Public market investors have come to view most IPOs through rose-tinted pandemic lenses: Either an issuer benefitted from lockdowns and will hold onto those new customers (e.g., DoorDash) or the issuer will benefit from widespread vaccine distribution (e.g., Airbnb). Things will return to normal, but the path will be up and to the right.

Behind the scenes: One thing that's changed permanently, however, is the IPO process itself, as the traditional "road show" is dead and buried.

• In the past, top company executives and their bankers would hop a private plane for a weeklong trip across the country, meeting with groups of large institutional investors in top hotels (here in Boston it was often the Four Seasons, where I'd hang out in the lobby).
• But in 2020 those meetings have gone virtual, due to the pandemic. Not only have U.S. IPOs not missed a beat, they're on track for one of their busiest years in history.

Bankers tell me that virtual meetings have enabled companies to engage in deeper and more numerous investor meetings, enhancing the process. Some CEOs and investors may miss the more tactile experience, but the trade-off has been worthwhile.

• Consensus is that post-pandemic IPO processes may again include physical stops in Boston and New York City, plus perhaps San Francisco for local companies, but that will be it.
• Smaller investor markets, like Philly, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Kansas City and Dallas will be done remote.

The bottom line: The year's biggest IPO innovation may be sitting on the living room couch, not hybrid listings.

Airbnb raised $3.5 billion in its IPO at a fully diluted valuation of around $47.3 billion, and this morning will begin trading on the Nasdaq (ABNB). It priced shares at $68, versus an upwardly revised range of $56–$60.

• Why it's the BFD: It's the largest float of 2020, and comes as retail investors remain drunk on IPO rocket fuel.
• Bonus: CEO Brian Chesky will join today's Axios Re:Cap podcast. Subscribe.
• Bottom line: "While business is still down overall and nowhere close to pre-pandemic levels, the San Francisco home-rental startup has gained ground over rivals in the hotel industry as people have ventured into small towns and cities to work remotely, or taken a manageable break from a health crisis that has largely kept them at home." — WSJ

• Doubleshot debut: Alfred Lin is one of Silicon Valley's best-known venture capitalists, having joined Sequoia Capital 10 years ago after serving as chairman and COO of Zappos.

• But he'd never had a portfolio company IPO until yesterday with DoorDash. And he's also on the board of Airbnb. Kinda feels like it was worth the wait.

🎧 Axios Re:Cap talks about the booming mental wellness biz with Calm co-CEO Michael Acton Smith. Listen via Apple, Spotify or Axios.

• We also posted a five-minute pop-up on the landmark antitrust lawsuit against Facebook, which would seek to retroactively unwind its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
• Flashback: House antitrust chair David Cicilline made the FB breakup case to us back in July.

🕒 Speaking of government actions: A federal judge fully blocked President Trump's efforts to ban TikTok in the U.S. via executive order. The CFIUS process remains ongoing, but the agency opted against trying to enforce its own deadline.

🚑 Cityblock Health, a New York-based healthcare provider for lower-income communities, raised $160 million in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation. General Catalyst led, and was joined by Wellington Management and return backers Kinnevik, Maverick Ventures, Thrive Capital and Redpoint Ventures. http://axios.link/dfqQ

🚑 LeanTaaS, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based hospital management platform, raised $130 million in Series D funding. Insight Partners led and was joined by Goldman Sachs. www.leantaas.com

• Hibob, an Israeli HR software company, raised $70 million in Series B funding. SEEK and Israel Growth Partners co-led, and were joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, Eight Roads Ventures, Arbor Ventures, Presidio Ventures, Entree Capital, Cerca Partners and Perpetual Ventures. http://axios.link/Nlgj

• Bitso, a Mexico City-based cryptocurrency platform, raised $62 million in Series B funding. Kaszek Ventures and QED Investors co-led, and were joined by insiders Coinbase Ventures and Pantera Capital. http://axios.link/4vFi

• CHAI, a South Korean payments API startup, raised $60 million in Series B funding. Hanhwa Investment & Securities led, and was joined by SoftBank Ventures Asia, SK Networks and Aarden Partners. http://axios.link/6JG0

💈 Squire, a New York-based provider of barbershop management software, raised $45 million in Series C funding. Iconiq Capital led, and was joined by return backers CRV, Tiger Global and Trinity Ventures. It also secured $15 million in debt financing. http://axios.link/qV2g

• Cleo, a financial digital assistant for Gen-Z, raised $44 million in Series B funding. EQT Ventures led, and was joined by return backers Balderton Capital, LocalGlobe and SBI. www.meetcleo.com

🌳 Leaflink, a New York-based wholesale cannabis startup, raised $40 million in Series C funding. Founders Fund led, and was joined by Thrive Capital, Nosara Capital, and Lerer Hippeau. http://axios.link/PSWJ

• Graphiant, a Palo Alto-based computing networking startup from ex-vIPtela engineers, raised $33.5 million in Series A funding. Sequoia Capital and Two Bear Capital co-led, and were joined by Atlantic Bridge. http://axios.link/ROBN

• Infra.Market, an Indian B2B marketplace for small businesses, raised $20 million in Series B funding from Evolence India Fund, Sistema Asia Fund, Fundamental and insiders Accel, Tiger Global and Nexus. http://axios.link/Ubu7

• Potloc, a Montreal-based provider of consumer survey solutions, raised C$20 million in Series A funding from Cap Horn, Brightspark Ventures, Desjardins Capital, EcoFuel and Investissement Quebec. http://axios.link/hWao

• Bionic, a Palo Alto-based application intelligence startup, raised $17 million in Series A funding led by Battery Ventures. www.bionic.ai

• Contractbook, a Copenhagen-based legal tech automation startup, raised $9.4 million in Series A funding. Bessemer Venture Partners led, and was joined by Gradient Ventures. http://axios.link/H0WG

• Flex Lighting, a Chicago-based provider of thin front-light tech, raised $9 million led by Anzu Partners. http://axios.link/KQFS

• Clockworks Analytics, a Somerville, Mass.-based buildings analytics platform, raised $8 million. Carom Growth Partners and Evans Capital Management co-led, and were joined by return backer Schneider Electric. http://axios.link/iFGj

• Papercup, an British developer of speech translation software, raised £8 million. LocalGlobe and Sands Capital Ventures co-led, and were joined by Sky, GMG Ventures, Entrepreneur First and BDMI. http://axios.link/Y8AQ

• UbiQD, a Los Alamos, N.M.-based "quantum dots" startup, raised $7 million in Series A funding. Scout Ventures and Keiretsu Forum co-led, and were joined by from Sun Mountain Capital, Epic Ventures, Plug & Play Ventures and Arcview Collective Fund. http://axios.link/4fMW

• Voodle, a Seattle-based short-form enterprise video collaboration tool, raised $6 million. Madrona Venture Group and Vulcan Capital co-led, and were joined by M12, Cisco Investments and Hearst Ventures. http://axios.link/Sh3L

• Smartvid.io, a Cambridge, Mass.-based construction safety platform, raised $5 million from firms like Sony Innovation Fund and IA Capital Group. http://axios.link/3SRU

• Ava, a provider of AI-enabled captioning startup, raised $4.5 million in seed funding from Initialized Capital and Khosla Ventures. http://axios.link/5PrI

🚑 Pair Team, a San Francisco-based primary care platform, raised $2.7 million from Kleiner Perkins, Craft Ventures and YC. http://axios.link/HRfo

• Planet FWD, a San Francisco-based regenerative agriculture startup, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding led by Emerson Collective. http://axios.link/DGUf

• Stuf, a New York-based startup that converts basements and unused spaces into self-storage spots, raised $1.8 million in seed funding co-led by Harlem Capital and Wilshire Lane Partners. http://axios.link/duD3

• AT&T (NYSE: T) received buyout bids for its DirecTV unit from Apollo Global Management, TPG and a SPAC led by Michael Klein, per WSJ. The offers valued the satellite TV service at more than $15 billion (including debt). http://axios.link/1Xfh

• CCP Capital acquired Executive Information Systems, a Bethesda, Md.-based provider of data analytics software for public sector clients. www.execinfosystems.com

• EQT Partners agreed to buy Molslinjen, Denmark's largest passenger ferry operator, from Polaris for around $309 million. http://axios.link/RGdt

• Macquarie Capital and GCM Grosvenor agreed to sweeten their buyout of Anchorage, Alaska-based telecom Alaska Communications (Nasdaq: ALSK) from $300 million to $320 million ($3 per share to $3.20). www.alsk.com

• Thoma Bravo acquired a majority stake in Venafi, a Salt Lake City-based machine identity management company, at a $1.15 billion valuation. Existing Venafi backers Foundation Capital and TCV will retain equity stakes. www.venafi.com

🚑 AbCellera, Eli Lilly's partner on a monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19, upped its IPO price range from $14-$17 to $17-$18. This could push its initial market cap past $5 billion. The company raised over $100 million in VC funding from firms like DCVC (12.4% pre-IPO stake), Viking Global (8%) and Founders Fund. http://axios.link/29dA

• McLaren, the British supercar maker, is in talks to raise £500 million in new equity funding that could pave the way for a reverse merger via SPAC, per the FT. http://axios.link/UJ6D

🌳 Weedmaps, an Irvine, Calif.-based Yelp for cannabis sellers, agreed to go public via a reverse merger with Spike Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: SSPK) at a $1.5 billion valuation. http://axios.link/ZgFq

• Carney Technology Acquisition II, a tech-focused SPAC led by former HP exec David Roberson, raised $350 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/P9z1

• Periphas Capital Partnering, a SPAC formed by Periphas Capital, raised $360 million in an upsized IPO. http://axios.link/cGlv

• RMG Acquisition II, a SPAC co-led by James Carpenter (Riverside Management Group) and Robert Mancini (ex-Carlyle Group), raised $300 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/jiTT

• The Blackstone Group is considering a sale or float for a A$3.5 billion warehouse portfolio in Australia, per The Australian. www.blackstone.com

🚑 Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) agreed to buy MYR, a German biotech focused on viral hepatitis, for €1.15 billion. MYR had raised over $20 million in VC funding from firms like Maxwell Biotech Group and High-Tech Gruenderfonds. http://axios.link/Donf

• Thoma Bravo hired UBS to find a buyer for Riskonnect, a Kennesaw, Ga.-based risk management software company that generates between $20-$40 million in EBITDA, per PE Hub. http://axios.link/W5di

• AT&T (NYSE: T) agreed to sell its Crunchyroll anime video unit to Sony (Tokyo: 6758) for $1.18 billion. It reportedly put Crunchyroll on the auction block over a year ago with a $1.5 billion asking price. http://axios.link/Jm39

• BASF is considering the sale of around $400 million of U.S. chemical assets, including a surfactants plant in Illinois, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/L59F

• Piper Sandler (NYSE: PIPR) acquired TRS Advisors, a New York-based restructuring advisory led by Todd Snyder (ex-Rothschild). www.trsadvisorsllc.com

• SBB, a Swedish real estate firm, withdrew its $3.44 billion takeover bid for rival Norwegian rival Entra. http://axios.link/5vsG

• Excellere Partners is premarketing its fourth fund with a $750 million target, per WSJ. The Denver-based mid-market buyout firm temporarily suspended investing activity earlier this year after the death of firm co-founder David Kessenich. http://axios.link/frGj

• K1 Investment Management hit the $3.25 billion for its latest buyout fund, which has a $3.9 billion hard cap, per public pension docs. http://axios.link/pwsG

• Monarch Alternative Capital raised $3 billion for its fifth fund. http://axios.link/frGj

• Prudential Financial launched a $300 million venture capital fund called PruVen Capital. It’s led by Ramneek Gupta, former co-head of Citi Ventures, alongside former Citi Ventures colleagues Victoria Cheng and Travis Skelly. http://axios.link/2RvI

• Rally Ventures, a Menlo Park and Minneapolis-based VC firm, raised $250 million for its fourth fund. www.rallyventures.com

• Anna Palmer joined Flybridge Capital Partners as a general partner. She previously was with XFactor Ventures and founded former Flybridge portfolio company Dough. http://axios.link/Ohon

• Arielle Patrick left Edelman to join Ariel Investments as chief communications officer. www.arielinvestments.com

🚑 Drew Pearson joined Biospring Partners as head of portfolio management. He previously spent two decades with General Atlantic. www.biospring.com

• Inside the numbers: Pay particular attention to the marked decrease in management fee discounts, which suggests that fund managers no longer feel supply pressure to give incentives for early commitments and/or large checks.