President Trump's decision to prevent international students from studying at Harvard University could hurt America's economy by reducing the number of startup founders.

Why it matters: Trump is aiming at Harvard, but buckshot may hit the innovation engine that America needs to stay ahead of China.

The big picture: Around 44% of U.S. unicorn companies — startups valued at $1 billion or more — are founded or cofounded by immigrants from such countries as India, Canada, and Israel.

• Some of those founders moved to the U.S. as children, but many came to the U.S. for school and then stayed to build their businesses.

Zoom in: Harvard gets some tech community side-eye for having less of an entrepreneurial ethos than rivals like Stanford and MIT, but the numbers don't support the critique.

• According to PitchBook, Harvard is one of America's top schools for educating startup founders, ranking third for undergrads, second for grad students, and first for MBAs.
• This includes 146 U.S. unicorns, and an Axios analysis shows that at least 23 of them were founded or cofounded by international students. This cohort includes payments giant Stripe, cybersecurity firm CloudFlare, crypto brokerage FalconX, and generative AI startup Writer.
• Under Trump's edict, none of those foreign founders would have been allowed to enroll.

Zoom out: Harvard obviously is just one U.S. university out of thousands, but it has an outsized global reputation.

• Trump's move could discourage other foreign students from coming here at all, particularly after Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Fox News that the Harvard halt "should be a warning to every other university."
• For the 7,000 or so international students currently enrolled at Harvard, some may seek to transfer to other U.S. schools — but it could be quite onerous at this point in the calendar, particularly for those working on scientific graduate degrees that are tied to specific advisers.
• Got to wonder what's going through the head of Israeli students whose visas are being revoked in the name of fighting antisemitism.

Look ahead: This dispute likely will get settled in court, with Harvard this morning suing the Trump administration over what it called "clear retaliation" against the school for "exercising its First Amendment rights."

The bottom line: America's higher education system long has been a magnet for many of the world's best minds and most promising entrepreneurs.

• The immediate pain might be felt by Harvard and its current international students, but we'd all share in the long-term loss.

RedBird Capital Partners has agreed to buy British publisher Telegraph Media Group for £500 million from affiliate RedBird IMI.

Why it's the BFD: This caps a two-year saga centered on foreign ownership of domestic media assets, and finally provides some certainty for the 170 year-old Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Catch up quick: RedBird IMI was formed by New York-based private equity firm RedBird Capital Partners and led by ex-CNN boss Jeff Zucker, but is majority owned by the UAE government.

• It bought Telegraph in 2023, but the deal soon was blocked after political outcry. RedBird IMI retained control but launched a sale process.
• A buyer was found for The Spectator but not the broader group.
• Last week, U.K. media ownership rules were relaxed to permit foreign state-backed entities to own up to 15% stakes — which will allow RedBird IMI retain a small position in Telegraph.

The bottom line: "The group comprises the right-leaning Daily Telegraph and lifestyle publisher Chelsea Magazine. The company had more than a million subscribers at the end of 2023 ... making it one of the U.K.'s biggest newspaper publishers." — Ben Dummett, WSJ

• Monarch, an SF-based personal finance app, raised $75m in Series B funding at an $850m valuation co-led by Forerunner Ventures and FPV Ventures. axios.link/3FvNHsW

• RevenueCat, a startup powering subscription apps, raised $50m in Series C funding at a $500m valuation. Bain Capital Ventures led, joined by Index Ventures, YC, Adjacent, Volo Ventures, and SaaStr Fund. axios.link/3SCJGpT

🚑 Fore Biotherapeutics, a registration-stage cancer drugmaker, raised $38 million in Series D-2 funding from SR One, Medicxi, OrbiMed, HBM Healthcare Investments, Wellington Management, Novartis Venture Fund, Cormorant Asset Management, and 3B Future Health Fund. axios.link/4jjAUrw

🚑 General Medicine, a telehealth provider and medical marketplace , raised $32m. Matrix Partners led, joined by BoxGroup, Founder Collective, VXI Capital, and JSL Ventures. axios.link/3Sey2Bh

• CX2, a Redondo Beach, Calif.-based electronic warfare startup, raised $31m. Point72 Ventures led, joined by a16z, 8VC, and Pax Ventures. axios.link/4k5Whh3

• Rhino Federated Computing, an Israeli AI platform for regulated industries, raised a $15m Series A led by AlleyCorp, with participation from LionBird, Fusion Fund, Arkin Digital Health, Qiming Venture Partners USA, and Telus Global Ventures. axios.link/43DQjON

• StackHawk, an SF-based API security platform, raised $12m from Sapphire Ventures and Costanoa Ventures. axios.link/4kpkS04

🚑 Axle Health, an LA-based provider of scheduling and workforce management software for in-home care providers, raised $10m in Series A funding. F-Prime Capital led, joined by YC, Pear VC, and Lightbank. axios.link/44LdU12

🌎 Freshflow, a German provider of supply chain software for reducing food waste, raised €6.5m from World Fund, Capnamic, Venture Stars, and Caesar Ventures. axios.link/44VJ4TD

• PiLogic, an AI that analyzes radar data, raised $4m in seed funding. Scout Ventures and Seraphim Space co-led, joined by Sovereign's Capital, Flex Capital, FN Fund, and Gokul Rajaram. pilogic.ai

• Penfold, a UK-based digital pensions platform, raised £3.9m led by Gresham House Ventures. axios.link/4keohiW

• Tamtam, a French AI platform for complex B2B sales, raised €3m in seed funding. Varsity led, joined by Kima Ventures. axios.link/4muwJvP

🚽 Throne, an Austin-based maker of a smart toilet device that monitors gut health, raised $4m in seed led by Moxxie Ventures. axios.link/4k8dvKX

• PlaySafe ID, a U.K. startup that keeps cheaters and predators out of games, raised €1m in pre-seed funding. Early Game Ventures led, joined by Hartmann Capital and Overwolf. playsafeid.com

• Strava, an SF-based fitness tracking platform, raised new funding at a $2.2b valuation, per the WSJ Sequoia Capital led, joined by TCV, Jackson Square Ventures, and Go4it Capital. axios.link/4jhsQYs

🚑 Comac Medical Group, backed by EdgeCap Partners, acquired ILife Consulting, a French contract research organization. comac-medical.com

• EQT agreed to acquire Seven Seas Water Group, a water treatment firm in the U.S. and Latin America, from Morgan Stanley Infrastructure. axios.link/3F5wzub

• Forest Road Co. is in talks to lead an acquisition of OnlyFans for around $8b from Leonid Radvinsky, per Reuters. axios.link/4drYkcU

• Greenbriar Equity Group acquired West Star Aviation, an Illinois-based maintenance repair and overhaul services company, from The Sterling Group. axios.link/45ozokt

• H.I.G. Growth Partners invested in AgileBlue, a Cleveland-based network security ops platform. agileblue.com

🚑 ICG invested in Hakim Group, a U.K. network of independent opticians. hakimgroup.co.uk

• Main Street Capital recapitalized Doral Corp., a Milwaukee-based contractor specializing in rigging, millwrighting, and machinery moving. doralcorp.net

• A Paradise Acquisition, a leisure and entertainment SPAC, filed for a $200m IPO. It's led by Claudius Tsang, whose prior SPAC merged with Chinese video and anime brand MultiMetaVerse. axios.link/44NhpnL

• Cal Redwood Acquisition, a TMT SPAC led by Vivek Ranadivé, raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/3F6ZUnx

• Cohen Circle Acquisition II, a fintech SPAC led by Betsy Cohen, filed for a $220m IPO. axios.link/44QfFKv

• PHI Group, a Lafayette, La.-based provider of helicopter transportation services to the oil and air medical industries, withdrew a $100m IPO fling. It had planned to list on the NYSE. axios.link/43vhEl9

• Oyster Enterprises II Acquisition, a Miami-based SPAC led by Alden Global executives, raised $220m in an upsized IPO. axios.link/3RRXaO0

• Verisure, a Swiss fire and security alarm maker owned by Hellman & Friedman, picked Stockholm for an IPO that could value the company at more than €20b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3FvDfBI

• Belkin International, backed by Symmetric Capital, sold smart water tech company Phyn to an investor group led by Jonathan Scott (Scott Brothers Global). phyn.com

• Foxconn (Taiwan: 2317) is among those circling UTAC, a Singaporean chip assembly and testing business being sold by China's Wise Road Capital for around $3b, per Reuters. axios.link/4mvEzW4

🏀 Aditya Mittal, CEO of ArcelorMittal, is investing $1b into Bill Chisholm's purchase of the NBA's Boston Celtics. axios.link/3Zqn6UT

• Kuehne + Nagel (Swiss: KNIN) agreed to buy Spanish road logistics firm Transporte y Distribucion Nacional. axios.link/43paIFV

🏀 The New York Liberty of the WNBA raised new funding at a $450m valuation, per The Athletic. axios.link/43aEu2p

🚑 Samsung Biologics plans to separate its contract manufacturing and biosimilar development business units to make them more competitive and address conflict of interest concerns. axios.link/3FlzdvP

• Steve Benjamin joined Investcorp Corsair Infrastructure Partners as operating partner for local communities. He's the former mayor of Columbia, S.C. who most recently was a senior adviser to President Biden and the White House's director of public engagement. axios.link/438HwEq