Not too long ago, mRNA vaccines were viewed as one of the country's most significant biotech breakthroughs. Safe, effective, and well-funded.

• Today, they're viewed with skepticism — if not outright fear — by many Americans, including HHS chief RFK Jr.

So it seems like an unlikely time to raise $45 million in Series A funding for an mRNA vax startup, let alone one working on a universal flu vaccine. But that's just what Silicon Valley-based Centivax did yesterday, led by Steve Jurvetson's Future Ventures.

Centivax is the second startup from Jake Glanville, who many may recall as the curly-haired guy featured on Netflix's "Pandemic" documentary series — filmed before COVID but airing right as it exploded.

• His first was an antibody developer called Distributed Bio, which sold to Charles River Labs in 2021 but let Glanville keep the underlying tech.
• Centivax initially raised some seed capital from NFX and Global Health Investment Fund, plus non-dilutive funding from The Gates Foundation, U.S. Army and U.S. Navy.
• It's already begun manufacturing, done a variety of animal tests (including on pigs, which get the flu), and on human immune organoids. Phase 1 clinical trials come next, with expectations that they could go quicker than usual given the ubiquity of influenza in both hemispheres.

Glanville acknowledges the fraught political climate, but argues that "it's not as bad as some news articles would lead you to believe."

• He believes that confusing vaccine messaging during the pandemic is partially to blame for mRNA hesitancy. Plus the spate of myocarditis cases for young men, which Glanville attributes to coronavirus' unique "spike" — something he thinks would normally have been engineered out of a vaccine, but wasn't given the time constraints.
• "This FDA already has fast-tracked a couple of mRNA vaccines," Glanville says, adding that both President Trump and FDA chief Marty Makary have said they want a universal flu vaccine.
• "They just put $500 million toward a universal flu shot effort — not ours, but they think mRNA needs more study and we're here to do more study."

Centivax believes that its tech eventually could apply to universal coronavirus, malaria, HIV and herpes viruses that may be linked to Alzheimer's disease.

• But for now it's exclusively focused on universal flu, with a technique that suddenly has a lot less competition.

SpaceX plans to raise new funding and launch an employee tender at a $400 billion valuation, per Bloomberg. It's already the world's most valuable startup, based on a $350 billion valuation fetched late last year.

Why it's the BFD: Elon Musk's political pratfall doesn't appear to have dented investor confidence in his privately held companies, even though Tesla stock is down 21.5% for the year.

• Just last week, xAI raised another $10 billion in debt and equity funding.

The intrigue: Tesla bull Dan Ives yesterday proposed an xAI and Tesla merger, telling me that the combined company would need to raise between $15 billion and $20 billion to insulate Tesla's balance sheet from xAI's cash burn.

• Musk told him to "shut up."

The bottom line: "The [SpaceX] valuation reflects a range of factors, including the rise of its fast-growing Starlink satellite internet unit, which people familiar with the matter said accounts for more than half of SpaceX's annual revenue, and the company's ability to achieve new milestones with its Starship rocket program." — Bloomberg

• Mistral, a French generative AI firm, is in talks to raise up to $1b from such investors as MGX, plus hundreds of millions of dollars in debt from French lenders, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4lmC3k3

🚑 Actithera, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of radioligand therapies, raised $75.5m in Series funding from M Ventures, Hadean Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, 4BIO Capital, Bioqube Ventures, Innovestor's Life Science Fund, Investinor, Surveyor Capital, and Arkin Bio Ventures. axios.link/4lk4IWZ

🚑 Vytalize Health, a Hoboken, N.J.-based accountable care organization, raised $55m led by Jory Capital, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4eFbmEH

• Million Victories, a French mobile gaming company whose titles include Million Lords, raised nearly $40m from Haveli Investments. axios.link/3IjHQrZ

• Honor Education, an SF-based learning platform, raised $38m in Series A funding from Alpha Edison, Wasserstein & Co, Audeo Ventures, Interlock Partners, and New Wave Capital. axios.link/3Gp7ISF

• SiPearl, a French developer of energy-efficient processors, raised €32m in new Series A funding (round total €130m) from firms like Cathay Venture. axios.link/4nEfuZr

• Nominal, a New York-based automation platform for finance ops, raised $20m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Next47 led, joined by Workday Ventures, Bling Capital and Hyperwise Ventures. axios.link/404CK96

• Parspec, a San Mateo, Calif.-based construction supply chain tech startup, raised $20m in Series A funding. Threshold Ventures led, joined by insiders Innovation Endeavors, Building Ventures, Heartland Ventures, and Hometeam Ventures. parspec.io

• Polimorphic, a provider of resident services software for local governments, raised $18.6m in Series A funding. General Catalyst led, joined by insiders M13 and Shine. axios.link/3GA4JH2

• Sundial, an SF-based AI analytics startup, raised $16m in Series A funding led by GreatPoint Ventures. sundial.so

• Hololight, an Austrian developer of XR pixel-streaming tech, raised €10m. Cipio Partners led, joined by Bayern Kapital, Direttissima Growth Partners, EnBW New Ventures, and Future Energy Ventures. axios.link/3GEwHkO

• Castellum, a New York-based financial crime compliance platform, raised $8.5m in Series A funding. Curql, led, joined by BTech Consortium, Framework Venture Partners, Spider Capital, Remarkable Ventures, and Cameron Ventures. axios.link/4eOsoAk

• Circle Games, a Turkish maker of mobile puzzle games, raised $7.25m in seed funding. Bitkraft Ventures led, joined by a16z, Play Ventures, APY Ventures, and e2vc. axios.link/4eY7K0N

🚑 Novenda, a Dutch maker of dental products, raised $6.1m. Brightlands Venture Partners led, joined by KBC Focus Fund. axios.link/44C4hjz

🚑 Plexāā, a British developer of medical devices for breast surgery, raised $4.5m in seed extension funding from TCP Health Ventures and Thena Capital. axios.link/3GAMFwm

• OneText, a text-to-buy network for e-commerce, raised $4.5m in seed funding from Khosla Ventures, Coatue, Citi Ventures, YC, and Good Friends. axios.link/46zHAyV

• Tandem, a French developer of in-app agents, raised $3.8m in seed funding led by Tribe Capital. axios.link/465J9ol

🚑 ScienceMachine, a London-based developer of AI for biotech research, raised $3.5m in pre-seed funding led by Revent and Nucleus Capital. axios.link/44xaFZm

• OllyGarden, a German platform for reducing observability data costs, raised $1.6m in pre-seed funding led by DIG Ventures. axios.link/4lMPWaV

• AscendERP, a Pfingsten portfolio company, acquired WebSan, a Canadian provider of ERP and CRM solutions. ascenderp.cloud

• Astorg is seeking to sell fund administrator IQ-EQ for around €5b, with several PE firms circling, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3Ge30qU

• Didomi, a French data privacy and consent tech provider owned by Marlin Equity Partners, acquired New York-based rival Sourcepoint, which had raised nearly $50m from firms like Arrowroot Capital and Northzone Ventures. axios.link/45Uismk

• GTCR invested in Clear Capital, a Reno, Nev.-based provider of residential property valuation services. clearcapital.com

• Nautic Partners acquired Ideal Tridon, a Smyrna, Tenn.-based maker of fastening, sealing, and support systems, from TruArc Partners. idealtridon.com

• SEMCAP Food & Nutrition invested in Fresh Prep, a sustainability-focused meal subscription service. freshprep.ca

⚡ Strategic Value Partners agreed to acquire Red Oak Power, an 831 MW natural gas-fired combined-cycle generation facility in Sayreville, N.J., from Morgan Stanley Investment Management. axios.link/4lGbLc7

• Tandym Group, backed by Mill Rock Capital and ICG, acquired Entitech Solutions, a provider of tech solutions to life sciences. tandymgroup.com

⚡ Technical Toolboxes, a Houston-based provider of engineering and maintenance software for energy infrastructure, raised growth equity funding from BVP Forge. technicaltoolboxes.com

🧀 Tilia acquired Caputo Cheese, a Melrose Park, Ill.-based maker of Italian cheeses, from Promus Equity Partners. caputocheese.com

• USMBP (fka US Anchors), a Kinderhook Industries portfolio company, acquired Cheney Flashing, a Beltsville, Md.-based maker of rigid flashing, weatherproofing solutions and custom masonry anchoring systems. usmbp.com

🌎 WinCup, a Georgia-based disposable cups maker backed by Atar Capital, acquired Florida-based paper cup maker Conver Pack. wincup.com

President Trump yesterday announced a 50% tariff on copper imports, just ahead of gold and copper miner Aura Minerals seeking to raise $210m via a Nasdaq float.

🎲 Cirsa Enterprises, a Spanish casino operator owned by Blackstone, raised €400m in its domestic IPO and then saw its stock price rise. axios.link/3Twp2rN

⚡ ADIA and Ontario Teachers' are weighing a sale of Singaporean renewables developer Equis, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4lHRanL

• OpenSea, rhe NFT marketplace once valued by VCs at $13.3b, acquired Rally.xyz, a crypto wallet and NFT collecting startup backed by Exponential and 6th Man Ventures. axios.link/4lCgeND

⚡ BP (LSE: BP) agreed to sell 300 gas stations and 15 EV charging sites in the Netherlands to Catom. axios.link/44DHsvK

• Egon Zehnder, a Swiss exec search firm, agreed to acquire New York-based Prince Houston Group. axios.link/4nz3Lvr

⚽ Everton FC, owned by The Friedkin Group, is weighing the sale of a minority stake in its women's club, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4eL8Mx2

🚑 Merck (NYSE: MRK) agreed to acquire respiratory drugmaker Verona Pharma (Nasdaq: VRNA) for $10b. axios.link/44IauKZ

• Meta (Nasdaq: META) is taking a 3% stake in EssilorLuxottica (Paris: EL) for $3.5b, as the two develop AI-powered smart glasses, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3GAZwyA

🚑 Quanterix (Nasdaq: QTRX) completed its acquisition of biomarkers developer Akoya Biosciences for around $64m in stock and cash. axios.link/4kvSJEm

• Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Hearst are weighing a sale of their A+E Global Media joint venture, which includes the History Channel and Lifetime, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3Ijbf5G

• Coller Capital raised $6.8b for its second private credit secondaries fund. axios.link/4ntSDzM

• New Mountain Capital is raising up to $2b for a fund to support single-asset continuation vehicles, per Bloomberg. axios.link/44Euj5S

• Asante Capital Group promoted Jared Davidson, Kelly Phelan, George Lyons, and Kate O'Meara to partners. asantecapital.com

• NAP (fka Cavalry Ventures) hired Mey Cezairli (ex-Project A) as a partner and promoted Fabian Krautwurst to partner. nap.vc

• Brian Kane, former president of Aetna, joined Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe as a health care-focused senior advisor. axios.link/4621zGw