It's been just over three weeks since First Citizens agreed to buy failed Silicon Valley Bank, and it's not going great.

• Dozens of commercial bankers have already left, including more than 40 to HSBC and another 20 to MUFG.
• A rival Bay Area banker tells me that his firm is drowning in resumés.
• Factors driving some of the departures have included resetting of seniority (impacting everything from vacation to severance), weaker benefits packages and a lack of clarity around decision-making and strategy.

The big picture: First Citizens never got to conduct the sort of due diligence that's typical of a large merger, due to the exigent circumstances of SVB.

• The result has been learning on the fly, with First Citizens executives often telling SVB staffers in offices or Zoom rooms that they're just there to learn.
• First Citizens CEO Frank Holding has only appeared in one all-hands meeting for SVB employees, skipping the subsequent Monday gatherings.
• SVB sources say that the governing acronym from First Citizens is BAU (business as usual), even though colleagues are leaving and some startup and VC clients are on edge.
• In short, First Citizens is being hands off when many of its SVB employees want more action and direction.

Deal talk: Some sources believe that First Citizens leapt into a transaction that made sense financially, due to the loan discounts and loss-sharing agreements, but that it didn't map out a strategic vision or integration plans for what it bought.

• One key date to watch is May 10, when First Citizens reports earnings and may share more about how it categorizes the SVB loans and the size of its remaining banker ranks.

What they're saying: Peter Bristow, president of First Citizens, tells me that he and Holding have participated in numerous client meetings, and that he believes the newly acquired business has a deep enough bench that it's "here to stay."

• "Not only did the bank fail, but you had a two-week lull period where clients and employees got impacted," he says. "It's kind of like shutting down a power plant and then turning it back on. It takes a lot of work to get the wheels spinning again."
• "We only had one or two days to get people on payroll, and what we've said to [SVB employees] from the beginning is that we're asking for patience. We're looking at the benefits that are out there, and are working on some bonus strategies because we recognize the trauma, and will be where we should be by the end of the process."
• Bristow adds that it's not uncommon to see bankers leave a failed bank, noting that First Citizens has past experience with such situations, and that no final decision has been made on the future of the SVB brand.

The bottom line: SVB had dominated tech and life sciences startup banking, with more than a 50% market share. The future is shaping up to be much more diverse.

Air Water Ventures (fka Eshara Water), a Dubai-based developer of atmospheric water generation technology, agreed to go public at a $300 million pre-money valuation via Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II (NYSE: ATEK), a SPAC led by Isabelle Freidheim.

Why it's the BFD: The company is literally pulling a vital resource out of thin air, initially focusing on large-scale production for institutional customers like hotels and governments in the Middle East.

How it works: Air enters the company's generator units, first going through a filtration system to remove particulates. It's then condensed into water, mineralized and treated with UV light to ensure it's potable.

• So far, the company claims to have sold 91 units for an undisclosed amount, plus generated around $8 million via contracted leasing and bottling revenue.

The bottom line: This is the sort of climate tech moonshot that still is attracted to SPAC mergers. But if it successfully scales, Air Water could help solve one of the world's greatest challenges.

• CoreWeave, a Roseland, N.J.-based cloud computing platform, raised $221m in Series B funding. Magnetar Capital led, and was joined by Nvidia, Nat Friedman (ex-GitHub CEO) and Daniel Gross (ex-Apple). https://axios.link/3MVowS9

🚑 Noah Medical, a San Carlos, Calif.-based medical robotics developer, raised $150m in Series B funding. SoftBank and Prosperity7 Ventures co-led, and were joined by Tiger Global and insiders Hillhouse, Sequoia China, Shangbay Capital, Uphonest Capital, Sunmed Capital, Lyfe Capital, 1955 Capital and AME Cloud Ventures. https://axios.link/3MVFGij

🚑 Abdera Therapeutics, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based developer of radiopharmaceuticals for treating cancer, raised $142m in combined Series A and Series B funding from Amplitude Ventures, Versant Ventures, venBio Partners, adMare BioInnovations, Viking Global Investors, Qiming Venture Partners USA, RTW Investments, AbCellera and Northview Ventures. https://axios.link/3mMnKfz

• Halcyon, an Austin, Texas-based ransomware protection startup, raised $44m in Series A funding (plus $6m in debt). SYN Ventures and Corner Ventures co-led, and were joined by Dell Technologies Capital. https://axios.link/3LiNbPq

• Mooncard, a French spending management startup, raised €37m in Series C funding co-led by Orange Ventures and Portage. https://axios.link/3LbDO3H

• 3D Glass Solutions, an Albuquerque, N.M.-based maker of glass-ceramics radiofrequency components, raised $30m in Series C funding. Walden Catalyst Venture led, and was joined by Applied Ventures, Cambium Capital, Mesh Cooperative Ventures and insiders Intel Capital and Lockheed Martin Ventures. www.3dgsinc.com

• CropX, a Tel Aviv-based farm management startup, raised $30m in Series C funding. Aliaxis led, and was joined by Edaphon, Finistere Ventures, NTT Finance Corporation, OurCrowd, Reinke Irrigation, Yair Shamir and Victrix. https://axios.link/40ltZV9

• Novalith Technologies, an Australian lithium extraction startup, raised A$23m in Series A funding. Lowercarbon Capital led, and was joined by The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Grantham Environmental Trust, TDK Ventures and Investible. www.novalith.com.au

• Goals, a Stockholm-based developer of a soccer game that could be used for esports, raised $20m in Series A funding. Seven Seven Six led, and was joined by Northzone, Moonfire and Cassius. https://axios.link/3opOenF

• Lexion, a Seattle-based contract management and operations workflow platform, raised $20m in Series B funding. Point72 Ventures led, and was joined by Citi Ventures and insiders Khosla Ventures, Madrona Venture Group, and Wilson Sonsini. www.lexion.ai

• Kindred, a home swapping network, raised $15m in Series A funding from NEA, Andreessen Horowitz, Bessemer Venture Partners, Caffeinated Capital and Onset Capital. www.livekindred.com

• EniferBio, a Finnish fungal protein startup, raised €11m in Series A funding led by Aqua-Spark. www.eniferbio.fi

🚑 Omy Labs, a Canadian maker of personalized dermo-cosmetics, raised C$11m led by Crédit Mutuel Equity. https://axios.link/40dqaBn

• Groundlight, a Seattle-based visual understanding service based on natural language instruction, raised $10m. Madrona led, and was joined by Greycroft, Founders Co-op, Flying Fish, AscendVC and EssenceVC. www.groundlight.ai

• Fluree, a Winston-Salem, N.C.-based graph ledger database and data pipeline toolset, raised $10m in Series A funding from SineWave Ventures. Eve Atlas, Augment Ventures, Nanban Ventures, Wave Financial, Good Growth Capital and Rise of the Rest. www.flur.ee

• Universal Ledger, a startup that helps users build their own crypto wallets, raised $10m in SAFE notes led by Hard Yaka, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3LekLGb

• Accredify, a Singapore-based document verification service, raised $7m in Series A funding. iGlobe Partners and SIG VC co-led, and were joined by insiders Pavilion Capital and Qualgro. https://axios.link/3GXkcOc

• Triver, a London-based provider of short-term working capital to SMEs, raised £7m in seed funding from Stride, Axeleo Capital and Motive Partners. https://axios.link/3AdESxG

• Evermile, a British local delivery logistics startup, raised $6m in seed funding. 10D led, and was joined by Mensch Capital Partners. https://axios.link/3UPPEDU

• Bixby, a provider of credit information on private syndicated loan issuers, raised $5.5m in Series A funding led by Fitch Ventures. www.bixbyresearch.com

• Charm Solutions, an SF-based lending insights startup, raised $3.5m in seed funding led by BootstrapLabs. https://axios.link/40pQ7Oe

• Primo, a French IT-as-a-service startup, raised $3.4m in seed funding led by Headline. https://axios.link/41oKKQO

🚑 Perci Health, a London-based virtual cancer care support startup, raised £3.4m in seed funding led by Octopus Ventures. https://axios.link/3A9sjnm

⚡ Cadenza Innovation, a Danbury, Conn.-based developer of explosion-proof lithium-ion batteries, is raising up to $100m in Series C funding, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/43J1cwS

• Hubspot (NYSE: HUBS) invested in Switchboard, a San Jose, Calif.-based digital collaborative workspace. www.switchboard.app

• Pagaya (Nasdaq: PGY), an Israeli credit analysis firm, raised $75m from longtime venture backer Oak HC/FT, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/40sg7bT

🚑 TPG agreed to acquire a majority stake in OneOncology, a Nashville-based oncology practice network, from General Atlantic for $2.1b. Also participating on the buy-side is Amerisource Bergin (NYSE: ABC), which will hold a minority stake. https://axios.link/40ocrbg

• Carton Pack, an Italian portfolio company of A&M Capital, a majority stake in Smilesys, an Italian maker of automatic resealable packaging and adhesive food labels. https://axios.link/3A8YOSA

🚑 Envision Healthcare, a Nashville-based physician staffing firm owned by KKR, is exploring a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing that would give company control to its creditors, per the WSJ. https://axios.link/41oNA8q

🚑 Gryphon Investors acquired Vetnique, a Naperville, Ill.-based maker of supplements and topical solutions for pets. www.vetniquelabs.com

🚑 Hasten Biopharmaceutic, a Chinese drug developer that recently bought five cardio and metabolism medicines in China from Takeda for $322m, raised $315m co-led by CBC Group and Mubadala. https://axios.link/3AlgXfL

• Industrial Growth Partners acquired Hultec, a Fort Worth, Texas-based maker of elastomer gaskets, seals and related products for the potable water, agricultural and industrial markets. www.hultec.com

• TruArc Partners invested in Trademark Cosmetics, a Riverside, Calif.-based formulator and manufacturer of beauty and personal care products. www.trademarkcosmetics.com

• CXMT, a Chinese memory chipmaker, is prepping for a domestic IPO that could value the company north of $14.5b, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/40q7ZZi

• SeatGeek, a New York-based online ticketing marketplace, filed confidential IPO papers, per Sportico. The company last year scrapped a planned SPAC merger, instead raising new venture capital at a $1b valuation. At the time, Axios reported that SeatGeek was planning a late 2023 IPO.

• Forcepoint, an Austin, Texas-based cybersecurity company owned by Francisco Partners, hired Citigroup to find a buyer of its government security unit, per Reuters. The deal could fetch more than $2b. https://axios.link/3AcOI2Y

• CNH Industrial (NYSE: CNHI), an Italian-American agricultural and construction equipment maker, sold its Russian business for around $60m and ceased operations in the country. https://axios.link/41pJ3T5

• Virgin Media O2, owned by Liberty Global and Telefónica, is seeking a buyer for all or part of its Cornerstone mobile tower network, which could be valued at up to £3b. https://axios.link/41kudxc

🎵 Beat was launched by dance music label Armada Music as a $100m fund to acquire dance music recording and publishing catalogs. https://axios.link/40rgDHd

• Flexstone Partners, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers, raised $790m for its fourth private equity co-investment fund. www.flexstonepartners.com

🚑 Gilde Healthcare raised €600m for its sixth VC fund. https://axios.link/3KRIWbP

• JPMorgan Growth Equity Partners raised over $1b for its debut fund led by Christopher Dawe (ex-Goldman Sachs). www.jpmorgan.com

• O2 Investment Partners, a Michigan-based lower midmarket private equity firm, raised $445m for its fourth fund. www.o2investment.com

• Vesey Ventures, a fintech VC firm formed by three former managing directors at Amex Ventures, raised $78m for its debut fund. https://axios.link/3UQwhdO

• Vice Ventures, a VC firm focused on nontraditional industries like sex-tech and psychedelics, raised $25m for its second fund. www.viceventures.com

• IVP hired Tamar Yehoshua (ex-Slack chief product officer) as a venture partner, Davey Nickels (ex-Robinhood head of people) as SVP and head of talent, and Blair Shane (ex-CMO of Sequoia Capital) as a partner and CMO. www.ivp.com

• Jin Oh (ex-Riot Games) and Jonathan Huang (ex-Sea Capital) joined Bitkraft Ventures as a partner and principal, respectively. Both will focus on the Asian gaming market. www.bitkraft.vc

• Rui Wang is leaving Credit Suisse to join Deutsche Bank in Hong Kong, with a focus on Chinese IPOs and M&A, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3mIqhHI

• Braemont Capital promoted Eliza Calihan and Max Green to principal and VP, respectively. www.braemont.com

WeWork (NYSE: WE) shares closed below 50 cents yesterday, pushing the coworking space operator's market cap down to just $334 million.

• For context, WeWork founder and ousted CEO Adam Neumann last year raised $350 million (at a $1b post-money valuation) for his new real estate startup from Andreessen Horowitz. Moreover, WeWork itself was once valued at $47 billion by its venture capital backers.
• On Tuesday, WeWork disclosed that it received a noncompliance notice from the NYSE because of its flailing stock price. It has six months to regain compliance before possible delisting.