Sam Altman isn't just the CEO of OpenAI, the ChatGPT maker reported to be raising new funding at a $100 billion valuation.

• He's also the sole owner of OpenAI Startup Fund, which Altman himself called a "corporate venture fund," according to federal securities filings.

Why it matters: OpenAI's structural strangeness permeates all aspects of the business.

Background: OpenAI Startup Fund was launched in late 2021 to invest in other AI startups and projects.

• By last May it reported $175 million in total commitments, and a portfolio that included video editor Descript and legal tool Harvey.
• It always had outside limited partners, including major OpenAI partner Microsoft, which is unusual for corporate VC funds but not unique.
• What set OpenAI Startup Fund apart, however, was that it wasn't (and isn't) owned by OpenAI. Nor even by its affiliated nonprofit foundation. Instead, it's legally owned by Altman.

Behind the scenes: "We wanted to get started quickly and the easiest way to do that due to our structure was to put it in Sam's name," an OpenAI spokesperson tells Axios. "We have always intended for this to be temporary."

• "Temporary" has been well over a year and it's a significant risk. For example, what might have happened had Altman remained fired by OpenAI. Could he have kept the fund? Was there anything contractual to prevent it?
• No answer to that last question, but the company does add: "We now know that we may need to re-examine our governance structure, which should precede any changes to the fund, but our priority is to establish a new board first."

Pelion Venture Partners of Salt Lake City secured up to $125 million in matching funds from the U.S. Small Business Administration, Axios has learned.

Why it's the BFD: Pelion is the first licensee under a plan SBA launched last summer to modernize the Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) program, thus opening up billions of dollars to VC funds.

Details: SBA says it received more than 100 SBIC licensing pre-screen forms and licensing management assessment questionnaire applications between last August and December.

• The agency also gave green light approval toward licensing Stifel North Atlantic for its first SBIC license under a joint program with the Defense Department to focus on critical technologies.

• Lambda, a San Jose, Calif.-based GPU cloud company, raised $320m in Series C funding at a $1.5b valuation. Thomas Tull's USIT led, and was joined by B Capital, SK Telecom, T. Rowe Price and insiders Crescent Cove, Mercato Partners, 1517 Fund, Bloomberg Beta, and Gradient Ventures. https://axios.link/49hpOix

• Together AI, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based Nvidia chip reseller and trainer, is raising more than $100m at around a $1b valuation, per The Information. Salesforce Ventures is leading, with Coatue participating. https://axios.link/3OGEbEX

• Bold, a Colombian electronic payments infrastructure startup, raised $50m in Series C funding. General Atlantic led, and was joined by International Finance Corp., InQLab, and Amador. https://axios.link/3Sz7lXE

• Skylo, a Mountain View, Calif.-based direct-to-device satellite connectivity service provider, raised $37m. Intel Capital and Innovation Endeavors co-led, and were joined by BMW i Ventures, Next47, Samsung Catalyst Fund, and Seraphim Space. https://axios.link/49aBfIO

• Rasa, an SF-based generative conversational AI platform for enterprise devs, raised $30m in Series C funding. StepStone Group and PayPal Ventures co-led, and were joined by a16z, Accel, and Basis Set Ventures. https://axios.link/3SXYYq1

• Hippo Harvest, an SF-based developer of greenhouse systems for sustainably-grown produce, raised $21m in Series B funding. Standard Investments led, and was joined by Congruent Ventures, Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, Hawthorne Food Ventures, and Energy Impact Partners. https://axios.link/49fhMXA

• Marqo, an SF-based generative AI search platform, raised $12.5m in Series A funding led by Lightspeed. https://axios.link/3uoGzt7

• Architect Financial Technologies, a multi-asset brokerage for sophisticated traders, raised $12m in seed funding co-led by Blocktower Venture Capital and Tioga Capital, per Axios Pro. The startup was founded by Brett Harrison, former president of FTX.us.

⚡ Fever, a Swedish developer of an API-centric platform for virtual power plants, raised €10m in seed funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by La Famiglia and Norrsken VC. www.fever.energy

• Fordefi, a wallet-as-a-service startup, raised $10m in seed extension funding. Electric Capital led, and was joined by Paxos and Alchemy. https://axios.link/3SwEoM0

• Overworld, a developer of cross-platform multiplayer RPGs, raised $10m in seed funding. Hashed led, and was joined by The Spartan Group, Sanctor Capital, Galaxy Interactive, Hashkey, Big Brain Holdings, and Foresight Ventures. www.overworld.games

• Permit.io, an authorization-as-a-service startup, raised $8m in Series A funding. Scale Venture Partners led, and was joined by NFX, Verissimo Ventures, Roosh Ventures, Firestreak, and 92712. www.permit.io

🚑 RapidClaims, a New York-based provider of medical coding automation solutions, raised $3.1m led by Together Fund. www.rapidclaims.ai

• Kema, a UAE-based cash flow automation startup for B2B SMEs, raised $2m in pre-seed funding led by Speedinvest. https://axios.link/49qwH0K

• Land Energy, a Cleveland-based maker of electric motorcycles and smart batteries, plans to raise $65m in new funding, per Axios Pro.

• Bending Spoons, acquirer of apps like Evernote and Meetup, raised $155m at a $2.55b post-money valuation. Durable Capital Partners led, and was joined by Baillie Gifford, Cox Enterprises, NB Renaissance, NUO Capital, and StarTIP. https://axios.link/49b5teK

• Capstreet acquired Analytic Stress Relieving, a Lafayette, La.-based provider of on-site heat-treating services. www.analyticstress.com

• Clarion Capital Partners acquired D.C.-based public affairs firm Narrative Strategies. https://axios.link/3T3iodi

• Fenix Parts, a portfolio company of Stellex Capital Management, acquired Pacific Rim Auto Parts, a Ft. Worth, Texas-based automotive recycler. www.fenixparts.com

🚑 KKR agreed to buy around a 50% stake in Cotiviti, a South Jordan, Utah-based health analytics firm, from Veritas Capital for around $10.5b, per Axios Pro. KKR and Veritas each will have equal ownership. https://axios.link/4bALdov

🚑 Nautic Partners acquired home health provider Angels of Care, a Sherman, Texas-based home health provider, from Varsity Healthcare Partners. www.angelsofcare.com

• Performance Systems Integration, a Portland, Ore.-based portfolio company of The Riverside Co., acquired Fire Safety Pros, a Seattle-based provider of fire protection services. www.psiintegrated.com

• Salesloft, an Atlanta-based revenue orchestration platform, acquired Drift, a Boston-based conversational marketing and sales company. Both Salesloft and Drift are owned by Vista Equity Partners. www.salesloft.com

• Shamrock Capital acquired Carnegie, a Westford, Mass.-based provider of college marketing and enrollment solutions, from New Heritage Capital. www.carngiehigherd.com

• Uncommon Brands, a portfolio company of Crux Capital, acquired Tex-Mex restaurant chain Fuego Tortilla Grill. www.fuegotortillagrill.com

Digital World Acquisition (DWAC), the SPAC seeking to merge with Trump Media & Technology Group (dba Truth Social), disclosed that a compensation dispute with former CEO (and current board member) Patrick Orlando could scuttle its deal.

• The SEC also declared effective DWAC's registration statement effective.

• Ather Energy, an Indian e-scooter maker, is close to hiring banks for a Mumbai IPO, per Bloomberg. It's raised around $125m from firms like Hero MotoCorp and GIC. https://axios.link/3HYJzQ3

• Neo4j, a San Mateo, Calif.-based graph database company, is planning to go public on the Nasdaq, according to its largest shareholder. The company has raised over $500m from firms like Eurazeo, Inovia Capital, Eight Roads, Heartcore Capital, Alanda Capital Management and One Peak Partners. https://axios.link/3SGtNyf

• Roark Capital is beginning to consider an IPO for Inspire Brands, the parent company of such food chains as Dunkin' and Arby's, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3wbvqfy

🚑 Adagio Medical, a Laguna Hills, Calif.-based developer of cryoablation technologies, agreed to go public at an implied $113m enterprise value via ARYA Sciences Acquisition Corp IV (Nasdaq: ARYD), a SPAC formed by Perceptive Advisors. https://axios.link/42Io3ID

🚑 Nava Health MD, a Columbia, Md.-based wellness center operator, agreed to go public at an implied $320m equity value via 99 Acquisition Group (Nasdaq: NNAG), a SPAC that originally planned to focus on real estate. https://axios.link/3wpnK9w

• Brightstar Capital Partners sold Gateway Dealer Network, a Valley Park, Mo.-based provider of industrial equipment, to Richmond, Va.-based Tuckahoe Holdings. www.gatewaydealer.com

⚡ Buckthorn Partners agreed to sell U.K.-based drilling and oil well tech firm Coretrax to Expro (NYS: XPRO) for around $210m in cash and stock. https://axios.link/49gZ2XJ

🚑 GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) completed its acquisition of respiratory biotech Aiolos Bio for upwards of $1.4b (including $1b upfront). Aiolos had raised $245m in Series A funding from RA Capital Management, Atlas Venture, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Forbion, and Soffinova. https://on.wsj.com/3RPNweq

• HiBob, a New York-based HR and benefits company valued by VCs at $2.4b, agreed to acquire Pento, a British payrolls startup, for around $40m in cash and stock. Pento had raised over $50m from firms like Tiger Global, Seedcamp, General Catalyst, Hustle Fund, Moonfire, Point Nine Capital, and Avid Ventures. https://axios.link/3wjXxcD

Colorado's AG yesterday sued to block Kroger's $24.6 billion merger with rival grocer Albertsons.

🚑 Aurinia Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AUPH), a Canadian kidney drug developer under activist investor pressure, failed to find a buyer, per Reuters. The company, whose current market cap is around $1.1b, is expected to announce cost cuts and stock buybacks. https://axios.link/3UJaMhi

• Barclays (LSE: BARC) is weighing a bid for Societe Generale's (Paris: SOGN) U.K. private bank, per Reuters. https://axios.link/3weZbfr

• Euronet (Nasdaq: EEFT) acquired Infinitium, a Singap0re-based digital payments authentication company. https://axios.link/3UBaadr

• Walt Disney Co. (NYSE: DIS) is in talks to sell its 29.8% stake in Indian satellite TV provider Tata Play to Reliance Industries, per the Business Standard. https://axios.link/49xriF9

• 406 Ventures of Boston raised $265m for its fifth fund. www.406ventures.com

• Accolade Partners raised more than $1b for a trio of funds-of-funds, with a focus on VC and growth equity. https://axios.link/3I22QAc

• AIX Ventures, a Newark, Calif.-based firm focused on early-stage AI startups, raised $202m for its second fund. www.aixventures.com

• Hamilton Lane is raising its first RMB-denominated PE secondaries fund, per Secondaries Investor. https://axios.link/4bBmvnX

• TPG raised $12b for its ninth flagship private equity fund (below target), plus $3.6b for its second health-focused fund (above target). https://axios.link/49C9g4q

• Dan Parant joined Vista Equity Partners as a managing director and global head of private wealth solutions. He previously was with KKR. https://axios.link/3I1jpfm

• Renovus Capital Partners promoted Lee Minkoff and Moe Tufail to managing directors, and Pat Heath to VP. www.renovuscapital.com

• Norwest Venture Partners promoted Ran Ding to general partner and co-head of growth equity. It also promoted Matthew De Dominicis to administrative partner and CFO, Nikhil Kookada and Ankit Prasad to principals, and Krish Kapadia and Jordan Leites to VPs. www.nvp.com

Tyler Epp, president of F1 Miami Grand Prix, said Tuesday on the Axios BFD stage that driver Lewis Hamilton's upcoming move from Mercedes to Ferrari is like: "John Lennon going and singing for the Rolling Stones."

• He added that Ferrari gained billions of dollars in market cap the day the deal was announced.