The election is just 26 days away, which means we're (hopefully) just 26 days away from a deescalation of VCs debating politics on podcasts and social media.

• In the meantime, here's something that's gotten lost in the noise: These disagreements, no matter how vitriolic, are not expected to have an impact on VCs working together on deals.

Behind the scenes: Several of the loudest VC voices tell me that partisanship would have no impact on their deal partner picks.

• Per a Trump supporter: "Most people, including me, are happy to work with any other VCs with different views, especially if they are talented in other areas despite our disagreements. We live in a pluralistic society and it makes the USA great that we can disagree and then work together to achieve positive things."
• Per a Harris supporter: "My job is to invest in the best companies for our limited partners. Even if I think someone is dead wrong on what's best for the future of the country and democracy, it doesn't mean that they aren't right about why a startup could become a huge company."

Yes, but: Several investors acknowledged that certain founders might not be quite so inclusive, particularly if they have strong opinions and multiple offers.

The bottom line: For VCs, politics ends at the term sheet's edge.

Source: Giphy

Seven & i (Tokyo: 3382) today announced plans to split its 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station business from its non-core (read: less profitable) businesses like grocery, baby gear, and Denny's restaurants in Japan.

Why it's the BFD: This is Seven & i's grand plan to fend off a $47 billion takeover approach from Circle-K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard (TSX: ATD).

Details: The core business would be renamed 7-Eleven Corp., while the spinoff would seek outside investment and a possible listing (with 7-Eleven retaining a minority stake).

• No word yet on if this kills off the dream of Slurpees at Denny's, or Grand Slamwiches at 7-Eleven.

Look ahead: "The question is whether Seven & i's shareholders will bite, when some already have warmed to Couche-Tard's proposal." — Kimberly Chin, Axios Pro

⚡ Form Energy, a Somerville, Mass., developer of long-duration batteries, raised $405m in Series F funding. T. Rowe Price led, and was joined by GE Vernova and insiders TPG Rise Climate, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Capricorn, Coatue, Energy Impact Partners, The Engine Ventures, NGP, Temasek, GIC, Prelude Ventures, Claure Group, Gigascale Capital, Blindspot Ventures, and VamosVentures. axios.link/3U1nQNI

• EvenUp, an SF-based provider of AI solutions for personal injury law, raised $135m in Series D funding at a valuation north of $1b. Bain Capital Ventures led, and was joined by Premji Invest, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, SignalFire, and B Capital Group. axios.link/4gXcS5K

🚑 Cytovale, an SF-based developer of detection tech for sepsis and other immune-mediated diseases, raised $100m in Series D funding. Sands Capital led, and was joined by CPPIB and insiders Norwest Venture Partners, Global Health Investment Corp. and Breakout Ventures. axios.link/4eZTFym

🚑 Glooko, a Palo Alto, Calif., provider of remote patient monitoring and chronic care management for diabetes, raised $100m in Series F funding and named a new CEO. Georgian led, and was joined by Health Catalyst Capital. glooko.com

• Imprint, a co-branded credit card startup, raised $75m in Series C funding at a $600m valuation, per Fortune. Khosla Venturesled, and was joined by insiders Thrive Capital, Kleiner Perkins, and Ribbit Capital. axios.link/3Y1Wecl

• Reylance AI, an SF-based data governance platform, raised $32m in Series B funding. Thomvest Ventures led, and was joined by M12, Cheyenne Ventures and insiders Menlo Ventures and Unusual Ventures. axios.link/3BIyOl6

• Qantey, a French health insurance claims platform, raised €30m in Series B funding. Blossom Capital led, and was joined by Omnes, Raise Ventures, and Elaia. axios.link/3zTcsMY

• Logik.io, a Highland Park, Ill.-based CPQ fintech, raised $25m in Series B funding from GoBig, Emergence Capital, High Alpha, ServiceNow Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Permanent Capital. axios.link/4dGMOsA

🌎 Scope3, a New York-based decarbonization startup focused on the media, AI, and advertising industries, raised $25m, per TechCrunch. GV led, and was joined by Aperiam Ventures, Craft Ventures, Room40 Ventures, Venrock, and Virgo Strategic Investments. axios.link/4eVMc3u

• Noetica AI, a New York-based provider of benchmarking software, raised $22m in Series A funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led, and was joined by Thompson Reuters Ventures, Bling Capital, Flybridge Capital, Company Ventures and TheLegalTech Fund. noetica.ai

• Document Crunch, an Atlanta-based document compliance platform for construction, raised $21.5m in Series B funding. Titanium Ventures led, and was joined by Nemetschek Group Andres Construction, Satterfield & Pontikes and insiders Navitas Capital, Zacua Ventures, Fifth Wall, and Ironspring Ventures. documentcrunch.com

• WatchTowr, a cybersecurity startup focused on external attack surface management, raised $19m in Series A funding. Peak XV led, and was joined by insiders Prosus Ventures and Cercano Management. watchtowr.com

• FlexFactor, a startup tackling lost revenue from payment snafus, raised $16.8m from Bessemer Venture Partners, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4eD8TK2

• Zeal, an SF-based payroll platform, raised $15m in Series B funding led by Portage. zeal.com

• Surfin, a Singaporean lending and remittances company, raised $12.5m from Insignia Ventures Partners. surfin.sg

🚑 RadiantGraph, an SF-based provider of personalized health care plans for improving patient engagement, raised $11m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. M13 led, and was joined by XYZ Ventures and True Ventures. axios.link/3NrpRPn

🚑 MiLaboratories, a computational biology startup with offices in SF and Madrid, raised $10m in Series A funding. Kfund led, and was joined y Acrobator Ventures, EGB Capital, Courtyard Ventures, Somersault Ventures, Speedinvest, and Ten13. axios.link/3U33R1e

• Bitlayer Labs, a Bitcoin Layer-2 network developer, raised $9m in Series A extension funding. Polychain Capital and Franklin Templeton co-led, and were joined by SCB Limited, Selini Capital, and G-20.Group. axios.link/4dAripy

• Aperture Data, a multimodal AI database startup, raised $8.25m. TQ Ventures led, and was joined by Westwave Capital and Interwoven Ventures. aperturedata.io

• Molg, a Chantilly, Va., circular manufacturing startup, raised $5.5m in seed funding. Closed Loop Partners led, and was joined by Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, ABB Robotics & Automation Ventures, Overture, Elemental Impact, and Techstars. axios.link/3BAdhux

• Drawer AI, an Austin, Texas-based estimating system for electrical contractors, raised $5m in seed funding. Brick & Mortar Ventures led, and was joined by Base10 Partners. drawer.ai

🏓 Major League Table Tennis raised $5.5m from investors like David Blitzer and Daryl Morey. axios.link/3YeQflZ

🚑 Stream, a workers' comp medical document management startup, raised $5.3m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Spark Capital led, joined by Acrew Capital and TTV Capital. axios.link/3BAuHr3

• Kriptown, a French stock exchange for SMEs, raised €4.2m in Series A funding from BNP Paribas, Bpifrance, and Centilux Family Office. axios.link/4dEMcDS

🚑 Levy Health, an SF-based clinical decision support platform focused on women's fertility, raised $4.5m in seed funding led by XYZ Ventures, with Atlantic Labs and Possible Ventures participating. axios.link/3BAh9f3

🌎 BaCta, a French startup that's using bacteria to make rubber, raised €3.3m in pre-seed funding. OVNI Capital led, and was joined by another.vc, Kima Ventures, and Sharpstone Capital. axios.link/4h1kCUo

• Anam.ai, a maker of digital customer service personas for brands, raised $2.3m in pre-seed funding led by Concept Ventures, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3BBDsRR

🌎 In Bold Print, a Chicago-based carbon management platform for businesses, raised $1m in pre-seed funding led by VC 414. inboldprint.co

• AmerCareRoyal, an Exton, Pa., foodservice supplies company backed by HCI Equity Partners, acquired Mat-Pac, a Howell, N.J., provider of foodservice and sanitation products. amercareroyal.com

• AtVenu, a San Clemente, Calif.-based live event payment processor, raised $130m in equity funding from Sixth Street. axios.link/47Z1mTo

⚡ Auctus Capital Partners will pay $40m to buy the Italian and Swedish businesses of Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises (NYSE: BW). babcock.com

• Brookfield Asset Management agreed to buy London-based logistics real estate firm Tritax EuroBox (LSE: BOX) for £1.1b. axios.link/4h0P9BB

• Buyers Edge Platform, a Waltham, Mass., provider of digital procurement software for restaurants, acquired Swedish purchasing analytics platform Parsly. BEP backers include Blackstone, General Atlantic and Morgan Stanley, while Parsley had raised VC funding from VNV Global. axios.link/3U4ufHT

• DC Blox, a provider of interconnected data centers, raised new equity funding co-led by Post Road Group and Bain Capital Credit. dcblox.cm

🚑 Harmony Healthcare IT, a health data management platform backed by Novacap, acquired Nashville-based data management company Trinisys. harmonyhit.com

• TA Associates agreed to buy a majority stake in Solifi, a Minneapolis secured finance software firm, from Thoma Bravo. solifi.com

• Victory Live, a portfolio company of Clearlake Capital Group, acquired Logitix, a Boca Raton, Fla., provider of live event ticketing tech, from ZMC. victorylive.com

• Younited, a French P2P lending platform backed by Eurazeo and Goldman Sachs, plans to go public on the Euronext Amsterdam via a reverse merger with Iris Financial (Ams: IRIS). younited.com

• Moove Lubricants, a Brazilian auto lubricants business owned by Cosan, postponed a U.S. IPO that had been set to raise around $400m at a $1.8b fully diluted market value. Its only explanation was "adverse market conditions." axios.link/4gSmi2x

• Zabka, a Polish convenience store chain owned by CVC Capital Partners, will raise around $1.6b after pricing its IPO at the top of its range. It's Warsaw's largest IPO in four years. axios.link/3NmId4m

🚑 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) closed its $1.7b acquisition of V-Wave, an Israeli maker of cardiac medical devices that had raised over $130m from firms like J&J, Deerfield Management, Edwards Lifesciences, Endeavour Vision, Quark Venture, Aperture Venture Partners, Triventures, Pontifax, BRM Group, BioStar Capital, Pura Vida Investments, Israel Secondary Fund, and E Squared Capital Management. axios.link/4dutwr4

🚑 VSP Vision agreed to buy optical retailer Eyemart Express from FFL Partners and Leonard Green & Partners. axios.link/482TmR2

⚽ Bernard Arnault's family and Red Bull are in joint talks to buy a majority stake in Paris FC. axios.link/3UrEJS7

• BlackRock is among those weighing a takeover offer for private credit firm HPS Investment Partners, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4dXr7VD

⚡ CBRE (NYSE: CBRE) acquired the renewable energy advisory arm of NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG), per Axios Pro. axios.link/3TY0zMM

• GXO Logistics (NYSE: GXO), a supply chain services firm that spun out of XPO (NYSE: XPO) in 2021, is exploring a sale, per Bloomberg. It has around a $6b market cap. axios.link/3U1mhza

• LendingClub (NYSE: LC) and Pagaya Technologies (Nasdaq: PGY) agreed to buy the IP of Tally Technologies, the a16z-backed credit card company that recently shuttered. axios.link/4eXrmRq

• Unilever (NYSE: UL) sold its Russian business to Arnest Group, a Russian maker of personal and household products. axios.link/3Y1JkLr

• Ares Management is raising $7b for a new opportunistic credit fund that will focus on complex situations, per public pension docs. axios.link/3Yg2IFU

🌎 Diagram Ventures of Montreal raised C$60m for a climate-tech fund. diagram.ca

• Arctos hired Barry Griffiths (ex-Ares Management, Landmark Partners) as senior advisor, Om Kanwar (Palantir) as senior data scientist, and Deep Patel (Palantir) as a software engineer. arctospartners.com

• GTCR promoted Tom Ehrhart and Mark Springer to managing directors, and hired Jason Prager (Ex-Silver Point Capital) as a managing director. It also promoted Radu Cret and Nelson Iginla to principals, and hired Jessica Wang (L Catterton) as a principal of IR. gtcr.com

Coinbase, the largest U.S crypto exchange is writing fewer, but significantly larger, startup checks, Axios Pro's Lucinda Shen writes.

• Typical check sizes are now $1 million to $5 million, rather than $100k to $500k.
• "The ecosystem has matured," says Shan Aggarwal, Coinbase's head of corp dev and ventures. "In 2018, everything looked very experimental, and it was very difficult to say with conviction, 'this is gonna work', or 'that's gonna work.' In 2024, the infrastructure has developed to a point now we see patterns."

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