A former venture capitalist was on the national debate stage last night, but you wouldn't have known it by watching.

The big picture: JD Vance didn't once mention his business background during the tranquil tussle with Tim Walz.

• It was a notable omission, given that Vance, spent more time as a VC than he did as a soldier, lawyer, or politician.
• Not to mention that his VC mentor and former employer, Peter Thiel, played a key role in Vance's rise within the Republican Party.

Zoom in: Walz also stayed away from opponent's résumé.

• It felt at times like he wanted to flick at it, such as when talking about those who view housing as a commodity.
• In the end, though, Walz's only mention of "venture capital" came in regards to moving U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas, and wasn't aimed at Vance.

ICYMI: Read the transcript.

The bottom line: It was almost as if neither candidate knew how being a venture capitalist would play with voters, so didn't want to risk being on the wrong side.

• For any venture capitalists concerned about one of their own being in the political spotlight, this had to be a welcome development. Particularly those who remember the reputational damage that Mitt Romney's presidential candidacy did to private equity.

Impulse Space, a Redondo Beach, California, developer of orbital transfer vehicles, raised $150 million in Series B funding led by Founders Fund.

Why it's the BFD: Impulse is led by the first employee at SpaceX, Tom Mueller, and intends to serve as a last-mile logistics provider for the satellite and payload boom that SpaceX helped enable.

Other investors include Lux Capital, Spring Tide, DCVC, Airbus Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures, RTX Ventures, Tamarack Global, 137 Ventures, Elysium, First Principles Group, Island Green, Overmatch, and Trousdale Ventures.

The bottom line: Impulse is working on two different OTVs, which basically serve as space tugs — moving launched satellites into specific positions. There are other players, but the company believes that its chemical propulsion systems allow for higher changes in velocity.

🚑 Triveni Bio, a Waltham, Mass.-based developer of an eczema antibody, raised $115m in Series B funding. Goldman Sachs led, and was joined by Fidelity, Deep Track Capital and insiders Atlas Venture, Cormorant Asset Management, OrbiMed, Viking Global Investors, and Invus. axios.link/3Nae1Jx

• Dexory, a London-based warehouse inventory automation and data startup, raised $80m in Series B funding. DTCP led, and was joined by Latitude Ventures, Wave-X, Bootstrap Europe and insiders Atomico, Lakestar, and Capnamic. axios.link/4eHZPDh

⚡ Polarium, a Swedish battery developer for the residential and industrial markets, raised around $49m from Altor Equity CEO Harald Mix and pension funds AMF and Alecta. axios.link/4eCbZxw

• DataPelago, a Sunnyvale, Calif., data processing startup, raised $47m from Eclipse, Taiwania Capital, Qualcomm Ventures, Alter Venture Partners, Nautilus Venture Partners, and Silicon Valley Bank. datapelago.io

• Numa, a Lafayette, Calif., provider of AI chatbots for auto dealers, raised $32m in Series B funding. Touring Capital and Mitsui co-led, and were joined by Costanoa Ventures, Threshold Ventures, and Gradient. axios.link/3ZM2NT9

• Vizit, a Boston provider of performance analytics for brand visuals, raised $25m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. Industry Ventures led, and was joined by eGateway Capital and Highmount Capital. axios.link/3XS5vUB

• BMLL, a London-based investment analytics platform, raised $21m. Optiver led, and was joined by CTC VC and insiders FactSet, Nasdaq Ventures, and IQ Capital. axios.link/3zHRW1K

🌎 Notpla, a British developer of plant-based packaging, raised £20m in Series A funding led by UB Forest Industry, joined by Catalytic Capital for Climate & Health, Horizons Ventures, Astanor, Schmidt Family Foundation, Radicle Impact, EIT Food, Broadwater Cap, Kibo Invest, Rosebrook, Trousdale Ventures, and Ocean Born Foundation. axios.link/3N9S9y2

• Harmonic Security, a "zero-touch data protection" startup, raised $17.5m in Series A funding. Next47 led, and was joined by Ten Eleven Ventures. harmonic.security

• Salient Motion, a Culver City, Calif., aerospace and defense component supplier, raised $12m. Cantos Ventures led, and was joined by a16z, AE Ventures, Hummingbird Ventures, and BoxGroup. axios.link/4eommp2

• DocJuris, a Houston-based AI contract review startup, raised $8m. Silverton Partners led, and was joined by insiders Watertower Ventures, Surface Ventures, and Seed Round Capital. axios.link/3N89SWj

• Formality, a French provider of intelligent contract solutions, raised €8m from Partech and Serena. formality.com

• Ameba, a London-based provider of AI solutions for retail supply chains, raised $7m in seed funding led by Hedosophia. axios.link/4eqF5jL

• Augmodo, a Seattle retail inventory tracking startup, raised $5.3m in seed funding. Lerer Hippeau led, and was joined by Dunnhumby Ventures, NewFare Partners, and Simple Food Ventures. axios.link/3XS5vUB

• Fynk, an Austrian developer of legal workflow tools for non-lawyers, raised $3.5m co-led by 3VC and 10x Founders. axios.link/3TTiq7s

• Amlyze, a Lithuanian financial risk analysis and monitoring startup, raised €2.45m in seed funding. Practica Capital led, and was joined by Firstpick and Coinvest Capital. axios.link/4et3MvP

🌎 Sort A Brick, a Lithuanian service that repackages old Legos into new sets, raised €1.2m from Firstpick. axios.link/405hT6r

• Pluvion, a German provider of water management software, raised €1m in pre-seed funding led by D11Z. axios.link/3ZL0wHA

• Accel-KKR acquired VisiQuate, a Santa Rosa, Calif., provider of revenue cycle analytics and workflow automation software that in 2021 raised $50m from Sixth Street Partners and Wilmot Advisors. visiquate.com

🏒 Altor Equity Partners agreed to buy a majority stake in Canadian hockey equipment brand CCM Hockey from Birch Hill Equity Partners. axios.link/3zDIRXT

• Bain Capital agreed to buy T-Gaia, Japan's largest smartphone retailer, for around $980m from Sumitomo Corp. and Hikari Tsushin. axios.link/4eN6EmZ

• Bain also completed its $5.6b take-private buyout of PowerSchool, a provider of cloud software for K-12 education. Sellers included Onex Partners and Vista Equity Partners.

• Bessemer Investors invested in W Services Group, a Hauppauge, N.Y., provider of vendor-managed facility maintenance services to multi-site customers. wservices.com

🚑 Carisk Partners acquired HeadsUp Healthcare, a Tampa, Fla.-based managed care company focused on neck injuries. headsupcare.com

• Castle Harlan acquired Alumni Educational Solutions, a Canadian maker of school furniture.

• Element Materials Technology, backed by Temasek, acquired the inspection services business of Industrial Service Solutions, a portfolio company of Wynnchurch Capital. element.com

🌎 General Atlantic completed its purchase of Actis, a private equity firm focused on sustainable infrastructure.

• GIC agreed to buy a 25% stake in Morristown, N.J.-based waste management company Reworld from EQT, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3XQj8n3

🚑 H.I.G. Capital acquired SkinCure Oncology Intermediate, a Burr Ridge, Ill., provider of superficial radiation therapy, from Seacoast Capital. skincureoncology.com

• KKR made a nonbinding takeover approach for ASMPT( HK: 522), a Singaporean semiconductor and electronics equipment maker valued at around $5b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3TTj70y

• LaSalle Capital invested in Cascade Coffee, an Everett, Wash., provider of retail and private label coffee products. cascadecoffee.com

• Resurgens Technology Partners invested in Avantra, a British provider of software for monitoring and automating SAP operations. avantra.com

🚑 The Smilist Dental, a Great Neck, N.Y., dental services organiza DSO backed by Zenyth Partners, acquired Gibbsboro, N.J., dental network Lakeview Dental Care. thesmilist.com

• Sound Growth Partners sponsored a recap of Sunny Communications, a Lakewood, Colo., provider of refurbished land mobile radio communication equipment. used-radios.com

🚑 Telemos Capital bought Helios Global Group, a British health care communications firm, from NorthEdge. axios.link/4eLRoXv

🚑 TPG acquired a majority stake in Surescripts, an Arlington, Va., health information network. surescripts.com

🚑 Waud Capital Partners acquired Science Exchange, a life sciences procurement and supplier management SaaS that had raised over $80m from firms like Norwest Venture Partners, Maverick Ventures, USV, Collaborative Fund, Windham Venture Partners, and OATV. axios.link/4dKmm1z

• FrontView REIT, a Dallas-based commercial REIT for net lease outparcel properties, raised $251m in its IPO. It priced in the middle of its $17-$21 range, for a $518m market cap, and will list on the NYSE (FVB). axios.link/3XUkYEx

• StandardAero, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based aircraft maintenance company owned by Carlyle, raised $1.4b in its IPO and will list on the NYSE (SARO). The company priced 60m shares at $24, versus plans to offer 46.5m shares at $20-$23, giving it an $8b market cap. Carlyle previously had sought to sell StandardAero for around $10b. axios.link/3Zwop5B

• Mastercard (NYSE: MA) agreed to buy Minna Technologies, a Swedish subscription cancellation startup that had raised $27m from firms like Nineyards Equity, 13books Capital and MiddleGame Ventures.

• Reminder: Mastercard CEO Michael Miebach will join us at Axios BFD on Oct. 22 in New York. Get your ticket.

• Bain Capital agreed to sell a 25% stake in airline Virgin Australia to Qatar Airways. axios.link/3TTqIvU

• Freetrade, a London-based online trading platform that's raised over $100m from VCs, agreed to acquire U.K. customers of Australian investing app Stake, which has raised over US$90m from firms like DST Global and Tiger Global. axios.link/3XVdEaS

⚡ Macquarie Group is considering a sale of Corio Generation, a London-based offshore wind developer, per Reuters. axios.link/4du2KhG

• Omnicom (NYSE: OMC) agreed to buy LeapPoint, a Reston, Va., digital advisory, from Renovus Capital Partners. leappoint.com

• AO World (LSE: AO), a British online electronics retailer, agreed to pay around £10b to buy used smartphone and electronics retailer MusicMagpie (LSE: MMAG). axios.link/4eokrAT

• Brembo (Milan: BRE), an Italian brake maker, is selling its entire 5.6% stake in tiremaker Pirelli (Milan: PIRC) via a share placement. axios.link/3Bp2ROz

• Eros Resources agreed to merge with rival Canadian gold miners MAS Gold and Rockridge Resources. axios.link/4eqiDXY

• Janus Henderson completed its purchase of private credit firm Victory Park. axios.link/3YGjtLe

• JLL (NYSE: JLL) agreed to buy Raise, an SF-based real estate tech and brokerage firm. axios.link/4dzW5mi

• Johnson Controls (NYSE: JCI) hired Citigroup to find a buyer for its ADT alarms unit, which could fetch around $2b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3zFPtFc

• Mizuho plans to acquire a stake in the credit card unit of Rakuten, which had previously considered restructuring the business. axios.link/47Riied

⚽ Major League Soccer will invest in One Football, a German digital media platform for soccer, as part of a wider strategic agreement. axios.link/3Y28c77

🚑 Pfizer (NYSE: PEF) sold around a $3.26b position in Haleon (LSE: HLN), the Advil and Sensodyne maker formed via the 2019 merger of Pfizer's consumer health business and GlaxoSmithKline. axios.link/4epBX7B

• Settle, a New York-based provider of working capital and accounts payable software to CPG brands, acquired Columbus, Ga., inventory management software provider Turbine, per Axios Pro. Settle has raised around $100m from firms like Founders Fund and Kleiner Perkins. axios.link/3ZMxqrn

• Stax, an Orlando payment tech company that's raised over $300m from VCs, acquired BlockChyp, a Linden, Utah, payments gateway. axios.link/4gQso39

• Toyota (NYSE: TM) agreed to invest another $500m into electric air taxi company Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY). axios.link/4eO6RGI

• Maxq, a new seed-stage firm co-founded by Ali Rowghani, is raising $250m for its debut fund, Axios has learned.

• Rowghani used to help lead Y Combinator's Continuity Fund, and before that was CFO of both Twitter and Pixar.
• His colleagues on Maxq are YC vets. Mia Mabanta, Simon Lu, and JJ Fliegelman.

• Gallant Capital Partners of Los Angeles raised $406m for its second fund. gallantcapital.com

• Monarch Alternative Capital raised over $4.7b for its sixth opportunistic credit fund. axios.link/3N6QB7V

• OceanSound, a PE firm focused on government-linked businesses, raised $1.49b for its second fund, per the WSJ. axios.link/3zHTl8w

• Peak XV, an Indian VC firm that spun off from Sequoia Capital last year, is cutting its recent fund sizes by $465m, per TechCrunch. axios.link/3TUgATF

• TJC raised $2.1b for its second continuation fund, which will extend its third flagship fund and one asset jointly owned by its fourth fund. tjclp.com

• Bart van Dijk joined the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA) as a managing director and head of Europe. He previously was with CSC. axios.link/3Natfy0

• Joseph Glatt joined Paul Weiss as a partner in its corporate and private equity groups. He previously was with Apollo Global Management. axios.link/3Y5RWC3

• Richard Harris (ex-HSBC Securities) joined Petra Funds Group as a managing director and head of biz dev. Also joining Petra is John Manning (Salesforce), as a senior director of biz dev. petrafundsgroup.com

• Manulife Investment Management named Matt Szwarc as head of junior credit. axios.link/3XWs4HM

⚡ Lukasz Michalak joined Ukrainian energy company DTEK as deputy head of ventures and cleantech solutions. He previously was with Octopus Investments. axios.link/3TQnWYk

• Ben Wallace, former U.K. and NATO defense secretary, joined defense-focused PE firm BOKA Group as a partner. axios.link/4eJVRtS

• Rob Wilder, co-founder of José Andrés Group and World Central Kitchen, joined FTW Ventures as a venture partner. ftw.vc

We're on Day 2 of an East Coast port-workers strike that explicitly threatens to "cripple" the U.S. economy, and possibly change November's election dynamics.

• Like most strikes, part of this is about wages. The union wants a 77% raise over six years.
• But the bigger part may be automation, and the union's efforts to stop not just the inevitable, but even roll back some semi-automation that was enshrined in a prior contract. Go deeper.