There are relatively few VC or PE investors running for elective office in 2026, but that doesn't mean the ballots are bare.

• Three industry vets are vying to be governors, with the earliest primary taking place early next month.

What to know: It's my longstanding policy to "endorse" such candidates. Not because of party, policy or personality, but because there's a newsletter to write each morning. As the saying goes, vote your notebook!

Mike Minogue: Republican candidate for Massachusetts governor. Primary on Sept. 1.

• Minogue spent most of his career in medical devices, serving as CEO of Abiomed for more than 18 years.
• He later launched a venture capital firm called Heartwork Capital, which has backed more than a dozen life sciences startups. He also has VC experience as a senior advisor to EW Healthcare Partners.

Brian Shortsleeve: Republican candidate for Massachusetts governor. Yup, it's VC vs. VC.

• Shortsleeve joined General Catalyst in 2008 after four years with H.I.G. Capital. He left in 2015 to run the troubled state transit authority, after which he launched a new growth equity firm called M33 with a couple other General Catalyst vets.
• M33 raised $780 million over three funds, with expectations that it will raise a fourth. Whether Shortsleeve is involved in Fund IV, however, may be up to Massachusetts voters.

Tom Steyer: Democratic candidate for California governor. Primary on June 2.

• Steyer made most of his money as a hedge fund manager, launching Farallon Capital in 1986.
• Before that he spent some time with buyout shop Hellman & Friedman, and subsequently launched and led Galvanize — a decarbonization-focused investment firm whose venture arm has backed such companies as Fervo Energy and Crusoe.

There also are former hedge fund managers running for governor: James Fishback in Florida and Vivek Ramaswamy in Ohio.

Cerebras Systems, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AI chipmaker, raised $5.6 billion in its IPO.

Why it's the BFD: We knew this would be the year's largest IPO, but it crushed even those high expectations — benefiting from a broader surge in semiconductor stocks.

• Cerebras priced at $185 per share, compared to the original $115-$125 price range and a revised $150-$160 plan.
• Its initial market cap is nearly $40 billion, a 73% increase over where it raised Series H funding just four months ago led by Tiger Global.

ROI: Cerebras had raised around $3 billion from firms like Alpha Wave, Benchmark, Eclipse, Fidelity, and Foundation Capital.

• Other backers included AMD, Coatue, Bow River Capital, Altimeter, 1789 Capital, DataPower Capital, Flybridge, and Atreides Management.

The bottom line: Third time's a charm, as Cerebras scrapped prior IPO plans in both 2024 and 2025.

• Recursive Superintelligence, a U.K.-based neolab founded by former Google engineers at DeepMind and OpenAI, confirmed that it raised $650m at a $4.65b post-money valuation. GV and Greycroft led, joined by Nvidia and AMD. axios.link/4dsLawJ

• Quantum Systems, a German drone startup, is in talks to raise around €600m from firms like Airbus and Blackstone, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4dKyHF1

• Mind Robotics, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based industrial robotics spinout from Rivian, raised $400m. Kleiner Perkins led, joined by Meritech Capital, Redpoint Ventures, SV Angel, Incharge Capital, A* Capital, and Garuda Ventures. axios.link/4tvTcuA

• Fractile, a developer of inference hardware for AI, raised $220m in Series B funding. Accel, Factorial Funds, and Founders Fund led, joined by Conviction, Gigascale, 01A, Felicis, Buckley Ventures, and 8VC. axios.link/42wP1nA

🚑 Create Medicines, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of CAR-T therapies, raised $122m in Series B funding led by insiders Newpath Partners, Arch Venture Partners, and Hatteras Venture Partners. axios.link/3P5qHpM

🚑 UroMems, a French developer of implantable mechatronics technology to treat stress urinary incontinence, raised $60m from Ajax Health. axios.link/3PDyOdd

🚑 Degron Therapeutics, a molecular glue-based targeted protein degradation drug discovery platform, raised $40m in Series A extension funding. Lapam Capital led, joined by GTJA Investment Group, Fortune Capital, CSPC & Growth, ApicHope, GF Xinde, CASSTAR, Kinghall Ventures, and GAGE Capital. axios.link/4twVPMQ

• Equipifi, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based provider of embedded BNPL solutions for banks and credit unions, raised $34m in Series B funding. Left Lane Capital led, joined by Curql and PHX Ventures. axios.link/4u5HHv3

🌍 Mantle8, a French hydrogen exploration startup, raised €31m in Series A funding. Sandwater led, joined by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Ecotechnologies 2, IP Group, Wind Capital, and Calderion. axios.link/4twVmu4

• Nectar Social, a Bellevue, Wash.-based maker of agents for businesses to manage social presence, raised $30m, per Axios Pro. Menlo Ventures and Anthology Fund led, joined by True Ventures, GV, and Kinship Ventures. axios.link/4eLYwq9

🚑 BranchLab, a Boulder, Colo.-based pharma commercialization platform, raised $26m in Series A funding. McKesson Ventures led, joined by FCA Venture Partners, Sanofi Ventures, and AIX Ventures. axios.link/437xvX2

• Iceotope, a U.K. provider of liquid cooling tech for data centers, raised $26m in Series B funding. Two Seas Capital and Barclays Climate Ventures led, joined by insiders Edinv, ABC Impact, Northern Gritstone and British Business Bank. axios.link/42zEuI9

• GovWell, an NYC-based permitting and licensing platform, raised $25 million in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Insight Partners led, joined by Work-Bench and Bienville Capital. axios.link/3PjDapS

• Optura, a Franklin, Tenn.-based provider of AI ROI analysis for health care, raised $17.5m in Series A funding. Salesforce Ventures led, joined by Susa Ventures, Matrix Partners and HC9 Ventures. axios.link/4uN4UCq

🚑 Anomaly Insights, an NYC-based provider of health care RCM tools, raised $17m. Sound Ventures led. joined by Alumni Ventures, Link Ventures, Redesign Health, and RRE Ventures. axios.link/4ws2s5K

• Outmarket AI, an SF-based AI platform for insurers, raised $17m in Series A funding. Permanent Capital Ventures led, joined by SignalFire, Fika Ventures, TTV Capital, and Dash Fund. axios.link/4nn3ZWA

• Onramp, which helps large bitcoin holders secure assets across multiple custodians, raised $12.5m at a $135 million pre-money valuation led by Early Riders, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4tug9yp

• Synthetic, a provider of AI bookkeeping software for startups, raised $10m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Khosla Ventures led, joined by Basis Set Ventures. axios.link/4nvxeH5

• Ranger AI, a Canadian ops platform for industrial project management, raised US$8.4m in seed funding from Bonfire Ventures, 25madison, Inovia and Panache Ventures, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4uLwboD

• Graphon, a "pre-model intelligence layer," raised $8.3m in seed funding. Novera Ventures led, joined by Perplexity Fund, Samsung Next, GS Futures, Hitachi Ventures, Gaia Ventures, B37 Ventures, and Aurum Partners. axios.link/4ntOyw0

• Furientis, a developer of ship-based interceptor missiles, raised $5m in pre-seed funding, per Fortune. Silent Ventures led, joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, SV Angel, Vanderbilt University, and Channel 39 Ventures. axios.link/3RaajVx

🚑 Avant Genomics, a Charlottesville, Va.-based liquid biopsy sample prep company, raised $3m from TitletownTech, Halyard Ventures, Virginia Venture Partners, CAV Angels, and Global Impact Fund. axios.link/4tyigkY

• Dolfin, a Barcelona-based sales incentive and commission platform, raised €2.1m in seed funding. Swanlaab led, joined by Archipelago Next, Inveready, and Dozen. axios.link/4nomeeh

• Zerops, a Czech platform for modernizing cloud infrastructure, raised $2m in seed funding led by Gi21 Capital. axios.link/4nvx1Uj

• Holmes, a Belgian software quality assurance startup, raised €1.1m in pre-seed funding. Syndicate One led, joined by NewSchool, RDY, and 100IN. axios.link/3PE2irp

🚑 Autoimmunity BioSolutions, a Houston-based immuno-corrective therapy startup, raised a $1m seed extension led by Eos BioInnovation. axios.link/4uRjpFj

• Boyne Capital invested in YZY Fragrances, a Miami-based fragrance company focused on perfumes, colognes, and body mists. axios.link/4tvgwZy

• Brookfield Asset Management agreed to acquire French air cargo firm World Freight Co. for around $1.2b from EQT, per Reuters. axios.link/3PgV90a

• Citation Capital invested in World Travel Holdings, the Wakefield, Mass.-based parent company of Dream Vacations and CruiseOne. axios.link/4u3RoKw

• Gallant Capital Partners invested in NCCO, a St. Paul, Minn.-based provider of food service labels and consumables. axios.link/4uLueIH

• Good Springs Capital invested in Snyder Environmental Services, a Kearneysville, W.Va.-based provider of environmental and infrastructure services to the water, stormwater, and wastewater markets. axios.link/3RDZz1G

• IK Partners completed its acquisition of Rhétorès Group, a French financial advisor focused on HNW individuals. axios.link/3R6g0nn

• Sunstone Partners invested in Peloton Consulting Group, an Oracle partner focused on "AI-driven transformations." axios.link/4uF3kT0

🚑 Toscafund Asset Management offered to buy U.K. private hospital group Spire Healthcare (LSE: SPI) for around £1b. axios.link/49KqLSE

• Ve2ventures, an Athvance Capital portfolio company, acquired Content Stadium, a Dutch content operations platform focused on sports. axios.link/4fjT1PC

• Verdane completed its take-private acquisition of Augmentum Fintech, an investor in European fintech businesses. axios.link/42uM5I3

• Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust, a new REIT focused on data centers leased to hyperscalers, raised $1.75b in its IPO. It priced at $20 and will list on the NYSE (BXDC). axios.link/4tZIj5t

⚡ EagleRock Land, a Houston-based oil and gas royalties firm focused on the Permian Basin, raised $320m in its IPO. It priced in the middle of its $17-$20 range, for a $2.4b initial market cap, and will list on the NYSE (EROK). axios.link/4uQOgBV

• GSR V Acquisition Corp., a SPAC led by Gus Garcia (ex-BofA) and Lewis Silberman (ex-Oppenheimer), raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/4tC6Ehu

• National Australia Bank acquired Banked, a London-based payments startup that had raised over $50m from firms like National Australia Bank Ventures, Edenred Capital Partners, Insight Partners, BofA, Rapyd, Love Ventures, Kuvi Capital, 9Yards Capital, Firestartr, OM2, Acrew Capital, Sidekick Partners, Force Over Mass Capital, X8 Ventures, and Citigroup. axios.link/4uLO2f6

• Allegiant (Nasdaq: ALGT) completed its $1.5b acquisition of rival discount carrier Sun Country Airlines (Nasdaq: SNCY). axios.link/4dp2Klh

⚡ Eneos (Tokyo: 5020) agreed to buy some of Chevron's (NYSE: CVX) Asia-Pacific refining and retail assets for around $2.17b. axios.link/4fkUm8X

• L'imad Holding of Abu Dhabi is launching a $30b-targeted fund focused on infrastructure investments, in partnership with BlackRock's Global Infrastructure Partners, Temasek, and Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. axios.link/4dpIwaY

• Kenneth Auchenberg joined Innovation Endeavors as a partner. He previously was with AlleyCorp. axios.link/4eFxhO0

• Jordan Elkin joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as a restructuring-focused partner. He previously was with Kirkland & Ellis. axios.link/4dlwEGV

• Golub Capital promoted president David Golub to co-CEO, alongside brother Lawrence Golub. axios.link/4wqMyZp

• Claire Zau joined Lightspeed as a partner focused on new media deals. She previously was with GSV Ventures. axios.link/3R5p8IZ