Partners co-led, joined by Morro Ventures, Independent Capital, Neer Venture Partners, and Invariantes Fund. kiwicredito.com

• Rosebud, an AI journaling app, raised $6m in seed funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led, joined by 776, Initialized Capital, Fuel Capital, and Avenir. axios.link/43Wvdvb

• Lendurai, an Estonian dual-use drone startup, raised €5.6m in seed funding from Expeditions Fund, HCVC, and Vsquared Ventures. axios.link/4kUQgEc

🚑 Amperos Health, a New York-based provider of health-care billing and claims automation tools, raised $4.2m in seed funding from Uncork Capital, Neo, and Nebular. axios.link/43w8sOG

⚡ Switch Energy, a Boston-based provider of EV charging solutions, raised $4m from Constellation Technology Ventures. switchenergy.com

• Kohort Software, a London-based provider of forecasting analytics software, raised an undisclosed amount of funding led by The Raine Group, with participation from Eurazeo, AlbionVC, Triple Point Ventures, Velocity Capital, and Portfolio Ventures. kohort.io

🚑 Avista Healthcare Partners acquired EBI, the bone healing division of Highridge Medical, a medical device maker owned by H.I.G. Capital. ebibonestimulator.com

🚑 Blackstone and Temasek are among those still bidding on Sahyadri Hospitals, an Indian hospital chain being sold by Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, per the WSJ. axios.link/3Zk5ni9

• Cove, a Washington, D.C.-based provider of commercial property management software, raised growth equity funding from Lead Edge Capital. Existing backers are Nuveen Real Estate and Blackstone. cove.is

• Prosperity Partners, a Chicago-based tax and accounting firm backed by Unity Partners, acquired South Burlington, Vt.-based Danaher Attig & Plante. prosperityllc.com

• StableDry, a foundation repair and waterproofing businesses owned by Summit Park, acquired both Foundation Services of Central Florida and United Structural Systems. stabledry.com

• TenCate Grass, an artificial turf provider owned by Leonard Green & Partners, acquired rival SLG from Sun European Partners (which will reinvest in TenCate). axios.link/3HFXuNM

• Truelink Capital acquired Channel Factory, a City of Industry, Calif.-based ad tech firm, from Star Mountain. channelfactory.com

• WGSN, a London-based trends forecaster owned by Apax Partners, acquired IWSR, a London-based drinks industry data provider, from Bowmark Capital. wgsn.com

• Cobalt Holdings, which buys and holds physical stock of cobalt, scrapped plans for a $230m IPO. axios.link/3HoOOLG

🚑 Permira is planning to list Australia's I-MED Radiology Network, after A$3b sale talks with Stonepeak faltered, per The Australian. i-med.com.au

• Graphite Capital sold Wonderbly, a London-based personalized book publisher, to Penguin Random House. axios.link/3ZdwATG

🚑 PatientPoint, a health marketing and ad agency, hired Jefferies to explore a sale, per Axios Pro. Backers include L Catterton, Littlejohn & Co.. and Transformation Capital. axios.link/43RiYPj

• Plus Automation, a provider of virtual driver software for autonomous trucks, agreed to go public via Churchill Capital Corp IX (Nasdaq: CCIX). Plus has raised over $500m in VC funding. axios.link/4kLa2lk

🚑 23andMe asked a U.S. bankruptcy court to reopen bidding on its assets, after receiving a $305m offer from co-founder Anne Wojcicki. It had previously agreed to a $256m deal with Regeneron (Nasdaq: REGN). axios.link/4mMf8j6

💎 Anglo American (LSE: AAL) is launching a formal sales process for diamond miner De Beers, with two former De Beers CEOs expressing interest, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3HqEh2N

• The EU won't launch an investigation into UniCredit's (Milan: UCG) €13b takeover of Banco BPM (Milan: BAMI), essentially allowing the deal to close. axios.link/3ZPpZyR

• IBM (NYSE: IBM) pursued a takeover of data management software firm Informatica (NYSE: INFA) before it agreed to be acquired by Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) for $8b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4mOKRAi

• Kimberly-Clark (Nasdaq: KKMB) agreed to sell a 51% stake in its non-North American Kleenex and tissue business to Brazil's Suzano for $1.73b. axios.link/4kR1Ekg

• Mitie Group (LSE: MTO), a British outsourcer, agreed to buy smaller rival Marlowe (LSE: MRL) for around $366m in cash and stock. axios.link/43Ly8W7

⚽ Wrexham AFC, the Welsh soccer club owned by actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is in talks to sell a minority stake at up to a £350m valuation, per Bloomberg. axios.link/440HDlF

🚑 Amplify Partners raised $200m for its first biotech-focused VC funding, and added Elliot Hirshberg (Not Boring) as a partner, per Endpoints. axios.link/43Snn4J

• Denver Ventures raised $20m for its debut seed fund. denverventures.co

• Merlin Ventures, an Israeli cybersecurity VC firm, raised $75m for its debut fund. axios.link/3FzpH8w

• Neuberger Berman raised more than $4b for its second GP-led secondaries fund. axios.link/3FLJTnx

• Nordic Foodtech VC held a €40m first close on a second fund that's targeting €80m. axios.link/3SF4RYe

• Right Side Capital raised $55m for its sixth VC fund. rightsidecapital.com

• Dor Knafo, founder of Axis Security (acquired by HPE), joined cybersecurity-focused VC firm Cyberstarts as a general partner. Adam Aarons, ex-CRO at Okta, is joining as an operating partner. cyberstarts.com

• Kate Thomas joined CVC Capital Partners as a partner and head of North American distribution. She previously was with Sixth Street. axios.link/43LuFHn

• Richard Thomas is joining Jefferies as head of its activism defense practice. He previously was with Lazard. axios.link/4jxbsPz

🚑 Jason Wreath joined Permira as a senior adviser to its global health care team. He previously was with AWS. axios.link/4mIoe0d

Go deeper: A closer look at the nationwide impact of NIH cuts