Venture capital has changed a lot over the past few decades, from the rise of solo GPs to the advent of multi-billion dollar rounds.

• But one thing has remained steady: 2 and 20.

Driving the news: Carta this morning released its first Fund Economics Report, including a section showing that 2% management fee and 20% carried interest rates remain the median.

Management fees: The lowest quartile for management fees dropped to 1.5% in 2021 and 2022 — when fund cycles contracted — but since have rebounded to 1.83% for 2025.

• The highest quartile for management fees has held consistent at 2.5%.
• Carta also reports that the median fund between $1 million and $10 million spends 3.4% of its committed capital on operating expenses during its first five years, versus just 1% of funds >$100 million.

Carried interest: Median carry is consistent across fund sizes, although top quartile and decile rates are higher for larger funds.

• For example, median carry is 20% for 75th quartile funds of $100 million or less, but rises to 25% for funds of $100 million or more.
• Median carry climbs to 25% for the 90th percentile of all funds, but to 30% of funds >$100 million.
• Lowest decile carry rates declined in that anomalous 2021-2022 time period to 15% and 16%, respectively.

More numbers: Carta found that relatively few VC funds feature hurdle rates, including just 12.4% of >$100 million funds.

• It also shows that private equity GPs tend to have larger commits (i.e., skin in the game) than do venture capital GPs. Carta didn't provide median fee and carry data for PE funds, but tells me that it hopes to in a future report.

The bottom line: VC fund differentiation lies in performance, not structure.

Paramount Skydance (Nasdaq: PSKY) increased the proposed breakup fee in its takeover bid for Warner Bros Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD) to $5 billion from $2.1 billion, per Bloomberg.

Why it's the BFD: This confirms that David Ellison isn't worried about regulatory scrutiny, despite horizontal consolidation and CFIUS concerns. It's the sort of confidence only a Trump confidant can feel.

State of play: Second-round bids were submitted on Monday. Paramount boosted its overall offer, which includes debt financing from Apollo Global Management.

• Netflix and Comcast remain in the mix for WBD's studio and streaming assets, and Netflix would be the clubhouse leader were it not for regulatory hurdles in the U.S. and Europe.

The bottom line: Expect WBD to make its decision by year-end. And don't discount the possibility that it proceeds with a split, rather than a sale.

• Brevo, a French CRM, raised €500m led by General Atlantic and Oakley Capital, with insider Bridgepoint participating. Partech exited. axios.link/48DKD8U

• Harvey, an SF-based legal AI startup, raised $160m at an $8b valuation. A16z led, joined by T. Rowe Price, WndrCo and insiders Sequoia Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Conviction Capital, and Elad Gil. axios.link/4iGaH7V

• 7AI, a Boston-based developer of enterprise security agents, raised $130m in Series A funding. Index Ventures led, joined bny Blackstone, Greylock, CRV, and Spark Capital. axios.link/44N7A8e

🚑 Triana Biomedicines, a Lexington, Mass.-based developer of a molecular glue degrader, raised $120m. Ascenta Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners led, joined by Pfizer Ventures, RA Capital Management, Atlas Venture, Lightspeed, Surveyor Capital, YK Bioventures, Regeneron Ventures, Invus, and Finchley Healthcare Ventures. axios.link/4peANkF

• Antithesis, a Vienna, Va.-based software testing platform, raised $105m in Series A funding led by Jane Street. axios.link/4pScn0x

🚑 Paradigm Health, a Cincinnati-based clinical trial matching business, raised $78m in Series B funding. Arch Venture Partners led, joined by DFJ Growth, F-Prime, General Catalyst, GV, Lux Capital, Mubadala Capital, and the American Cancer Society's BrightEdge Fund. Paradigm also acquired Flatiron Health's clinical research business. axios.link/4q75g4z

• Flex, a "private bank" for HNW business owners, raised $60m in Series B funding. Portage led, joined by CrossLink Capital, Spice VC, Titanium Ventures, Wellington, Companyon Ventures, Florida Funders, and FirstLook Partners. flex.one

• Vinci, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based chip design startup, raised $46m in seed and Series A funding. Xora Innovation led, joined by Khosla Ventures and Eclipse. axios.link/3M8aazx

⚡ ZincFive, a Tualatin, Ore.-based developer of nickel zinc batteries, raised $30m in Series F funding from Helios Climate Ventures, Climate Investment, Japan Energy Fund, General Ventures, and Clear Creek Investments, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3MiJvzU

• PH7 Technologies, a Canadian startup that extracts metals from recycled and mining materials, raised $25.6m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Fine Structure Ventures led joined by BHP Ventures, Energy & Environment Investment, SiteGround, Gaingels, and Calm Ventures participated, along with existing investors TDK Ventures, Pangaea Ventures, Rhapsody Venture Partners, and BASF VC. axios.link/4oyt9kc

• Pine AI, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of AI agents for consumers' digital chores, raised $25m, in Series A funding from firms like Fortwest Capital. axios.link/4iMBXBF

• Fact Base, a Japanese drawing management system, raised $28.5m in Series C funding led by Insight Partners. axios.link/4osMweh

• Ostium, a decentralized exchange for real-world assets, raised $20m in Series A funding at a $250m valuation. General Catalyst and Jump Crypto led, joined by Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute and GSR. axios.link/4pdLcx5

• Lumia, a corporate AI usage visibility startup, raised $18m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Team8 led, joined by New Era. axios.link/4iLxlMg

• Aether Biomachines, a developer of AI-designed proteins, raised $15m. Tribe Capital led, joined by insiders Natural Capital, Henkel Corporation, Resilience Reserve, Shrug Capital, 4DX Ventures, Unless, and Radicle Impact. axios.link/4iGd9eC

🚑 Circular Genomics, a San Diego-based provider of brain health diagnostics, raised $15m in Series A funding. Mountain Group Partners led, joined by Poplar Grove Investors, HIP Fund and the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. axios.link/4iAlHnb

🚑 Iolyx Therapeutics, a Burlingame, Calif.-based ocular inflammation and autoimmune biotech, raised $15m in Series B funding. Frazier Life Sciences led, joined by GC&H. axios.link/3KwHsHR

• Quanta, an SF-based accounting and ERP startup, raised $15m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Accel led, joined by Naval Ravikant, Designer Fund, and Basecase. axios.link/3MFR180

• IMTC, a provider of portfolio and order management software for fixed-income desks, raised $12m in Series A funding led by Nyca Partners and Lord Abbett, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4pgHqmy

• Supper, an NYC-based agentic data platform, raised $11m in seed funding. USV led, joined by Inspired Capital, Box Group, Torch, and Avid. axios.link/4iGHJVC

🚑 Trial Library, a clinical trials-as-care platform, raised $10m in Series A funding. SemperVirens VC and Next Ventures led, joined by Sanofi Ventures, Lux Capital, Civilization Ventures, How Women Invest, and Overwater Ventures. axios.link/4ixrqKs

⚡ Addis Energy, an MIT-spinout aiming to produce ammonia underground, raised $8.3m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. At One Ventures led, joined by insiders Engine Ventures and Pillar VC. axios.link/4pJ1AFD

• Alinia, a developer of compliant AI agents for finance, raised $7.5m in seed funding. Mouro Capital led, joined by Speedinvest, Raise Ventures, and Precursor. axios.link/3KE0kF2

• Autolane, a developer of "air traffic control" for autonomous cars, raised $7.4m led by Draper Associates and Hyperplane. axios.link/3MfWZwr

• Ridley, a home-selling platform, raised $6.4m in seed funding. Fifth Wall led, joined by 1984 Ventures, 1Sharpe Ventures, Moxxie Ventures, Aglae Ventures, and Park Rangers Capital. axios.link/3Y4clqe

• Track Titan, a U.K.-based "Strava for motorsports," raised $5m in seed funding led by Partech and Game Changers Ventures. axios.link/48wqmSB

• Spotlite, a Portuguese satellite infrastructure monitoring startup, raised €3.5m in seed funding led by Índico Capital Partners and Explorer Investments. axios.link/3XBkGBL

• Sky Spy, a developer of signal intelligence systems for contested and congested environments, raised $1.6m in pre-seed funding led by Expeditions Fund and Superangel. skyspy.ai

☕ Braemont Capital acquired Royal Cup, a Birmingham, Ala.-based provider of coffees and teas. axios.link/3Ky7HxD

🚑 Brighton Park Capital invested in Person Centred Software, a British care management software provider. axios.link/4pJgmw7

• Burnout Brands, a Hidden Harbor Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Brian Tooley Racing, a Bardtown, Ky.-based provider of camshafts, valvetrain components, and intake manifold engineering. axios.link/4oSCVOp

🚑 The Care Team, backed by Revelstoke, acquired select hospice and palliative care operations from Franklin, Tenn.-based Traditions Health. axios.link/4pM1hdl

• EQT acquired a majority stake in PropertyMe, an Australian provider of workflow software for property managers and real estate agencies. axios.link/4iyU2mu

• Gerard Daniel Worldwide, a Graycliff Partners portfolio company, acquired Durex Products, a Luck, Wis.-based manufacturer of wire and synthetic screening products. axios.link/442IRNc

• NMS Capital acquired Axiom Medical, a The Woodslands, Texas-based provider of tech-enabled workplace incident case management solutions, from Serent Capital. axios.link/4pQWzey

• Sequoia Financial Group, backed by Kudu Investment Management and Valeas Capital Partners, acquired Sterling Financial Group, a Pasadena, Calif.-based investment advisory. axios.link/4pfWq47

🚑 Tenex invested in Blue Haven, a Cedar Park, Texas-based franchisor of swimming pool builders. axios.link/3Mr2xnL

• TRP Infrastructure Services, an Arlington Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Highway Barricades, a provider of pavement marking and traffic control services in South Texas. axios.link/4pii33T

⚡ Activate Energy Acquisition, an oil and gas SPAC, raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/4hTgDdo

• General Purpose Acquisition, a SPAC targeting maritime businesses and digital infrastructure, raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/4nV4XsI

• Hennessy Capital Investment VIII, an industrials and energy SPAC formed by Hennessy Capital, filed for a $175m IPO. axios.link/4iF9SML

• Muzero Acquisition, a tech-enabled businesses SPAC led by Sheldon Trainor-DeGirolamo (PacBridge Capital Partners), filed for a $175m IPO. axios.link/444as0u

• New America Acquisition I, a U.S. manufacturing SPAC whose advisers include Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., raised $300m in its IPO. axios.link/4lbW8IP

• Safeguard Acquisition Corp., a defense and national security SPAC, raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/3LL4LOo

• SilverBox V, a SPAC formed by SilverBox Capital, raised $240m in an upsized IPO. axios.link/4fRdKbX

• United Acquisition I, a SPAC led by Paul Packer (Globis Capital Advisors), filed for a $100m IPO. axios.link/48CNxuz

⚽ Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System sold part of its stake in Ipswich Town Football Club to the English soccer team's parent company. axios.link/4aq3cjd

• OpenAI agreed to buy Neptune, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of tools for analyzing progress during AI model training. Neptune raised VC funding from firms like Almaz Capital. axios.link/3KpsVOk

• Quadient (Paris: QDT) agreed to acquire CDP Communications, a Canadian provider of document accessibility and automation solutions, from Thompson Street Capital Partners. axios.link/3MdId9n

🚑 Sanofi (Nasdaq: SNY) completed its acquisition of Vicebio, a London-based develop of a combo vaccine for RSV and hMPV that had raised around $118m from firms like Avero Ventures, Medicxi, TCG Crossover, Goldman Sachs, VenBio, and UniQuest. The deal includes $1.15b of upfront payments and up to $450m in earnouts. axios.link/4aeJKWT

• Stripe, most recently valued at $91b, acquired Metronome, an SF-based provider of usage-based billing for software companies, for a reported $1b. Metronome had raised $130m, most recently at a $470m post-money valuation, from NEA, a16z, General Catalyst, Workday Ventures, Greyhound Capital, Truebridge Capital Partners, Activant Capital, SineWave Ventures, and Megalith Ventures.

• Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) shareholders approved the spinoff of its cable networks and related digital businesses, into a new company to be called Versant Media Group. axios.link/3Mfj8Li

• Prudential Financial (NYSE: PRU) is weighing the sale of its stake in South African financial-services firm Alexforbes, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3MicJin

• Anti Fund, a VC group co-founded by Jake Paul, raised $30m for an AI-focused fund. Logan Paul joined as a general partner. axios.link/4oAOZDH

• Page One Ventures is raising its second fund, per an SEC filing.

• Truelink Capital, an LA-based midmarket PE firm, is targeting $1.5b for its second fund. axios.link/49WyVZk

• Nate Fick, former ambassador-at-large for cyberspace and digital policy at the U.S. State Department, joined Cerberus Capital Management as chief strategy officer for equities and a senior managing director. He also once spent a decade as an operating partner with Bessemer Venture Partners. axios.link/4pHM64L