America's attention has moved on from Los Angeles, but the staggering devastation from last month's wildfires remains.

• Tens of thousands of people homeless or displaced. Entire communities obliterated.

The big picture: Successfully rebuilding areas like Altadena, Malibu, and Pacific Palisades will require major help from the private sector, beyond basic philanthropy.

Driving the news: Billionaire real estate developer Rick Caruso, who lost the LA mayor's race in 2022 to Karen Bass, yesterday launched a new group aimed at expediting what comes next.

• It's called Steadfast LA, and includes venture capitalists (Kobie Fuller of Upfront Ventures, Joe Lonsdale of 8VC), media execs (Amazon MGM's Mike Hopkins, Netflix's Ted Sarandos), bankers (JPMorgan's Olivier de Givenchy), and property pros (Jason Keller of Oaktree and CBRE's Lew Horne).

Zoom in: Caruso tells me that Steadfast LA wants to work in partnership with the city and state, providing ideas and expertise to overwhelmed public officials.

• "Our goal is to bend the curve," he explains. "If the city thinks a process is going to take two years, let's come back with a solution that cuts that time in half."
• "These are all complex problems. Just the infrastructure alone, in terms of upgrading water mains, undergrounding power lines, and designing communications systems. But when you break it down into small pieces, it feels more manageable."
• He's already spoken with both California Gov. Gavin Newsom, backchanneled with the White House, and estimates that the full rebuild could cost $250 billion.

Zoom out: There is certain to be pushback against private-sector involvement if it includes buying up large parcels of land — some conspiracy theorists even believe the fires were intentionally set for developer profit — but Caruso views all of that as secondary to getting people back into homes.

• His bigger concerns are around physical labor and supply chains, and suggests that Steadfast LA will work on solutions to both.

The bottom line: "I'd really like to get more thought leaders from different industries involved," Caruso says, when asked what he wants the Pro Rata audience to know. "Including on the finance side, because this is going to take immense amounts of capital, and different colors of capital. When you see it with your own eyes, it's like rebuilding a war-torn country. No churches or schools or rec centers. It's a huge effort."

President Trump yesterday signed an executive order that calls for the creation of a sovereign wealth fund.

Why it's the BFD: This could turn the federal government into America's most powerful investment firm, but isn't the sort of thing that debt-laden countries typically do.

Zoom in: Trump was light on details, but some of what he did say seemed contradictory.

• He claimed the SWF could be paid for by new revenue from tariffs, on the same day he delayed potential tariffs with Canada and Mexico.
• He added that the new entity could perhaps participate in a deal for TikTok, which must be resolved by the end of March, but Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that the SWF could take up to a year to "stand up."

Flashback: The Biden administration also floated the idea of an SWF, to be focused on national security interests. It didn't go anywhere.

The bottom line: Congress still controls the purse-strings, at least in theory, and may be loath to allocate a large pool of money for speculative investing.

• StackAdapt, a Canadian programmatic ad platform, raised US$235m. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan led, and was joined by Intrepid Growth Partners and Hudson Bay Capital. axios.link/4aI25cZ

• Solaris, a German neobanking startup, raised €140m in Series G funding co-led by SBI Group and Boerse Stuttgart Group. axios.link/3Q3MR8M

• Hidden Level, a Syracuse, N.Y.-based drone defense startup, raised $65m in Series C funding. DFJ Growth led, and was joined by Booz Allen Ventures, Revolution Capital, Costanoa Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners, Veteran Ventures, and Founders Circle Capital. axios.link/3Q3rRyU

🚑 Echo Neurotechnologies, an SF-based brain implant startup, raised $50m from a16z. axios.link/4aLjYYn

• Archive, an SF-based online resale platform for fashion, raised $30m in Series B funding. Energize Capital led, and was joined by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, G9 Ventures, Capital F, Woodline Partners, and Frontline Growth. axios.link/4aMBImj

• tvScientific, an El Segundo, Calif.-based ad tech startup, raised $25.5m in Series B funding, per Axios Pro. NewRoad Capital Partners led, and was joined by Roku, Second Alpha Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, S4S Ventures, and Progress Ventures. axios.link/4hgweT4

• Monograph, an SF-based architecture project management platform, raised $20m in Series B extension funding led by Base10 Partners, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4gqjNmj

• Khazna, an Egyptian financial super app, raised $16m from Quona, Speedinvest, Aljazira Capital, anb Seed Fund, Disruptech, ICU Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures, and SANAD Fund for MSME. axios.link/4jGySmN

• GenLogs, an Arlington, Va.-based freight intelligence startup, raised $14.6m in Series A funding co-led by Venrock and HOF Capital. axios.link/3WFzGOH

• OmnitronSensors, an LA-based developer of MEMS fabrication IP for sensors, raised over $13m in Series A funding. Corriente Advisors led, and was joined by L'Attitude Ventures. axios.link/4hiTWyf

🚑 Zest Health, a New York-based virtual care company for patients with inflammatory skin diseases, raised $13m in seed funding from Roivant Health. zesthealth.com

• Qeen.ai, a Dubai-based developer of AI agents for ecommerce, raised $10m led by Prosus Ventures. axios.link/40HFM2y

• Le Fourgon, a French glass recycling startup, raised €8.2m in Series A from ID4 Ventures, Teampact Ventures, La Poste Ventures, Bred, Noshaq and Future Positive Capital, and crowdfunding. axios.link/3CEolrx

🚑 Akribion Therapeutics, a German RNA-focused biotech, raised €8m co-led by Carma Fund and RV Invest. axios.link/40WrD2F

• Largo.ai, an analytics platform for the entertainment and ad industries, raised $7.5m in Series A funding. TI Capital and QBIT Capital co-led, and were joined by DAA Capital, Atreides Management, Thomas Tippl, and Sylvester Stallone. axios.link/410iaYc

• Warmly, an engagement optimization startup for SMBs, raised $6m in Series A extension funding led by RTP Global. axios.link/40KtYMR

🚑 Affineon Health, a Denver-based provider of inbox management solutions for health-care providers, raised $5m in seed funding. GPG Ventures led, and was joined by AI Fund. affineon.com

• Perspective AI, a customer insights startup, raised $4m in seed funding round from Village Global, Array Ventures, Honeystone VC, Recursive Ventures, and Darkmode VC. getperspective.ai

• Invary, a Lawrence, Kan.-based provider of runtime integrity solutions, raised $3.5m in seed funding from SineWave Ventures, Flyover Capital, Hyperlink Ventures, and KCRise Fund. invary.com

• Presentations.ai, an Indian presentation deck automation startup, raised $3m led by Accel. axios.link/3Cqbb1r

• Pandektes, a Danish legal-tech startup, raised €2.9m in seed funding from People Ventures and Interface Capital. axios.link/40IpwhF

• Berkshire Partners invested in Triumvirate Environmental, a Somerville, Mass., provider of environmental services. triumvirate.com

⚡ Brookfield completed its $1.7b acquisition of Chemelex, a Houston provider of electric thermal and sensing solutions, from nVent Electric (NYSE: NVT). axios.link/413owGs

🚑 Carlyle completed its $3.8b carveout of kidney care company Vantive from Baxter (NYSE: BAX). axios.link/3AfKU4b

🚑 Court Square Capital Partners and WindRose Health Investors completed their $1.1b buyout of Frisco, Texas-based infusion company Soleo Health from H.I.G. Capital. axios.link/429nCZW

⚡ Energy Spectrum Partners invested in Renegade Infrastructure, a Houston-based developer and acquirer of midstream energy infrastructure. renegadeinfra.com

🌎 Godspeed Capital invested in InSite Engineering, a Hoover, Ala.-based water and wastewater engineering firm. insiteengineering.org

• H.I.G. Capital agreed to invest in Heller Group, a German machine tool manufacturer. heller.biz

• KKR increased its bid for Japanese tech group Fuji Soft (Tokyo: 9749) to around $4.3b, topping the current rival offer from Bain Capital. axios.link/40IC4Wj

• Stone Point Capital acquired Kestra, an Austin, Texas-based wealth management platform, from Warburg Pincus. Oak Hill Capital retains a minority stake. axios.link/3ElkArv

• Trinity Hunt Partners acquired and merged digital customer experience services companies Craft and Verndale. axios.link/4gqyqpN

• Victor Capital invested in B-O-F Corp., an Aurora, Ill.-based provider of retail shelving solutions. bofcorp.com

• Sailpoint, an Austin, Texas-based identity governance software provider owned by Thoma Bravo, set IPO terms to 50m shares at $19-$21. It would have an initial market cap of $10.9b, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the Nasdaq (SAIL). axios.link/3EyjTel

• Guming, a Chinese maker of bubble tea beverages, will seek to raise up to $202m in a Hong Kong IPO. axios.link/3EllLHj

• Rithm Acquisition, a SPAC targeting financial services and real estate, filed for a $200m IPO. axios.link/3Ey3iY6

• Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) acquired Spindl, an on-chain ads and attribution platform that had raised $11m from Chapter One, Dragonfly Capital, Polygon Labs, Bankless Ventures, Multicoin Capital, and Tribe Capital. axios.link/4hHCHWO

🚑 NeuroFlow, a Philadelphia-based behavioral health tech company that's raised over $50m in VC funding, acquired virtual mental health provider Quartet Health, which had raised $240m from firms like Oak HC/FT, GV, and Independence Health Group. axios.link/4aISdzI

• Bank J. Safra Sarasin of Switzerland is weighing a takeover offer for Denmark's Saxo Bank, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3EpTsYA

• Grab (Nasdaq: GRAB), the Southeast Asian super-app operator, and listed Indonesian rival GoTo have resumed merger talks, per Reuters. axios.link/4aMs7Ma

• Cherry Ventures of Germany raised $500m for new funds. axios.link/4aHn7s9

🚑 Silver Oak Services Partners raised a continuation fund for Smile Partners, a Troy, Mich.-based dental support organization. LPs include BlackRock and Hollyport Capital. smilepartnersusa.com

• TVM Ventures, a crypto VC firm founded by former Ton president Steve Yun, raised $100m for its debut fund. axios.link/4gsUAYq

• Marco Bellino is joining PAI Partners to lead Italian investments, per Bloomberg. He previously was with Ardian. axios.link/40ZSFGk

• Nick Giovanni is returning to Goldman Sachs as a partner in its TMT investment banking group, after a stint as Instacart's CFO, per the NY Times. axios.link/4gzvQy4

• Jake Grossbaum joined Excellere Partners as a VP. He previously was with GreyLion Partners. axios.link/3CAAYUx

• Cristiano Guerra stepped down as head of special situations research at Institutional Shareholder Services to join FGS Global, per Axios. axios.link/42GOmB3

• Ryan Isono joined Maverick Ventures as a managing director. He previously was with Felicis. axios.link/3WM0vRx

• Morgan Stanley named Pradyut Pratap and Usman Akram as co-heads of MENA investment banking. axios.link/3Q5FNIC

• Portage promoted Jake Bodanis to partner. axios.link/40FUWVP

Dick Kramlich, the pioneering venture capitalist who co-founded NEA in 1977, has died at the age of 89.

• His deals included Apple, Juniper Networks, Macromedia, and Ascend Communications.
• He also was one of the earlier U.S. investors to spend significant time in China, renting an apartment in Shanghai in 2007 to better understand the market.
• In 2012 he retired from NEA, and went on to co-found Green Bay Ventures.

What NEA is saying: "Those of us who worked alongside him will be forever grateful for his countless contributions, and we will continue to celebrate his many achievements — along with his wisdom, integrity, and humility — for decades to come."

Kramlich quotes: "A lot of people think venture capital is a game of numbers. It's not — it's a game of courage."

• "Show up for founders when nobody else will."