One of Silicon Valley's most successful founders and investors just got accused of insider trading.

Driving the news: The SEC alleges that Andy Bechtolsheim confidentially learned of Cisco's plans to buy Acacia Communications, shortly before the $4.5 billion deal was announced in 2019, and then traded Acacia options by accessing brokerage accounts of a relative and associate.

• The scheme generated $415,726 in what the SEC refers to as "illegal profits."
• Bechtolsheim agreed to pay a civil penalty of nearly $1 million, without admitting or denying wrongdoing. He also will be barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company for five years.
• The SEC did not make any announcement regarding disgorgement by owners of the two accounts, and declined to comment on if related complaints are in the works.

Why it matters: Bechtolsheim co-founded several tech companies, including Sun Microsystems, Granite Systems, and Arista Networks.

• He also wrote one of the first checks into Google, investing $100,000 before the search giant had even been incorporated, in what was arguably the greatest angel investment of all time.
• His net worth is estimated to be over $16 billion. That means the civil penalty is pocket change. Then again, so would have been a legal fight to save an invaluable reputation.

Zoom in: Bechtolsheim remains "chief architect" at Arista, a publicly traded company worth around $93 billion.

• In a statement, Arista emphasizes that it "takes compliance to the company's code of conduct and insider trading policy seriously [and] will respond appropriately to the situation."

The bottom line: It should be inconceivable that someone so wealthy would do something so reckless for relatively little reward. Except that we've seen it happen time and time again.

International Paper (NYSE: IP) offered to buy British paper and packaging firm DS Smith (LSE: SMDS) for around £5.72 billion in stock.

Why it's the BFD: This may set up a bidding war for DS Smith, which three weeks ago agreed to be acquired by rival Mondi (LSE: MNDI) for £5.14 billion in stock.

The bottom line: This would be Memphis-based International Paper's second major European acquisition play. In 2018 it unsuccessfully tried to buy Ireland's Smurfit Kappa, which later when on cross-border offense by agreeing to buy Atlanta's WestRock for $11 billion.

• Celestial AI, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of optical interconnect solutions, raised $175m in Series C funding. USIT led, and was joined by insiders AMD Ventures, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Temasek, IAG Capital Partners, Samsung Catalyst, Smart Global Holdings, Porsche, Engine Ventures, M-Ventures, and Tyche Partners. https://axios.link/3TCb7zR

• Observe, a SaaS observability startup focused on machine-generated data, raised $125m in Series B funding. Sutter Hill Ventures led, and was joined by Snowflake and insiders Capital One Ventures and Madrona. https://axios.link/4aOwjdh

• Uzum, an Uzbekistani food delivery and fintech startup, raised $52m in Series A funding at a $1.2b valuation. FinSight Ventures led, and was joined by Xanara Investment Management. https://axios.link/3PBmoiS

• Global Screening Services, a London-based provider of sanctions-screening solutions for banks, raised $47m from Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Cynosure Group, and AlixPartners. https://axios.link/3TBwC3U

• Qoala, an Indonesian personal insurer, raised $47m in Series C funding. PayPal Ventures and MassMutual Ventures co-led, and were joined by MUFG Innovation Partners, Omidyar Network and insiders Flourish Ventures, Eurazeo and AppWorks. https://axios.link/4a8W489

• Viam, a New York-based robotics startup, raised $45m in Series B funding from insiders USV and Battery Ventures. www.viam.com

🚑 Nourish, a New York-based telenutrition startup, raised $35m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Index Ventures led, and was joined Maverick Ventures, TCV, YC, Thrive Capital, and BoxGroup. https://axios.link/4absCOP

🚑 Brightside Health, an SF-based telemental health provider, raised $33m in Series C funding, per Axios Pro. Section 32 led, and was joined by Kennedy Lewis, Time BioVentures, Redwood Pacific and insiders ACME, Mousse Partners, and Triventures. https://axios.link/3vwb00X

• Fieldguide, an SF-based developer of AI-enabled tools for accountants, raised $30m in Series B funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led, and was joined by 8VC and Elad Gil. https://axios.link/3vtPCJI

• PipeDreams, an SF-based home services provider, raised $25.5m in Series A funding co-led by Canvas Ventures and Plural. https://axios.link/4a9Gkl0

🌎 900.care, a French supplier of refillable hygiene products to reduce waste, raised €21m. Lombard Odier Investment Managers led, and was joined by White Star Capital, Swen Blue Ocean, and Founders Future. https://axios.link/49dbhU8

⚡ Evoloh, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of electrolyzers for hydrogen production, raised $20m in Series A funding. Engine Ventures led, and was joined by 3M Ventures and NextEra Energy. https://axios.link/4a6AMI1

• Permiso, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based cloud threat detection and response platform, raised $18.5m in Series A funding. Altimeter Capital led, and was joined by Point72 Ventures. www.permiso.io

• Gather AI, a provider of drone-powered warehouse inventory monitoring, raised $17m in Series A extension funding, per Axios Pro. Bain Capital Ventures led, and was joined by Tribeca Venture Partners, Dundee VC, Expa and Bling Capital. https://axios.link/3x5VdGs

• Confetti, a team-building platform, raised $16m in Series A funding co-led by Entrée Capital and IN Venture. https://axios.link/3J01I05

• MyPrize, a crypto casino (ed note: redundant?), raised $13m. Dragonfly and Boxcars Ventures co-led, and were joined by a16z, Mechanism Capital, Arrington Capital, Breed VC, JST Capital, and 2 Punks Capital. https://axios.link/43PpHZT

• Hive, a French distributed cloud startup, raised €12m in Series A1 funding led by SC Ventures. https://axios.link/3TyFg3a

• Illuvium Labs, a blockchain games developer, raised $12m in Series A funding from King River Capital, Arrington Capital, and Animoca Labs. https://axios.link/3IZHweM

• Picogrid, an El Segundo, Calif.-based unified platform for autonomous military systems, raised $12m in seed funding. Initialized Capital led, and was joined by Starburst Ventures, Credo Ventures, Giant Step Capital, Domino Ventures, and Alumni Ventures. https://axios.link/3Vzk1ki

• Alex, a Bitcoin DeFi startup, raised $10m. Spartan Capital led, and was joined by CMS Holdings, DACM, DWF Labs, Foresight Ventures, G-20 Group, Ouroboros Capital, Summer Capital, Cultur3 Capital, and EVG. https://axios.link/3PEga1P

• Oriole Networks, a London-based startup focused on accelerating LLM training, raised £10m in seed finding from UCL Technology Fund, Clean Growth Fund, XTX Ventures, Dorilton Ventures, and Innovate UK Investor Partnership. https://axios.link/3xf7BUQ

• Nominal, a New York-based developer of generative AI solutions for the ERP market, raised $9.2m in seed funding. Bling Capital and Hyperwise Ventures co-led, and were joined by Vela Partners and Incubate Fund. www.nominal.so

• ValidMind, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based AI and model risk management platform for financial services, raised $8.1m in seed funding. Point72 Ventures led, and was joined by Third Prime, New York Life Ventures, AI Fund, Notion Capital, FJ Labs, Angel Invest, and Gaingels. https://axios.link/3vtdXPJ

• Scaleup Finance, a Danish provider of startup financial planning software, raised $8m in seed funding. Inveready led, and was joined by Crowberry Capital, Seed X, PROfounders, Fin Capital and CircleRock Capital. https://axios.link/3TyqAB5

⚡ Evari, a Peterborough, N.H.-based developer of heat-pump compressors, raised $7.5m in seed funding led by Clean Energy Ventures. www.evarithermal.com

🚑 Odne, a Swiss provider of endodontic treatments, raised $5.5m in Series A-1 funding. Revere Partners and NV Capital co-led, and were joined by Dental Innovation Alliance, Plug and Play, Hatcher, and Zürcher Kantonalbank. odne.co

🚑 Chiyo, a food-as-medicine startup for postpartum moms, raised $3m. Bread & Butter Ventures led, and was joined by Ingeborg, Union Heritage Ventures, Peterson Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, Palette Ventures, and The Helm. https://axios.link/3ISpYRR

• OrdinalsBot, a London-based startup focused on the data layer of the BTC blockchain, raised $3m in seed funding led by DACM. https://axios.link/4aaZMhn

• Clean Food Group, a London-based developer of sustainable oil and fat alternatives, raised €2.5m led by Clean Growth Fund. https://axios.link/3TBhXFQ

🚑 Century Health, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based provider of patient data to drug developers, raised $2m led by 2048 Ventures. https://axios.link/3Tzctf0

• Bain Capital, EQT, and Warburg Pincus are among those weighing bids for Lehi, Utah-based supply chain risk management firm Avetta, which is being sold by Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3TBZuZJ

• Battery Ventures invested in Mobius Institute, a Ft. Myers, Fla.-based provider of training and certification services in maintenance and asset reliability. www.mobiusinstitute.com

• Greybull Stewardship acquired Pogo Pass, an American Fork, Utah-based provider of family entertainment memberships. www.pogopass.com

⚡ I Squared Capital formed a joint venture with Enbridge (TSX: ENB) and two pipeline firms to connect Permian supplies to the Gulf Coast. https://axios.link/3VA4ktp

• L Catterton invested in Storyteller Overland, a Birmingham, Ala.-based maker of adventure vehicles. https://axios.link/3TCkZK0

• Marlin Equity Partners agreed to acquire a majority stake in Treasury Intelligence Solutions, a German treasury management provider that had raised around $60m from firms like Aquiline Capital Partners, Zobito, 83North, Vintage Investment Partners, and Target Partners. www.tispayments.com

• One Equity Partners acquired a minority stake in CBM, an Italian maker of agricultural tractor attachment equipment. www.cbmspa.com

🚑 Supreme Group, a portfolio company of Trinity Hunt Partners, acquired Health+Commerce, an Eagle, Idaho-based health care marketing agency. www.healthandcommerce.com

🚑 Veeda Clinical Research, an Indian firm whose backers include Acorn Asset Management and Sabre Partners, acquired Heads, a European CRO. https://axios.link/3PDOdqI

• Marex Group, a British commodities broker, filed for an IPO that Renaissance Capital estimates could raise $500m. It plans to list on the Nasdaq (MRX) and reports $121m in 2023 net income on $1.24b in revenue. https://axios.link/3VAxsR7

🚑 OmnigenicsAI and MultiplAI Health, both preventative health companies, agreed to merge and go public at an implied $340m enterprise value via APx Acquisition Corp. I (Nasdaq: APXI). https://axios.link/3TS5AXr

🚑 Biotech Group Acquisition, a North America biotech SPAC led by Melody Shi (YCM CPA), withdrew registration for a $100m IPO. https://axios.link/4cyNQI0

• IB Acquisition, a SPAC led by Al Lopez (Alma Coffee founder and ex-CEO of Blair Corp.), raised $100m in its IPO. https://axios.link/47m52NL

🚑 Ardian is seeking to sell Inovie Group, a French labs chain that could fetch more than €3b, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/4auQjBh

• The One Group (Nasdaq: STKS) agreed to buy Japanese restaurant chain Benihana for $365 million from Angelo Gordon. https://axios.link/4cvR7Yx

• G/O Media, backed by Great Hill Partners, agreed to sell off two more of its properties, pop culture site The A.V. Club to Paste Media and food site The Takeout to Static Media. https://axios.link/4adTs94

🚑 Steward Health Care, a hospital chain we've discussed at length, agreed to sell its nationwide physician network to Optum, a unit of UnitedHealth (NYSE: UNH). https://axios.link/43Dd3N6

⚡ CPS Energy agreed to buy two Texas natural gas plants from Talen Energy for $785m. https://axios.link/43CwxBI

• Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON) agreed to buy Civitanavi Systems (Milan: CNS), an Italian provider of inertial navigation and stabilization solutions, for around €200m, or €6.30 per share. https://axios.link/3IVAN5N

🚑 Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is in talks to buy Shockwave Medical, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based cardiac medical device maker with around an $11b market cap, per the WSJ. https://axios.link/3TVWPfa

• Louis Dreyfus agreed to buy Cacique, a Brazilian instant coffee exporter. https://axios.link/499sA8F

⚡ Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is seeking to sell its 25% stake in the Rockies Express Pipeline, which could fetch more than $1b (including assumed debt), per Reuters. https://axios.link/3TRdHUe

• Percheron Capital, an SF-based PE firm focused on "essential services" businesses, raised $1.55b for its second fund. www.percheron.com

• SYN Ventures, a cybersecurity-focused VC firm, raised over $100m for a seed fund. It also hired Robert Potter (ex-Mandiant) as a venture partner. www.synventures.com

• Carlyle promoted Lindsay LoBue to COO, effective July 1, succeeding Chris Finn. She'd been serving as the firm's deputy COO. www.carlyle.com

• Tim Deacon is stepping down as CFO of Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board to join Sun Life Financial as EVP and CFO. https://axios.link/3Pz5scD

• Samantha Dwinell joined Blue Wolf as an operating partner. She previously was chief people officer for Stream Realty Partners. www.bluewolfcapital.com

• Lisa Opoku (ex-Goldman Sachs) and Stephen Tisdalle (TIAA) joined FS Investments as COO and CMO, respectively. www.fsinvestments.com

We're just over a year removed from the regional banking crisis, and new data from Kruze Consulting reveals three big things about how startup banking has changed:

1. Startups now prefer to have multiple accounts, often pairing one large institutional bank with a startup-focused firm like Brex or Mercury.
2. No single bank holds more than 50% of total deposits, as SVB once did.
3. JPMorgan gained the most market share, in part via its purchase of First Republic.