Waste and recycling management company RTS last week announced $40 million in funding led by existing investor Edison Partners. Good for them but ... ummm ... yawn.

• Then we heard about a stunning lawsuit from RTS that claims to expose illicit actions by a different insider, K1 Investment Management, which caused it to take the deal. Okay, you've got my attention.

Catch up quick: K1, a software investor with around $15 billion in assets under management, plugged $60 million into RTS three years ago, and received a board seat for managing partner Ron Cano.

• RTS at the time had an existing $45 million loan from Trinity Capital, with principal repayments slated to begin in February 2025.
• Last year, RTS negotiated with Trinity to defer those principal payments, so long as it could secure new equity funding.
• RTS says it got term sheets from both an outside investor and from K1, and formed a special committee that favored the former; a deal that was contingent on Trinity granting the principal payment deferrals.
• Cano resigned from the board, and just days later K1 bought the entire loan from Trinity. It then allegedly refused to defer the principal payments, instead proposing an alternative deal.
• RTS says that it scrambled, agreeing to the Edison investment in order to avoid default.

What the lawsuit claims: "By obtaining the assignment of the loan from Trinity, K1 aimed to gain majority control of RTS either by accepting a predatory equity investment offer or forcing RTS into default, at which point K1 could acquire the entire Company at a level well below its true value."

• RTS claims that it was forced to scramble, agreeing to the Edison investment in order to avoid default. That deal, it says, was "not as attractive" as the earlier equity offers.
• The company claims breach of fiduciary duty against both K1 and Cano.

What K1 is saying, via a statement to Axios: "The allegations in RTS' complaint are baseless, meritless and misleading. We will respond in due course."

Behind the scenes: Word is that there have been some discussions this week about a settlement, prior to a legal reply or related filing from K1, but so far they haven't borne fruit.

The bottom line: This reads like a garbage situation, both literally and figuratively.

The Justice Department on Thursday sued to block Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) from buying Juniper Networks (NYSE: JNPR) for $14 billion.

Why it's the BFD: This is the first antitrust case filed by Trump 2.0, even though most of the investigation was carried out under President Biden.

• Corporate America, and Big Tech in particular, expects looser antitrust enforcement, but could get surprised.

Catch up quick: The merger was announced in January 2024 and over the summer received U.K. and EU regulatory approvals.

The bottom line: "Cisco Systems is the largest player in the wireless networking market for large enterprises. The deal would result in Cisco and the combined HPE-Juniper company controlling 70% of the market, the Justice Department said." — Dave Michaels, WSJ

• ElevenLabs, a New York-based AI voice synthesis startup, raised $180m in Series C funding at a $3.3b valuation. A16z and Iconiq Growth co-led, and were joined by NEA, World Innovation Lab, Valor, Endeavor Catalyst Fund and Lunate, Sequoia Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Smash Capital, SV Angel, NFDG, and BroadLight Capital. axios.link/4jwvzi5

• Rad AI, an SF-based maker of AI tools for radiologists, raised $60m in Series C funding at a $525m valuation. Transformation Capital led, and was joined by insiders Khosla Ventures, World Innovation Lab, UP2398, Kickstart Fund, OCV Partners, and Cone Health. radai.com

• Motif, an SF-based developer of architecture design software, raised $46m in seed and Series A funding from CapitalG, Redpoint Ventures, and Baukunst. axios.link/3PZ8ZB1

• Finout, an Israeli cloud cost management startup, raised $40m in Series C funding. Insight Partners led, and was joined by Pitango, Team8, Red Dot Capital, and Maor Investments. axios.link/3Eta8y3

• Closinglock, an Austin, Texas-based provider of payment and fraud prevention tools for real estate, raised $34m in Series B funding. Sageview Capital led, and was joined by Headline and RWT Horizons. axios.link/3EhyZVG

• Seraphic Security, a San Jose, Calif., provider of enterprise browser security solutions, raised $29m in Series A funding. GreatPoint Ventures led, and was joined by CrowdStrike Falcon Fund, Planven, Cota Capital, and Storm Ventures. axios.link/40SWPzR

• D3 Global, a web3 domain infrastructure firm, raised $25m in Series A funding led by Paradigm Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures. axios.link/3Ejat6E

• Irreducible, a zero-knowledge-proof infrastructure startup, raised $24m in Series A funding. Paradigm and Bain Capital Crypto co-led, and were joined by Fenbushi Capital, L2 Iterative Ventures, and Robot Ventures. axios.link/42TBt75

• Anchor, a New York-based invoice management startup, raised $20m in Series A funding. Mosaic General Partnership and Zeev Ventures co-led, and were joined by Entrée Capital and Tal Ventures. axios.link/40TA8vh

• Savant Labs, a San Mateo, Calif.-based automation platform for business analysts, raised $18.5m in Series A funding. Dell Technologies Capital led, and was joined by Vertex Ventures, Cota Capital, Village Global, Bloomberg Beta, West Wave Capital, and Uncorrelated Ventures. axios.link/3WGd2WD

🚑 Sound Blade Medical, a Canadian non-invasive medical device company developing handheld ultrasound technology, raised US$16.5m in Series A funding. Amzak Health and Lumira Ventures co-led, and were joined by Invest Nova Scotia. soundblademedical.com

• Observo AI, a Fremont, Calif., data pipeline startup, raised $15m in seed funding co-led by Felicis and Lightspeed Venture Partners. axios.link/4gl9mjZ

• Unwrap, a Santa Barbara, Calif.,-based customer intelligence platform, raised $12m in Series A funding. Scale Venture Partners led, and was joined by Atlassian Ventures, Cercano, ScOp VC, and Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. axios.link/4aGLRR9

• Tradeverifyd, a Bozeman, Mont., provider of supply chain risk management software , raised $8m in Series A funding. Silicon Road VC and Bread & Butter Ventures, co-led, and were joined by Acronym, Techstars, and a100x. tradeverifyd.com

• Bags, a New York-based SMB loan discovery platform, raised $5m from Slauson & Co., Zeal Capital Partners, Google For StartUps, Connecticut Innovations, Schultz Family Foundation, Heirloom Ventures, Limited Ventures, and Altrinsic Global Advisors. axios.link/40EjRZN

🚑 Medsender, a New York provider of medical assistant automation solutions, raised $5m in Series A funding led by Ballast Point Ventures. medsender.com

• Mevvy, an execution platform for MEV traders, raised $2.8m in seed funding led by Multicoin Capital, with participation from Chapter One Ventures and Hypersphere. axios.link/3CqvwDH

• Bain Capital agreed to buy Frontline Road Safety, a Denver-based provider of pavement marking services, from The Sterling Group. frontlineroadsafety.com

• Databank, a Dallas-based data center operator, raised $250m from TJC, plus launched a $600m secondary share sale. axios.link/3Q17DWt

🎵 Influence Media Partners, a BlackRock-backed music and entertainment investment firm, raised $360m in debt financing backed by its catalog of music assets. axios.link/4gjRB4z

🚑 Lead Capital Partners and Petra Capital Partners invested in Lieberman, a Great Neck, N.Y.-based primary market research and analytics firm focused on health and consumer markets. liebermanresearch.com

• Leste Group agreed to acquire a minority stake in Billor, an Orlando, Fla.-based freight and fintech platform for U.S. truck drivers. billor.dev

• PAI Partners entered into exclusive talks to buy a "significant stake" in Alvest, a French provider of ground support equipment services, from Ardian (which retains a minority position). alvest.fr

• Sunbelt Modular, a Phoenix portfolio company of Littlejohn & Co., acquired Britco Structures USA, a Teague, Texas-based maker of commercial modular structures. britcousa.com

• TA Associates invested in Brycer, a Warrenville, Ill.-based provider of inspection, testing and maintenance compliance software for municipal orgs like fire prevention bureaus. axios.link/4gjAhwv

⚡ Infinity Natural Resources, a West Virginia-based oil and gas producer operating in the Utica and Marcellus Shales, raised $265m in its IPO. It priced at $20 ($18-$21 range), and will list on the NYSE (INR). axios.link/3WERMAB

🚑 Maze Therapeutics, a South SF-based human genetics biotech, raised $140m in its IPO. It sold 8.75m shares at $16, versus plans to offer 7.8m shares at $15-$17. The company will trade on the Nasdaq (MAZE), and had raised nearly $600m from Third Rock Ventures (20.1% pre-IPO stake), Arch Venture Partners (11.8%), Matrix Capital Management (7.1%), GV (6.9%), Foresite Capital (6.7%), Frazier Life Sciences, Deep Track Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, and Logos Capital. axios.link/4haGnRj

🚑 Metsera, a New York-based developer of medicines for obesity and metabolic diseases, raised $275m in its IPO. It priced at $18 (above $15-$17 range), and will list on the Nasdaq (MSTR). The pre-revenue company had raised $565m from such firms as Arch Venture Partners (28.1% pre-IPO stake), Population Health Partners (14.6%), Fidelity (8.1%), GV, (5.7%), Newpath Partners (5.6%), Mubadala (5.2%), and SoftBank (5.5%). axios.link/4jv2qng

• Stellar V Capital, a SPAC formed by Greek shipping execs, raised $150m in its IPO. axios.link/3ODZl66

• Twin Peaks, a sports bar and restaurant chain, began trading on Nasdaq (TWNP) as part of its spinoff from Fat Brands (Nasdsq: FAT). axios.link/4aJzBzE

🚑 HealthBus, a Miami provider of digital health care, acquired BetterHealthcare, a Long Island provider of digital physical therapy and rehabilitation services scheduling software. BetterHealthcare raised around $12m from firms like 5Lion Holdings. thehealthbus.com

• Silvus Technologies, an LA-based mobile telco owned by TJC, hired Morgan Stanley to explore a sale or IPO, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4heijNp

🚑 Allstate (NYSE: ALL) agreed to sell its group health unit for $1.25b to rival insurer Nationwide. axios.link/4hhLr6v

• The Ambani family agreed to buy a stake in London's Oval Invincibles cricket team. axios.link/3PWRPE0

• General Mills (NYSE: GIS) completed the $2.1b sale of its U.S. and Canadian yogurt units to French dairies Groupe Lactalis and Sodiaal. axios.link/3Znv029

• Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) received Kremlin approval to sell its Russia business to Balchug Capital. axios.link/40ydkzY

• Nippon Steel (Tokyo: 5401) launched a $456m tender offer for the remainder of its subsidiary Sanyo Special Steel (Tokyo: 5481), representing a 37% premium. axios.link/4jBW5qe

• Outbrain (Nasdaq: OB) received U.K. antitrust approval for its $1b acquisition of Dutch digital advertising platform Teads from Altice. axios.link/3CtSKZE

• Smiths Group (LSE: SMIN) plans to spin off its baggage-screening unit and interconnect arm, following activist investor pressure. axios.link/3CviB3j

• Welltower (NYSE: WELL) acquired NorthStar Healthcare Income, a New York-based real estate investment trust focused on senior housing, for $900 million. axios.link/4hEH6d8

• Cybernetix Ventures, an early-stage VC firm focused on robotics startups, is targeting $100m for its second fund, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4gjRoOP

• Varrock, a pre-seed and seed-stage crypto VC firm, raised $30m for its debut fund. varrock.vc

• Anton Levy is stepping down as General Atlantic's co-president and chairman of global technology, Axios has learned.

• Levy led the firm's investments in such companies as Alibaba, Facebook, Slack, and Snapchat.
• The move is described as amicable, with Levy to continue serving as an advisory director. No word yet on his future plans, although it doesn't sound like anything is imminent.
• Levy will be replaced on General Atlantic's investment committee by Andy Crawford, the firm's global head of consumer investing.
• Speaking of investment committees, General Atlantic's now has an AI as a non-voting member. CEO Bill Ford discussed it with me in Davos (convo begins at 3:34).

• Peter Deng joined VC firm Felicis as a general partner. He previously was VP of consumer product at OpenAI. axios.link/4hge3wF

• Matthew Friendly joined AE Industrial Partners as general counsel. He previously was with McDermott Will & Emery. axios.link/40S5NgQ

• Justin Garrod joined Star Mountain Capital as a managing director focused on private credit secondaries. He previously was a partner with Mercury Capital Advisors. axios.link/3PXEgEl