We knew the Cerebras IPO would whet public market appetite for new AI stocks, ahead of SpaceX next month, but not that it would look more like a nachos platter than an amuse bouche.

• Shares opened at $350 — a whopping 89% above its IPO price — and climbed as high as $385 before settling at $311.
• For context, it originally filed to price at between $115-$125, and just four months ago sold shares in a Series H round at $89.

It's massive validation for early-stage investors like Benchmark, Foundation Capital and Eclipse Ventures, which backed Cerebras at a time when chips were out of VC fashion. Let alone a chipmaker whose thesis was heavy in memory.

• Benchmark's total investment of $268 million, a lot of which came from its general partners via an SPV, was valued at $5.5 billion as of yesterday's close.

Zoom in: There is some hair on this deal, such as its customer concentration and growing U.S. voter interest in data center moratoriums. Plus power concerns given how Cerebras plans to scale up from megawatts to gigawatts.

• But none of that really mattered in the context of the AI hockey stick.

What to watch now is what happens when insiders begin to sell. And we won't need to wait six months.

• Cerebras has structured its lockups more like a dribble than a dump.
• For example, around 30 million more shares get unlocked today. Some from employees, some from directors and officers. Additional lock-up expirations come after Cerebras reports Q2 earnings and then six more times through the end of October.
• What a big pop giveth, it can taketh away (shares are are $284.50 as of this writing). Just ask Figma.

The bottom line: Cerebras' success, plus Fervo Energy and BX Digital Infrastructure, may help spark the IPO wave that we've been waiting on for years.

• Not just outsized frontier lab offerings, but a wider swath of AI-adjacent unicorns that have been content to keep raising private rounds.

Kimmeridge, an energy-focused private equity firm, this morning said its Caturus unit will move forward with construction of its Commonwealth LNG project in Louisiana.

• It also secured another $9.75 billion in project financing from Mubadala, CPP Investment Board, EOC Partners, BlackRock, and Ares Management.

Why it's the BFD: Commonwealth is expected to become one of the five largest LNG exporters in the U.S., with operations to begin in 2030.

• Today's news also comes as the Iran war has interrupted gas flows from the Middle East.

Zoom in: Energy Secretary Chris Wright will be at a groundbreaking ceremony today.

The bottom line: "Buyers had a view that Qatar's flow never gets disrupted. Obviously, that's gotten thrown out in recent weeks, so buyers now want more diversification and created some more incremental demand." — Kimmeridge managing partner Ben Dell to Axios

• Anthropic signed a term sheet to raise $30b at a $900b pre-money valuation, per the FT. Participants include Greenoaks, Altimeter, Dragoneer, and Sequoia Capital. axios.link/3Rqjgdk

• Elliptic, a London-based blockchain analytics firm, raised $120m at a $670m post-money valuation. One Peak Partners led, joined by Deutsche Bank, Nasdaq Ventures, British Business Bank, JPMorgan and AlbionVC. axios.link/4fnLaR7

• Multiverse, a tech apprenticeship platform, raised £70m. Schroders Capital led, joined by General Catalyst, Lightspeed, D1 Capital Partners, Index Ventures, Bond, and StepStone Group. axios.link/4tzyoTe

⚡️ Gridcare, a Redwood City, Calif.-based provider of underused energy detection software, raised $64m in Series A funding. Sutter Hill Ventures led, joined by National Grid Partners, Future Energy Ventures, Emerson Collective, Stanford University, Xora, Aina Ventures, Overture, Acclimate Ventures, and Clearvision Ventures. axios.link/4nuPY9j

• Fasset, an LA-based stablecoin neobank, raised $51m in Series B funding from SBI Group, Investcorp, and Arz Portföy. axios.link/4do76Jd

🌍 Crew Carbon, a Brooklyn-based provider of carbon dioxide removal solutions for wastewater, raised $25m in equity and grant funding. Burnt Island Ventures led, joined by AP Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, Builders Vision, Kibo Invest, Idemitsu Ventures, New York Ventures, Counteract, ANIMO Ventures, Connecticut Innovations, Ponderosa Ventures, and Echo River Capital. axios.link/4uO4tYv

• Stitch, a Saudi-based OS for financial institutions, raised $25m in Series A funding. A16z led in its first GCC investment, joined by insiders Arbor Ventures, COTU Ventures, Raed Ventures, and SVC. axios.link/49318MN

🚑 Tokaido Health, a San Mateo, Calif.-based pharmacy navigation startup, raised $25m from Norwest, Primary Venture Partners, Next Ventures, Constellation, and Scrub Capital. axios.link/4woRIFf

• Wirestock, a San Jose, Calif.-based provider of multi-modal data to AI labs, raised $23m in Series A funding. Nava Ventures led, joined by SBVP, Forula VC, and I2BF Ventures. axios.link/4wAhxT8

🚑 Butterfly Medical, a Boston-based developer of devices for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia, raised $21m in Series C funding from European Innovation Council, Junson Capital, MedVenture, and New Rhein Healthcare Investors. axios.link/3Ra71ld

• Arkeus, an Australian maker of perception software for autonomous military platforms, raised US$18m in Series A funding. QIC Ventures led, joined by R+VC, Folklore Ventures, DYNE Ventures, Main Sequence Ventures, Salus Ventures, and Beaten Zone. axios.link/4nwTfVU

• Osero, a stablecoin yield infrastructure startup, raised $13.5m. Sky Ecosystem and Plasma led, joined by RedStone, The Rollup, and Kairos Research. axios.link/4doFpzY

🚑 Urologic Health, a Jersey City, N.J.-based maker of non-invasive medical devices for monitoring bladder function, raised $11m in seed funding from Edge Medical Ventures, SHD Partners, and Longevity Venture Partners. axios.link/49SmH2P

• Twin Prime, a frontier lab for national defense, raised $10m in pre-seed funding led by Expeditions. axios.link/4nzcDSg

• Origin Lab, an SF-based gaming data marketplace for AI world-models, raised $8m in seed funding. Lightspeed led, joined by SV Angel, Eniac, Seven Stars, and FPV. axios.link/437YfXo

🎬 Flick, an SF-based filmmaking platform, raised $6m in seed funding from True Ventures, GV, YC, Lightspeed, Formosa Capital, Pioneer Fund, Olive Tree Capital, and N1. axios.link/4dtdKOE

• Ouinex, a Paris-based crypto asset exchange, raised $3.5m from traders on its platform. axios.link/490KLjO

🚑 Chromie Health, an NYC-based scheduling and management platform for hospitals, raised $2m in pre-seed funding led by AIX Ventures. axios.link/4d9MGoD

🍕 Nadeem Bajwa is partnering with Irth Capital on its takeover offer for Papa John's International (Nasdaq: PZZA), per Reuters. He's the pizza chain's largest franchisee, with nearly 300 stores. axios.link/4daFGb7

• Blackstone and CD&R each are circling Magnum Ice Cream (NYSE: MICC), the Ben & Jerry's owner that last year was spun out of Unilever (NYSE: UL), per Reuters. axios.link/4nyABwO

⚡ General Atlantic invested in PowerGEM, a Clifton Park, N.Y.-based grid reliability company backed by TA Associates. axios.link/4fmb4op

• H.I.G. Capital acquired International Aerospace Coatings, an operator of on-airport hangars, from Tiger Infrastructure Partners. axios.link/4uKpgMn

• Integrated Water Services, a Sciens Capital Management portfolio company, acquired Complete Filtration Resources, a Marshfield, Wis.-based provider of industrial wastewater services. axios.link/4ntmqJt

• Relevant Solutions, a Fusion Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired Automation Werx, an Idaho Falls-based systems integrator. axios.link/4fjttlI

• Tecomet, a Charlesbank Capital Partners-backed contract manufacturer for med-tech and defense, completed its merger with Nordic Capital portfolio company Orchid Orthopedic Solutions. axios.link/4b0ou7s

• Yorkville International Capital, a SPAC led by Trump Media & Technology Group CEO Kevin McGurn, filed for a $200m IPO. It plans to target businesses in Latin America, with a specific mention of Venezuela. axios.link/49Anc1n

🏈 Egon Durban of Silver Lake is leading a group that agreed to acquire a 25% stake in the Las Vegas Raiders, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4doOZDb

• Hana Bank, a South Korean commercial lender, invested $670m into South Korean crypto exchange operator Dunamu. axios.link/4ty6CpZ

• Ingredion (NYSE: INGR) offered to buy U.K. food and beverage ingredients maker Tate & Lyle (LSE: TATE) for £2.74b. axios.link/4uTl1OU

• Pershing Square, led by Bill Ackman, took a stake in Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). axios.link/4dKwKJB

• WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group (Nasdaq: GIII) agreed to acquire fashion brand Marc Jacobs from LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (Milan: MC) for $850m. axios.link/4dIjXr8

• HSG (fka Sequoia Capital China) raised a $3b CV that includes its stake in ByteDance, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3PjswiW

⚡️ Lightrock raised $500m for a clean energy PE fund focused on Asia and Africa. axios.link/490riQa

• Michal Strnad, a Czech billionaire who took defense contractor CSG public earlier this year, is launching a €10b buyout fund. axios.link/4tDxYez

• Brian McCabe is leaving JPMorgan Chase to join Lazard as head of North American energy banking, per Reuters. axios.link/3RbaSyn

• Bridget Meller joined Mosaic Capital Partners as VP of biz dev. She previously was with Capitala Group. axios.link/4dxfir0

Michael Carr, the former co-chair of global M&A advisory at Goldman Sachs, died on Tuesday at age 68.

• Carr joined the bank as a partner in 1998, one year before it went public, from Salomon Smith Barney.
• He'd later lead ex-Japan Asia advisory before returning to New York to lead industrials and natural resources banking. In 2011, he became head of Americas M&A, and kept climbing the ranks of that group before retiring in 2022.

Per a statement from Goldman Sachs: "Michael will be remembered as a devoted husband, loving father, loyal friend, and extraordinary colleague. He possessed boundless generosity, moral courage, and the ability to make others feel valued and understood. His enormous heart and sense of humor and joy brought warmth to every room he entered.

• Michael found great happiness in cheering for the New York Giants, skiing the steepest mountains, traveling through Italy, listening to the Grateful Dead, and most of all, spending time with his family and his beloved goldendoodle, Cricket."