Change.org was founded as a venture-backed organization, before a 2021 restructuring that saw investors like Reid Hoffman and Sam Altman donate their shares to a nonprofit structure.

• Now the group tells Axios that it's investing around $100 million of its own money to rebuild its core petitions platform via AI.

Why it matters: This could increase the effectiveness of Change.org petitions, beyond just getting added signatures, thus further empowering civic engagement.

What they're saying: "The most nonpartisan thing for someone to say in America is that their voice doesn't matter," says Change.org founder Ben Rattray, who rejoined as CEO three years ago. "We're trying to transform trust in democracy from the ground up."

By the numbers: The group says that it hosts more than 500,000 petitions each year, signed by hundreds of millions of people.

• Rattray also says there is internal auditing to ensure that amplification is "politically balanced."

Zoom in: The AI rebuild began with the beta introduction of an AI copilot for petition creators, which helps in drafting, identifying possible endorsers, and providing clearer paths to decision-makers.

• The second phase is using AI to expand human services at scale, by aggregating custom data. For local petitions with at least 100 signatures, employees do direct outreach to elected officials on behalf of the citizen petitions — literally calling them on the phone to engage.

Yes, but: Rattray believes AI has its limitations, despite the big investment and increased token spend.

• It's found that petitions reliant on AI-generated images and text are less effective than those made by humans. The same goes for videos made by supporters.
• The platform also has policies against people using AI agents to auto-sign petitions, believing that it risks breaching trust with both citizens and decision-makers.

Novartis (NYSE: NVS) has signed a drug licensing deal with China's Abogen Biosciences that could be worth up to $7.8 billion.

Why it's the BFD: This is the latest example of a Western pharma giant partnering with a Chinese biotech — a trend that could presage China rivaling America as the world's top drugmaker.

• If so, it could create both economic and national security concerns.

Zoom in: Novartis will pay $575 million upfront for an mRNA-encoded T-cell engager that it believes could be applied to autoimmune diseases. The agreement also includes up to $7.2 billion in earnouts.

• Abogen has raised over $1 billion from firms like SoftBank, 5Y Capital, Mirae Asset Management, Lilly Asia Ventures, Loyal Valley Capital, Hillhouse, PICC Capital, Qiming Ventures, and SDIC Venture Capital.

The bottom line: "China has gotten really good at making new drugs, a huge government-designed shift from its history as a supplier of pharmaceutical ingredients and generics." — Caitlin Owens, Axios

⚡️ Reverion, a German developer of carbon-negative power plants, raised $175m in Series B funding. Kembara led, joined by Allianz, KfW Capital, Aurum Impact, and Carbon Equity. axios.link/3ViOCVr

• Supabase, a provider of backend tools for building AI apps, raised $150m. GIC led, joined by CapitalG, IronArc, and SquarePeg. It also acquired Turso, a VC-backed database access platform for agentic workloads. axios.link/4z20Ccc

• Homeward, an Austin, Texas-based cash-back real estate financing company, raised $120m in Series D funding. Saluda Grade led, joined by Continental General Insurance Co., Citi Ventures, Magnetar, Harmony Partners, Norwest, Adams Street Partners, LiveOak Ventures, Parker89, Era Ventures, and Javelin Venture Partners. axios.link/4j0KlzO

🚑 TriGemX Bio, an NYC-based developer of migraine treatments, raised $94m from The Column Group, TCGX, and Viking Global Investors. axios.link/4hpWiO9

• Volantis, a SF-based inference semiconductor company, raised $88m in Series A funding. Lachy Groom and Abstract Ventures led, joined by John Doerr, VXI Capital, Triatomic, Susa Ventures, Dwarkesh Patel, Naveen Rao, and Sholto Douglas. axios.link/4iVyL93

• Fortem Technologies, a Lindon, Utah-based airspace security company, raised $50m in Series B funding. Lockheed Martin led, joined by Unusual Machines. axios.link/4hDc7zQ

• Halluminate, an SF-based developer of AI training environments for financial work, raised $30m in Series A funding. Oak HC/FT led, joined by YC, Orange Collective, FT Partners, and HeavyBit. axios.link/46ZQIvU

⚡️ Laki Power, an Icelandic developer of grid monitoring sensors, raised €6m in Series A funding. NATO Innovation Fund led, joined by ReykVC. axios.link/3VLciSl

• Walapay, an NYC-based payments infrastructure startup, raised $4.6m in seed funding. Generative Ventures led, joined by Commerce Ventures, Polygon, Verda Ventures, NGC Ventures, FGV Capital, AAF, Jsquare, Knollwood, and Big Brain Holdings. axios.link/3TdJHo8

• Photon, a startup that connects agents to apps, raised $4.5m. Gradient and A* led, joined by Vercel, HongShan, Z Fellows, Llama Ventures, and Karman. axios.link/4rN3o2Y

• Voltaback, a French provider of fleet management software, raised €2.8m led by Serena. axios.link/4AH7y0f

Source: Giphy

• Authentic Brands Group has approached Barbie maker Mattel (NYSE: MAT) about a $6b takeover, per the WSJ. Authentic Brands shareholders include CVC Capital Partners, General Atlantic, HPS Investment Partners, and Leonard Green & Partners. axios.link/3W441sP

• Bain Capital is exploring an investment in troubled Hong Kong property company New World Development (HK: 17), per Bloomberg. axios.link/4yhQJ9T

🚑 Banner Capital formed a medical device manufacturing services platform called Seaway Group, via the acquisitions of Seaway Plastics Engineering, MME Group, and Wright Engineered Plastics. axios.link/4xVN1lS

• Blackstone launched Falcata, a defense technology company formed through the acquisitions of TSC and Applied Systems Engineering, committing more than $1b in debt and equity. axios.link/3W1qpmC

• CVC, Blackstone, and BAE Systems (LSE: BAES) are among those exploring an offer for Robin Radar Systems, a Dutch group backed by Parcom that could fetch around $2.2b, per Reuters. axios.link/4y81wmY

• Diversis Capital acquired Tideworks Technology, a provider of terminal operating systems for marine and intermodal rail terminal operations, from Blackstone portfolio company Carrix. axios.link/3TfWXZp

• Door & Window Guard Systems, owned by The Riverside Co., acquired Empty Building Security, an East Orange, N.J.-based installer and renter of steel door and window security panels. axios.link/4xRwWO3

• KKR completed its $500m purchase of a 51% stake in the global print business of Thomson Reuters (NYSE: TRI). axios.link/3VqBD3V

• Nearly Natural, backed by Centre Partners, acquired Modernized Pottery, a line of 3D-printed, eco-friendly planters and related home décor. axios.link/3VkDKGx

• One Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in Myriad360, a West Deptford, N.J.-based systems integrator. axios.link/46XvKOc

• One Equity Partners also completed its purchase of Epic Piping, a Baton Rouge, La.-based pipe fabrication company, from Bernhard Capital Partners. axios.link/4hxXWw0

• Roland Foods, backed by Vestar Capital Partners, acquired Dot Foods, a Mt. Sterling, Ill.-based less-than-truckload consolidator for the food industry. axios.link/3TBuEEQ

• Trading Technologies International, owned by Thoma Bravo, acquired Trafix, a Mineola, N.Y.-based provider of trading infrastructure solutions. axios.link/4hUq1yV

• Warburg Pincus is in talks to buy a "substantial stake" in German tank maker KNDS from a family investor, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4AKEa9k

• Warner Pacific, backed by Lovell Minnick Partners, acquired Beere&Purves, a California-based general agency for benefits brokers. axios.link/4dRogQD

• Firmus, an Australian data center operator, plans to raise at least A$5b at an A$43.7b (US$30.3b) valuation in its domestic IPO. It most recently was valued at more than US$10.5b in a private round that included Blackstone, Jane Street, Coatue, and Nvidia. axios.link/4AEVQDb

• CertifID, a VC-backed real estate fraud prevention platform, acquired Closinglock, an Austin, Texas-based escrow management platform for real estate that had raised around $50m from firms like Live Oak Ventures, Headline, RWT Horizon, and Sageview Capital. axios.link/4dgFoPC

• Kone will seek to sell most of TK Elevator's European business to address antitrust concerns over its €29.4b purchase of TK from Advent International, per Reuters. axios.link/4dfEbrL

⚡️ Pritzker Private Capital is weighing a sale of Energy Distribution Partners, a propane distributor that could fetch more than $1b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3TEGo9A

• Yext (NYSE: YEXT) agreed to acquire Flamel, a platform for brands to run localized paid campaigns. Flamel backers include Cintrifuse Capital, Keyhorse Capital, Allos Ventures, Dundee Venture Capital, and Elevate Ventures. axios.link/3VHVJqs

• Nubank (NYSE: NU) of Brazil ended talks to buy U.K. challenger bank Monzo, which now may court private equity, per the FT. axios.link/4hYNcbl

• ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq: ON) now plans to acquire Synaptics (Nasdaq: SYNA) for around $5.7b in cash, downsized from a prior $7b all-stock agreement. axios.link/4AJLCkT

• Apax Partners will target €12b for its 12th flagship fund, per the WSJ. axios.link/4hUTCbv

• Hernan Cristerna is retiring at year-end as executive chairman of global investment banking and M&A at JPMorgan, per Reuters. axios.link/4yqeGwr

• Paras Jain is leaving Cantor Fitzgerald to lead global TMT banking at HSBC, per Reuters. axios.link/4y2auC6

• Robert Montejo joined Coatue as deputy general counsel and VP of commercial operations. He previously was a partner at Duane Morris. axios.link/4rHPLlr

• Caroline Shettle joined Encore Consumer Capital as a director. She previously was with The Riverside Co. axios.link/4rF23uG

The U.S. economy added 29k jobs in September, well below expectations, with another 60k jobs removed from the past two months via revisions. The unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2%.

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