Black and Hispanic-owned venture capital and private equity firms have a particularly onerous time raising follow-on funds, according to new research from Harvard, Vanderbilt and the University of Michigan.

Why it matters: This trend exacerbates existing wealth disparities between racial groups. Not only in terms of fees earned by fund managers, but also because Black and Hispanic-owned funds are more likely to invest in Black and Hispanic-owned businesses.

Findings: It's no secret that Black and Hispanic-0wned firms are a distinct minority in the VC/PE universe. In fact, it's something that some of the researchers had previously quantified via work backed by The Knight Foundation.

• What's new is the discovery that sensitivity to past performance is stronger for such firms than for others, especially for underperforming funds.
• Or, put another way, track records of Black and Hispanic-owned firms get less benefit of the doubt from limited partners, particularly on valuations of non-exited portfolio companies.
• It's worth noting that the researchers found no evidence that Black and Hispanic-owned firms overstate carrying values more than do other firms. In fact: "The performance of investments by exited transactions by [Black and Hispanic-owned] firms is not distinguishable from that of other groups, while the reported valuations of unexited deals (where valuation manipulation would occur) are actually lower."
• Black and Hispanic-owned firms also are less likely to raise the amount they're seeking for first-time funds, instead missing targets by between 19% and 25% more than the broader first-time fundraising market.
• The only exception is during what the researchers call "periods of high racial awareness," like after the murder of George Floyd.

The big takeaway is implicit racial bias on the part of limited partners. It's not something the researchers are comfortable saying definitively, as it's more a qualitative than quantitative judgment, but Harvard's Josh Lerner does say that the data suggests "evidence of statistical discrimination."

• Lerner adds that he and his colleagues utilized industry databases and SEC filings to determine ownership, typically using a 50% cutoff for firm founders and/or senior partners.

The bottom line: Pattern recognition is perverted when found in mirrors, rather than in portfolios.

Source: Giphy

Porsche raised €8.2 billion in its IPO, pricing at the high end of its €76.50 to €82.50 per share range. Shares climbed in early trading on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

Why it's the BFD: This is the year's largest European IPO, and the second-largest ever in Germany (behind Deutsche Telekom in 1996). It also means that Porsche's market cap is approaching that of parent company Volkswagen, whose shares fell as some investors appear to have switched allegiances.

Details: Volkswagen offered 911 million shares and the stock symbol is "P911," both homages to Porsche's iconic 911 model. Expectations are that VW will use proceeds for electrification efforts.

The bottom line: There are hopes that Porsche's debut could jumpstart both the moribund European IPO market and public investor interest in luxury carmakers (Aston Martin, BMW, Ferrari, etc. all have seen shares sag). But this is more likely to be an exception than the start of a new rule.

• Traveloka, a Jakarta-based online travel agent that had been in talks to be acquired by a SPAC, raised $300m in new funding from such firms as BlackRock, Allianz and the Indonesia Investment Authority. https://axios.link/3CgGSas

• GrubMarket, an SF-based B2B marketplace for healthy and organic foods, raised $120m at a valuation north of $2b from General Mills, Squarepoint Capital, Portfolia, Grosvenor Food & AgTech and insiders Tiger Global, Liberty Street Funds, Walleye Capital, Celtic House Asia Partners and Apeira Capital. https://axios.link/3y1aFRV

• Pigment, a New York-based business planning platform, raised $65m in Series B+ funding co-led by IVP and Meritech Capital Partners. https://axios.link/3Sp30oL

• Workstream, an SF-based hourly worker hiring and onboarding platform, raised $60m in Series C funding at a $500m valuation. GGV Capital led, and was joined by fellow insiders Bond, Coatue, CRV and Founders Fund. https://axios.link/3RnBsP5

• Ox Security, a supply chain security software startup, raised $34m in seed funding from Evolution Equity Partners, Team8, Rain Capital and M12. https://axios.link/3dQrwQB

• Airplane, an SF-based internal tool development platform, raised $32m in Series B funding. Thrive Capital led, and was joined by insider Benchmark. https://axios.link/3SMnmYR

• Una Brands, an e-commerce aggregator focused on Asia-Pacific brands, raised $30m in Series B funding co-led by White Star Capital and Alpha JWC Ventures. https://axios.link/3y2c5LR

🚑 Rippl, a Seattle-based mental health care startup focused on seniors, raised $32m in seed funding. Arch Venture Partners and General Catalyst co-led, and were joined by GV, F-Prime Capital Partners and Mass General Brigham. https://axios.link/3BPLVx7

• Coral, a maker of dev tools for the Solana blockchain ecosystem, raised $20m. FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto co-led, and were joined by Multicoin Capital, Anagram and K5 Global. https://axios.link/3rbV4v4

• OneKey, a Hong Kong-based crypto hardware wallet maker, raised $20m in Series A funding. Dragonfly and Ribbit Capital co-led, and were joined by Coinbase Ventures, Framework Ventures, Sky9 Capital, Folius Ventures and Ethereal Ventures. https://axios.link/3CbsaAr

• Regate, a Paris-based SaaS finance automation platform, raised €20 million in Series A funding. Valar Ventures led, and was joined by 360 Capital, Financière Saint James and AG2R La Mondiale. https://axios.link/3RjafNJ

• LOVB, a new U.S. pro women’s volleyball league, raised $16.75m from such individuals as Kevin Durant, David Blitzer, Billie Jean King and Chelsea Handler. https://axios.link/3dOROmn

• In other sports deal news, LeBron James and Draymond Green are part of a group that's buying an expansion franchise in Major League Pickleball.

• AmazeVR, an LA-based virtual concert platform, raised $17m in Series B funding led by Mirae Asset Capital. https://axios.link/3SzuJ6l

🚑 Careviso, a Falls Church, Va.-based health care transparency startup, raised $17m in Series B funding, as first reported by Axios Pro. Ballast Point Ventures led, and was joined by insiders Mercury and Lytical Ventures. https://axios.link/3RhkAtj

🚑 Doccla, a London-based provider of virtual hospital ward and patient monitoring technology, raised £15m in Series A funding. General Catalyst led, and was joined by KHP Ventures, Giant Ventures and Speedinvest. https://axios.link/3RoJdUS

• Lunio, a British click fraud prevention startup, raised $15m in Series A funding led by Smedvig Capital. https://axios.link/3fvmGZt

• Invisible AI, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based developer of AI solutions for manufacturing, raised $15m in Series A funding. Van Tuyl Cos. led, and was joined by FM Capital and insiders 8VC, Sierra Ventures, K9 Ventures and Vest Coast Capital. www.invisible.ai

🎵 Hume, an LA-based metaverse music startup, raised $11.7m in Series A funding. TCG Crypto led, ad was joined by Collab+Currency, Winklevoss Capital, Gemini Frontier Fund, Gmoney, Flamingo DAO, Noise DAO, LAO DAO and Distributed Global. https://axios.link/3SmQy8X

• Detectify, a Swedish “ethical hacking” startup, raised $10m led by Insight Partners. https://axios.link/3ULK9FZ

• Maev, an Austin, Texas-based human-grade raw dog food brand, raised $10m in Series A funding, as first reported by Axios Pro. VMG Partners led, and was joined by BFG Partners, Willow Growth Partners, Springdale Ventures, DX Ventures, Contrary Capital, Good Friends and 1st Course Capital. https://axios.link/3ULpCkP

• HeadsUp, an SF-based sales conversion startup, raised $8.5m in seed funding. 645 Ventures led, and was joined by Wing VC, Firstminute Capital and Character. www.headsup.ai

🚑 Xund, a Vienna-based digital health care platform, raised €6m in seed funding. MMC Ventures and MassMutual Ventures co-led, and were joined by Roche and Lana Ventures. www.xund.ai

• Bridge Money, a Chicago-based supplemental income fintech for lower-income users, raised $5.8m in seed funding led by TMV, as first reported by Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3Ccr7jJ

• Minteo, a Latin American NFT marketplace, raised $4.3m in seed funding, per TechCrunch. Backers include Fabric Ventures, Dune Ventures, CMT Digital, Impatient VC, Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, SevenX Ventures, FJ Labs, Big Brain Holdings, G20 Ventures, Alliance DAO and Zero Knowledge. https://axios.link/3E0jWNN

• Monnai, an SF-based consumer insights infrastructure startup, raised over $3m in seed funding from Better Tomorrow Ventures, Commerce Ventures, Kearny Jackson and 9Yards Capital. www.monnai.com

• 7Analytics, a Norwegian flood behavior prediction startup, raised $2.5m in seed funding. Momentum Partners led, and was joined by Construct Venture, Link Capital and Obos VC. www.7analytics.no

• Gently, an SF-based secondhand shopping platform, raised $2m from Launch, Dorm Room Fund, V1.vc, Austen Allred, Jon Oringer and Peter Rahal. www.gently.com

• RoboSense, a Chinese developer of sensors for autonomous cars, is raising around $150m in new funding from firms like China Structural Reform Fund and Mirae Asset Securities, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3DZkgwt

🔥 Fighting words: "I think that most people who are in the venture capital space don't actually understand how infrastructure finance works." — Jigar Shah, head of the Energy Department's loan programs office, tells Axios Pro.

• Brand Velocity Group acquired Score Sports, a Wilmington, Calif.-based maker of youth team sports uniforms and equipment. https://axios.link/3UQ5dLm

• It's the first deal for Brand Velocity partner Eli Manning, after joining the firm earlier this year.

• Brookfield Asset Management and Network International Holdings (LSE: NETW) are among possible bidders for the payments unit of UAE lender Mashreqbank, which could fetch over $500m, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3dR93mM

• Caymus Equity Partners acquired Seneca Resources, a Reston, Va.-based IT staffing firm. www.senecahq.com

• MBK Partners is in talks to join the Japan Investment Corp.-led consortium that is seeking to buy Toshiba (Tokyo: 6502), per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3y3ux73

⚽ Serie A, the Italian soccer league, has received investment interest in its media business from Apax Partners, Three Hills Capital, Carlyle and Searchlight Capital, per Reuters. https://axios.link/3RoLKym

• Thoma Bravo and TPG each have talked with lenders about a possible buyout bid for Workiva (NYSE: WK), an Ames, Iowa-based reporting compliance SaaS, per Bloomberg. The company had a $3.5b market cap prior to the report, after which it spiked 25%. https://axios.link/3So4CPz

• Verdane invested in Release, a Norwegian mobile phone re-commerce company. www.release.no

🚑 Consumer Direct Holdings, a Missoula, Mt.-based provider of in-home personal care for aging adults and those with disabilities, agreed to go public at an implied $681m valuation via DTRT Health Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: DTRT), a SPAC targeting home and community-based healthcare services. https://axios.link/3UOsihr

🚑 BC Partners launched a sale process for Zest Dental Solutions, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based dental products company that could fetch north of $1b, per Axios Pro. https://axios.link/3BR2wAv

• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is leading a group of lawmakers who’ve asked the Federal Trade Commission to block Amazon's (Nasdaq: AMZN) proposed $1.7b takeover of Roomba maker iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT), Axios' Ashley Gold reports. https://axios.link/3LPAKco

• Philip Morris International (NYSE: PM) doesn't plan to pull its $16b takeover bid for smokeless tobacco products maker Swedish Match (SWX: SWMA), despite deteriorating market conditions and some shareholder opposition, its CEO tells Reuters. https://axios.link/3UK8Z93

• Recurly, an SF-based subscription billing and management company, agreed to acquire LeapRev, a San Ramon, Calif.-based revenue recognition and forecasting startup. Recurly backers include Devonshire Investors, Ebridge Ventures and Accel-KKR. https://axios.link/3rjFSMd

• Genstar Capital is seeking to raise between $12b and $13b for its 11rh flagship midmarket buyout fund, per PE International. https://axios.link/3DZXMLB

• Pantera Capital will seek $1.25b for its second blockchain-focused fund, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3Cqk48p

• Scale Venture Partners raised $900m for its eighth fund. https://axios.link/3EhBplh

• Deutsche Bank named Kent Penwell, Tim Wiedelmann and John Anos as global co-heads of financial sponsors, per Bloomberg. They succeed Michael Walsh, who becomes the group’s chairman. https://axios.link/3UMCfvP

• Tony Corbin joined White Star Capital as CFO and general partner. He previously was with PwC. https://axios.link/3LRxSLU

🌎 Manasi Desai (ex-KKR) and Ari David (ex-AUA Private Equity) joined decarbonization-focused ARA Partners as VPs. www.arapartners.com

• RBC Capital Markets named Jason Gurandiano as head of U.S. tech banking. He currently leads global fintech. https://axios.link/3fsDjoH