Private equity firm Pine Island Capital Partners just hit the revolving door lottery, for better or for worse.

Driving the news: President-elect Joe Biden plans to nominate retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as defense secretary, less than five months after he joined Pine Island as a partner. It also comes after fellow Pine Island partner Tony Blinken became Biden's secretary of state pick.

Why it matters: It's common for someone to leverage public sector experience in the private sector, or vice versa, but fairly unusual to go from top-level public to private and then back into top-level public service. At least for non-lawyers.

• One reason is that Biden is the first ex-VP since Nixon to return after an intermission.

As we previously reported, Pine Island was formed in 2018 by former CIT Group and Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain, former Goldman Sachs buyout big Phil Cooper, and ex-Coca-Cola exec Clyde Tuggle.

• It focuses on mid-market companies in a variety of sectors, including aerospace and defense, and so far has bought two companies via a fundless sponsor model and raised $200 million for a SPAC.

Between the lines: Pine Island obviously knew it was adding partners with D.C. influence, and was pretty explicit about it in the SPAC prospectus, but couldn't have predicted that two of its hires would end up among the next administration's four most powerful Cabinet posts.

From a D.C. cynicism perspective, Pine Island hit it out of the park.

• Sure a Sec. Austin would need to recuse himself from any related contracting or procurement decisions, but the historical relationship cannot be erased.
• And having friends in the highest of places could indirectly help Pine Island raise money or add portfolio companies.

On the other hand, some potential targets and investors might fret about the appearance of conflict, or being tied to a private equity firm that's likely to become a GOP boogeyman.

• The next Pine Island deal, if related to government, is almost certain to be on the N.Y. Times front page — the type of spotlight that many seek to avoid.
• Pine Island also may be the subject of disclosure fights during Senate confirmation hearings, including requests for the identities of its limited partners (such agreements often include nondisclosure agreements).

The bottom line: Pine Island's days as an under-the-radar upstart are over.

Calm, a San Francisco-based meditation app, raised $75 million in Series C funding at a $2 billion valuation led by existing backer Lightspeed Venture Partners.

• Why it's the BFD: Not only is this an obvious pandemic play, but the valuation bump also reflects how more companies and insurers are incorporating mental health offerings into their benefits packages.

• Other investors include Goldman Sachs, TPG, Insight Partners and Marc Benioff.
• The bottom line: "In April, as Covid-19 forced lockdowns around the world, first-time downloads of Calm jumped to 1.6 million, up 36% from a comparatively uneventful January... Most recently, Calm’s election-night deal with CNN... was a social-media hit, resulting in more than 9,700 mentions on election day, compared with 500 mentions on an average day the week before." — Sarah Todd, Quartz

• FiscalNote, a Washington, D.C.-based business data platform focused on legislative and regulatory risk, raised $160 million in equity and debt funding co-led by Arrowroot Capital and Runway Growth Capital. http://axios.link/BGM1

• Pico, a New York-based analytics platform for financial markets, raised $135 million in Series C funding from Intel Capital. www.pico.net

• Dragos, a Hanover, Md.-based industrial cybersecurity startup, raised $110 million in Series C funding. National Grid Partners and Koch Disruptive Technologies co-led, and were joined by Saudi Aramco Ventures, HPE and return backers Allegis Cyber, Canaan Partners, DataTribe, Energy Impact Partners and Schweitzer Engineering Labs. http://axios.link/rT9c

• Exclaimer, a U.K.-based email signature management company, raised £100 million. Insight Partners led, and was joined by Farview Equity Partners and insider Livingbridge. www.exclaimer.com

🚑 BioAge Labs, a Richmond, Calif.-based biotech focused on age-related diseases, raised $90 million in Series C funding. Andreessen Horowitz and Elad Gil co-led, and were joined by Kaiser Foundation Hospitals, AARP Foundation, Phi-X Capital and return backers Caffeinated Capital, Redpoint Ventures, PEAR Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures and Felicis Ventures. http://axios.link/XGfw

🚑 Remix Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of therapies for RNA reprocessing, raised $81 million in Series A funding. Foresite Capital led, and was joined by Atlas Venture, The Column Group, Arch Venture Partners and Alexandria Venture Investments. www.remixtx.com

• SingleStore (f.k.a. MemSQL), a San Francisco-based real-time analytics platform, raised $80 million in Series E funding. Insight Partners led, and was joined by Dell Technologies Capital, Hercules Capital and insideres Accel, Anchorage Capital Group, Glynn Capital, GV and Rev IV. http://axios.link/oGuG

• Beyond Identity, a New York-based provider of password-less ID management solutions, raised $75 million in Series B funding from NEA, Jim Clark and Koch Disruptive Industries. www.beyondidentity.com

• Immedis, an Ireland-based provider of global payroll solutions, raised $50 million at a $575 million valuation from Lead Edge Capital. http://axios.link/vleh

• GoHenry, a British pre-paid debit card startup focused on kids and teens, raised $40 million. Edison Partners led, and was joined by Gaia Capital Partners, Citi Ventures and Muse Capital. http://axios.link/nP3f

• Outfund, a British provider of revenue-based financing for online businesses, raised £37 million in equity and debt funding. Fuel Ventures led, and was joined by TMT Investment and Force over Mass. http://axios.link/pmaY

• Tecton.ai, a machine learning platform formed by three former Uber engineers, raised $35 million in Series B funding co-led by insiders Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia Capital. http://axios.link/yp5U

• At-Bay, a Mountain View, Calif.-based cybersecurity insurance startup, raised $34 million in Series C funding. Qumra Capital led, and was joined by M12, Acrew Capital, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Munich Re Ventures and Shlomo Kramer. http://axios.link/lvUK

🚑 Centivo, an employer-sponsored health plan focused on primary care, raised $34 million in Series B funding. B Capital Group led, and was joined by Define Ventures, HarbourVest Partners, Nassau Street Ventures and insiders Bain Capital Ventures, Company Ventures, F-Prime Capital, Ingleside Investors, Maverick Ventures and Rand Capital. http://axios.link/0XMN

• Salt Security, a Palo Alto-based API security startup, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Sequoia Capital led, and was joined by Tenaya Capital, S Capital VC and YC. www.salt.security

• Shippit, an Australian e-commerce logistics platform, raised A$30 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global. http://axios.link/N1rk

• DealShare, an Indian e-commerce platform, raised $21 million in Series C funding. WestBridge Capital led, and was joined by Falcon Edge Capital, Z3Partners and insiders Matrix Partners India and Omidyar Network India. http://axios.link/1Q9u

🚑 Deepcell, a Mountain View, Calif.-based developer of cell classification and isolation solutions, raised $20 million in Series A funding. Bow Capital led, and was joined by Andreessen Horowitz, 50Y, DCVC and Stanford University. http://axios.link/nA12

• GetAccept, a Palo Alto-based all-in-one platform for sales reps, raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. http://axios.link/Hsou

• iUNU, a Seattle-based greenhouse management platform, raised $7 million in Series A funding co-led by S2G Ventures and Ceres Partners. http://axios.link/oVO4

🚑 Onc.AI, an oncology care management startup, raised $6 million co-led by Blue Venture Fund and Accomplice. http://axios.link/sLxZ

🚑 Basking Bioscience, a Columbus, Ohio-based developer of treatments for acute ischemic stroke, raised $5.3 million in seed funding from Rev1 Ventures, Broadview Ventures and Viva BioInnovator. http://axios.link/3xDz

• Jeli.io, an incident analytics platform, raised $4 million in seed funding. Boldstart Ventures led, and was joined by Harrison Metal and Heavybit. http://axios.link/apL6

• Finch, an HR and payroll-focused API platform, raised $3.5 million led by General Catalyst. http://axios.link/x8HD

• Quell, a video-gamified home fitness startup, raised $3 million from Khosla Ventures, Heartcore, Social Impact Capital, JamJar Investments and individuals like Twitch co-founders Kevin Lin and Emmett Shear. http://axios.link/TTY7

• The Carlyle Group agreed to buy Acrotec Group, a Swiss watch components maker, from Castik Capital. http://axios.link/wu6K

• CVC Capital Partners and Spectrum Brands (NYSE: SPB) offered to buy East Windsor, N.J.-based haircare appliance maker Conair for around $2 billion (including debt), per Reuters. http://axios.link/bxID

• EQT Partners agreed to buy an additional 29.6% stake in Swedish refrigeration wholesaler Beijer Ref from Carrier Global (NYSE: CARR) for around $1.1 billion. http://axios.link/FCEH

🍕 The Halifax Group acquired Birmingham, Ala.-based PJU Holdings, the largest franchisee of Papa John’s Pizza shops, from TPG Growth. www.papajohns.com

• L Catterton agreed to lead a buyout of Truck Hero, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based provider aftermarket accessories for pickup trucks and Jeeps, from CCMP Capital (which will retain an equity stake). Others members of the buying group include ADIA, Mubadala and StepStone Group. www.truckhero.com

• May River Capital acquired PaperTech, a Findlay, Ohio-based manufacturer of paperboard packaging products to the frozen food industry and foodservice markets. www.papertrays.com

• Providence Strategic Growth invested in NoFraud, a New York-based provider of fraud prevention software to e-commerce merchants. www.nofraud.com

• Service Champions, a Brea, Calif.-based portfolio company of CenterOak Partners, acquired home services brands ProSkill (Phoenix) and Jet Plumbing Heating & Drain Services (Reno, Nev.). www.servicechampions.com

• Veritas Capital agreed to buy the federal IT and mission support services unit of Northrop Grumman (BNYSE: NOC) for $3.4 billion. http://axios.link/xO18

• WilliamsMarston, a Boston-based portfolio company of Align Capital Partners, acquired BA Major Associates, a Boston-based provider of corporate tax advisory services for life sciences, energy and tech companies. www.williamsmarston.com

🚑 Big Cypress Acquisition, a life sciences-focused SPAC led by biotech vet Samuel Reich, filed for a $75 million IPO. http://axios.link/PKiq

• CF Acquisition IV, a SPAC formed by Cantor Fitzgerald, filed for a $400 million IPO. http://axios.link/saaq

• Concord Acquisition, a SPAC formed by Bob Diamond’s Atlas Merchant Capital, raised $240 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/J6uT

• DD3 Acquisition II, a SPAC formed by Mexico-focused advisory firm DD3 Capital Partners, raised $110 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/AeqT

• Mudrick Capital Acquisition II, a SPAC focused on post-bankruptcy businesses, raised $275 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/5fB7

• Revolution Acceleration Acquisition, a SPAC led by former presidential candidate John Delane, raised $250 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/AMZ1

🚑 Olympus Corp. of Japan said its U.S. arm will buy Veran Medical Technologies, a St. Louis-based maker of computer-guided bronchoscopes and cancer biopsy systems, for $340 million. Veran had raised around $170 million from firms like Versant Ventures, River Cities Capital Funds, 3G Capital and Prolog Ventures. http://axios.link/r7Hv

• Sentinel Capital Partners is seeking a buyer for Livonia, Mich.-based retailer Pet Supplies Plus, per PE Hub. http://axios.link/9snC

• Uber (NYSE: UBER) agreed to sell its ATG self-driving research unit to Aurora Innovation at around a $4 billion valuation, and also will invest $400 million in Aurora at a $10 billion valuation. ATG last year raised $1 billion from firms like SoftBank and Toyota. http://axios.link/rzZ3

• AustralianSuper, Australia’s largest pension fund, offered to buy New Zealand energy and transport infrastructure company Infratil (NZ: IFT) for US$3.78 billion. http://axios.link/Ihyx

• Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR) agreed to sell its nuclear instrumentation and control division business for around £100 million to France’s Framatome. http://axios.link/W6ze

• U.S. Steel (NYSE: X) exercised its call option to buy the remaining 50.1% stake in Osceola, Ark.-based steel mill operator Big River Steel for around $774 million in cash. www.bigriversteel.com

• Circadian Ventures of Atlanta is raising $15 million for its debut early-stage VC fund. http://axios.link/nfOQ

• Crossplane Capital of Dallas raised $275 million for its debut fund, which will focus on control deals for niche manufacturing, distribution and industrial business services companies. www.crossplanecapital.com

• Motivate Ventures of Chicago raised $43 million for its debut seed fund. www.motivate.vc

• Wellington Management raised $1.8 billion for its third private equity fund, plus $400 million in a co-investment sidecar. www.wellington.com

• Incline Equity Partners of Pittsburgh promoted Victor Martinelli to principal and Bennett Salvatora to vice president. www.inclineequity.com

Non-SPAC U.S. IPOs have raised nearly $73 billion so far in 2020, but it's unlikely they'll top the $94 billion raised in 2014.

• DoorDash and Airbnb each plan to price their IPOs this week, and could raise more than $6 billion combined. Expect DoorDash to begin trading tomorrow and Airbnb to begin trading on Thursday.

• Wish, Roblox and Affirm are all on tap, which could add another $3 billion-plus.
• Those are the only remaining $1 billion+ offerings expected in 2020, although there are a number of half-billion typed offerings on tap, including from C3.ai and Certara.