Private equity is the cause of, and solution to, America's most intractable monetary mess: The penny.

ICYMI: Caity Weaver wrote a darkly humorous dive into the copper-coated coins for this past weekend's NY Times Magazine, which is very worthy of your time.

• Her verdict was that pennies not only cost more to produce than they're worth (literally), but that they're more likely to be found in couch cushions than in active circulation — causing the U.S. Mint to accelerate production of something no one actually wants.
• Econ 102: Excess supply because of low demand. And inertia.

Zoom in: Private equity controls both sides of ... well, the coin.

Artazn: This is the maker of zinc "blanks" that the U.S. Mint stamps into pennies, and has been for over four decades. It has been owned by One Rock Capital Partners since 2019, via a carveout of the "process solutions business" of Newell Brands. One Rock renamed Artazn's parent company as Jadex.

• As Weaver notes, Artazn appears to fund the only D.C. lobbyist devoted to maintaining new penny production.

Coinstar: This is the kiosk company that's become a lynchpin to America's currency logistics. One source tells me that Coinstar last year recycled 14.6 billion pennies — around 4x what the U.S. Mint produced — with those coins then packaged and shipped to banks.

• It used to be part of a company called Outerwall, which also owned kiosk businesses RedBox and EcoATM. Apollo Global Management took Outerwall private in 2016 for $1.6 billion, and then split the company up.
• Coinstar was the deal's crown jewel, and is still owned by Apollo. There's been some talk of an IPO, but it's more a cashflow business than a growth business, so selling to another private equity firm is the more likely exit strategy. Either way, Coinstar is indispensable to the U.S. Mint, at least so long as pennies are being used.

The bottom line: Private equity usually operates in millions or billions of dollars, but it also matters to much smaller denominations.

eGenesis, a Cambridge, Massachusetts, developer of human-compatible organs that are derived from pigs, raised $191 million in Series D funding led by Lux Capital.

Why it's the BFD: There are over 100,000 people in the U.S. on organ transplant waiting lists, the vast majority of whom are in need of kidneys.

• eGenesis provided the genetically-edited porcine kidney used earlier this year in a landmark human transplant, and is working with the FDA to move into Phase 1 clinical trials.
• It also has programs for livers and hearts, the latter of which may focus on pediatric patients who need a "bridge" while waiting for human hearts (due to both size and availability).

Other investors include Eisai Innovation, NATCO Pharma, Parkwood Corp. Arch Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, Farallon Capital Management, Alta Partners, and Leaps by Bayer. Plus dialysis giants DaVita and Fresenius.

• Lead investor Lux Capital tells Axios that this is its largest-ever initial check.

The bottom line: "Pigs are physiologically close to humans in terms of how their kidneys, hearts and livers work. And because we can clone pigs, we can do editing to their genomes that makes them compatible. Plus, we've been raising pigs at scale for thousands of years." — eGenesis CEO Mike Curtis

🚑 Arsenal Biosciences, a South SF-based programmable cell therapy startup, raised $325m in Series C funding from Arch Venture Partners, Milky Way Investments Group, Regeneron Ventures, Nvidia, T. Rowe Price, Rock Springs Capital and insiders Bristol Myers Squibb, Westlake Village BioPartners, SoftBank, and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. axios.link/4dRv92o

• Sakana AI, a Japanese generative AI startup, raised over $100m in Series A funding from NEA, Khosla Ventures, Lux Capital, and Nvidia. axios.link/4e5Oywa

• You.com, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based search engine, raised $50m in Series B funding. Georgian led, and was joined by Salesforce Ventures, NVIDIA, Softbank Ventures Asia, DuckDuckGo, and Day One Ventures. axios.link/3MuyRTw

• Galy, a Boston developer of lab-grown cotton, raised $33m in Series B funding from John Doerr's family office, Sam Altman-founded Hydrazine Capital, and Material Impact. axios.link/4cSxIji

• Fido, a Ghanaian digital lender, raised $20m in Series B funding from BlueOrchard and FMO. It also secured $10m in debt. axios.link/47aHzzX

• Revefi, a Seattle data ops automation startup, raised $20m in Series A funding. Icon Ventures led, and was joined by Mayfield, GTM Capital, and StepStone Group. axios.link/3TiiU6J

🌎 Entalpic, a Paris-based startup focused on decarbonizing industrial chemicals, raised €8.5m in seed funding from Breega, Felicis, and Cathay Innovation, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3TfITMc

• Palm, a European enterprise cash management startup, raised $6.1m in seed funding. Speedinvest and Target Global co-led, and were joined by Upfin, Liquid2, and Greens. axios.link/3ZdpuiQ

🚑 Flex, a provider of infrastructure for accepting HSA and FSA payments, raised $3.2m in seed funding from YC, SV Angel, Precursor and Liquid 2 Ventures, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3APqyix

• Champion, an Indianapolis-based customer advocacy platform, raised $3.3m in seed funding. Flyover Capital led, and was joined by High Alpha, Bread & Butter Ventures, and Stage 2 Capital. championhq.com

⚡ Acon Investments acquired a control stake in Rymel, a Colombian maker of electricity transformers. axios.link/3XutkCI

• Alerce, a Spanish portfolio company of Oakley Capital, agreed to buy WeMob, a provider of fleet management and telematics SaaS solutions in Iberia. axios.link/3Xge8Ib

• Apax Partners acquired Altus Fire & Life Safety, a New York-based provider of fire and life safety services, from AE Industrial Partners (which retains a minority stake). altusfire.com

• Audax invested in Amtivo, a British provider of accreditation and certification services that's controlled by Charterhouse Capital Partners. amtivo.com

• Blackstone agreed to buy AirTrunk, an Australian data center operator, for US$16.1b from Macquarie Group and PSP Investments. axios.link/3zeahmL

• Centerbridge Partners agreed to buy Italian lender Banca Progetto from Oaktree Capital Management. axios.link/3APRvml

• Charlesbank Capital Partners invested in Front Row Group, an e-commerce agency and accelerator for beauty, health, wellness, and CPG brands. axios.link/4dOnz8D

• Datasite, a Minneapolis portfolio company of CapVest, acquired Sealk, a Paris provider of M&A transaction research. datasite.com

⚡ Kohlberg & Co. acquired a majority stake in CleaResult, an Austin, Texas-based energy efficiency services provider, from TPG Growth and TPG Rise Fund. clearesult.com

• Mercer Advisors, an RIA majority owned by Oak Hill Capital and Genstar Capital, acquired Benchmark Wealth Management, an Old Lyme, Conn., firm with $412m in AUM. axios.link/3ALwKbw

🚑 Panoramic Growth Equity sponsored a management buyout of Millercare, a British provider of mobility products to consumers, charities, and the NHS. millercare.co.uk

• Partners Group led a $1.9b purchase of a majority stake in EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, a Broomfield, Colo.-based data center operator. edgecore.com

• PGW Auto Glass, a Cranberry, Pa., portfolio company of One Equity Partners, acquired Canadian auto glass wholesaler and installer PH Vitres d'Autos from Driven Brands(Nasdaq: DRVN). pgwautoglass.com

• Prince Industries, a Carol Stream, Ill., portfolio company of HC Private Investments, acquired Keystone Precision & Engineering, a Pepperell, Mass., precision machining firm for defense and medical customers. princeind.com

🚑 Revelstoke Capital Partners invested in MediQuant, an Independence, Ohio-based provider of data archiving and interoperability software for hospitals and health systems. mediquant.com

• SFERRA Fine Linens, an Edison, N.J., portfolio company of Highlander Partners, acquired Antica Farmacista, a Seattle-based luxury home and body fragrance brand. sferra.com

🌎 TPG Rise Climate acquired Miratech, a Tulsa, Okla, provider of aftermarket emissions and noise reduction tech for stationary industrial engines. miratechcorp.com

• Veritiv, an Atlanta-based portfolio company of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, agreed to buy the North American packaging unit of Australia's Orora (ASX: ORA) for around US$1.2b. axios.link/3z51OlX

🚑 BioAge Labs, a Richmond, Calif., developer of anti-obesity therapies, filed for a $100m IPO. The Phase 2 biotech plans to list on the Nasdaq (BIOA) and raised around $320m from such firms as a16z, Khosla Ventures, Sofinnova Venture Partners, Longitude Capital, RA Capital, Cormorant, Kaiser Permanente, Horsley Bridge, Osage University Partners, Lilly Ventures, and Amgen Ventures. axios.link/3XwqGw8

• Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) agreed to acquire Tenyx, a Los Altos, Calif., developer of AI voice agents that had raised around $15m in VC funding. axios.link/4e8YkxM

• Aditude, backed by Volition Capital, acquired rival ad-tech firm Hashtag Labs, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3XxqtZX

• Nordstrom's (NYSE: JWN) founding family offered to take the retailer private for $3.8b, or $23 per share. axios.link/3ZbphfJ

• Palo Alto Networks (Nasdaq: PANW)is paying $500m to buy some cloud security assets and customers from IBM (NYSE: IBM). axios.link/4cUk0wD

• Segro (LSE: SGRO) agreed to buy London-based logistics real estate firm Tritax EuroBox (LSE: EBOX) for £1.1b. axios.link/3TE7Ml1

🚑 Semnur Pharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Scilex (Nasdaq: SCLX), agreed to merge with Denali Capital Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: DECA), a SPAC that previously had agreed to merge with Longevity Biomedical. axios.link/47fmnsy

⚡ Voyager Midstream, a portfolio company of Pearl Energy Investments, acquired certain natural gas gathering and processing assets from Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX). axios.link/4gdSOeQ

🧀 Tropical Cheese Industries, a family-owned dairy products maker based in New Jersey, is exploring a sale that could fetch over $500m, per Reuters. axios.link/3Z8V6Wy

• Bregal Sagemount raised nearly $800m for a credit solutions fund. sagemount.com

🌎 Kimmeridge is raising its second "carbon solutions fund," per an SEC filing.

🌎 SET Ventures, a Dutch VC firm focused on sustainable tech, raised €200m for its fourth fund. axios.link/4e7UDrT

• Sixth Street exercised an option to repurchase TPG's remaining ownership stake in the firm, with Bloomberg reporting a $1b price-tag at over a $10b valuation. axios.link/3ZigFE6

• Michael Baster (ex-Crescent Capital Partners) and Yuri Mikhalev (Keensight Capital) joined Inflexion as partners focused on business services and tech deals, respectively. axios.link/3Xgos2K

• Scott Bowen joined Rusell Investments as CFO. He previously was CFO of UBS Asset Management. russellinvestments.com

• Ralph van Daalen joined Nuveen Private Capital as head of Netherlands business development. He previously was with Goldman Sachs Asset Management. axios.link/4dJmD5s

• Flora Go joined law firm Paul Weiss as head of fund finance. She previously was a partner with Fried Frank. axios.link/47gCsOO

• Daniel Goetz joined H.I.G. Capital as a private equity operating partner. He previously was with Siris Capital Group. axios.link/3TD5xOT

• David Hunker is joining Piper Sandler as global head of activist defense and shareholder engagement, per Bloomberg. He previously was with EY. axios.link/4goNl5l

• Luke Laumann joined Weil, Gotshal & Manges as a partner in the law firm's U.S. private equity group. He previously was with White & Case. axios.link/3zfFG8p

• Cathy Leonhardt is joining Barclays as global head of retail-sector investment banking, per Bloomberg. She previously was with Solomon Partners. axios.link/3MyMelL

• Peter Scaturro, former CEO of U.S. Trust, joined Star Mountain Capital as a senior adviser. axios.link/47fZzbW

• Jennifer Spendlove joined Springcoast Capital Partners as head of IR. She previously was with Oaktree Capital Management. axios.link/3z1QjvD