"No conflict, no interest."

• The maxim is attributed to legendary venture capitalist John Doerr, who was seeking to accentuate the overlapping nature of startup investing.
• Now it might become fodder for the Justice Department.

Driving the news: DOJ reportedly is investigating Andreessen Horowitz for having partners sit on the boards of rival companies.

• It's specifically interested in the firm's directorates at Databricks (Ben Horowitz) and Fivetran (Martin Casado), which compete in some areas but partner in others.

The big picture: Such behavior theoretically could be a violation of Section 8 of the Clayton Act, an antitrust bill passed in 1914.

• In short, the rule prevents individuals from serving as directors on two competing companies.
• DOJ has interpreted the "interlocking directorates" rule to also include deputized representatives of the same entity, such as an investment firm. This was particularly true under President Biden, when DOJ investigations led to director resignations by private equity firms like Thoma Bravo.

Zoom in: VC firms had thus far been spared such investigations.

• One reason is that emerging tech competition is murky, whereas PE deals typically are in clearly defined sectors. Another is that Section 8 has de minimis exceptions for company size and revenue — and many VC-backed startups fall below them.
• Those exemptions, however, are falling by the wayside as AI startups raise billions and can be valued at trillions.

What they're saying: DOJ declined to confirm or deny the investigation, but a spokesperson did say: "We can affirm that the DOJ under the Trump Administration will continue to prioritize affordability for all Americans across our economy."

• Andreessen Horowitz didn't respond to a request for comment. Neither did Jonathan Kanter, the Biden-era DOJ antitrust chief who refocused the agency on interlocking directorates.

Behind the scenes: Andreessen Horowitz is one of the most connected firms in Trump's D.C. If it's being investigated for interlocking directorates, then it stands to reason that other shops are under similar scrutiny.

• Also worth noting that the firm originally didn't plan to take board seats at all, but later evolved its strategy. Also, one of John Doerr's best investments was Netscape, which Marc Andreessen cofounded.

The bottom line: Were DOJ to apply Section 8 to venture capital, the industry might respond by taking even fewer board seats than it already does. Which could create a whole different set of concerns.

Jeanie Buss is contesting her siblings' plan to sell the family's remaining 17.8% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger.

Why it's the BFD: Kushner and Iger had planned to keep Jeanie in the ownership group, but instead might need to pony up another $2.2 billion.

Catch up quick: Kushner and Iger last week agreed to buy a majority stake in the Lakers from Mark Walter at a $12.5 billion valuation.

• The Buss family has been at loggerheads ever since the original sale to Walter, after which Jeanie remained team governor.
• Jeanie's siblings voted to join the Kushner/Iger deal via tag-along rights in the Walter deal, but Jeanie will argue that she has court-approved authority to block.

Elsewhere: Walter and Todd Boehly reportedly are in talks to sell their minority stakes in soccer club Chelsea F.C. to majority owner Clearlake Capital Group.

The bottom line: The Lakers' future will be determined via a different sort of court than the one to which it's accustomed.

• Neros Technologies, a Torrance, Calif.-based drone manufacturer, raised $250m in Series C funding at a $2.5b post-money valuation. Sequoia Capital and American Strategic Technology Fund led, joined by Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, and Spark Capital. axios.link/4zuQN7Z

🚑 Craif, a Tokyo-based urine analysis diagnostics startup, raised $33m in Series D funding, per Axios Pro. Granite-Integral and Tauns led, joined by Unreasonable and X&KSK. axios.link/4xcfK6C

🚑 Leal Therapeutics, a Worcester, Mass.-based maker of neuro-metabolic therapeutics for CNS disorders, raised $30m in Series A extension funding from Eli Lilly, OrbiMed, Newpath Partners, Euclidean Capital, SV Health Investors' Dementia Discovery Fund, Chugai Venture Fund, Alexandria Venture Investments, and PhiFund. axios.link/4gAVfu9

• Palona AI, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based AI operating layer for physical businesses, raised $20m in Series A funding from Ardenwood Ventures, CrimsonOx, UpHonest, Turbo, Llama Ventures, Neo, Fusion Fund, Defy, and Maynard Webb. axios.link/4x19M8j

• Terra Industries, an African drone developer, raised $18m in seed funding from 8VC, Silent Ventures, and Nova Global. axios.link/4bQMrhd

• Boom, an Austin, Texas-based provider of screening and leasing software to single-family rental operators, raised $15m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. S3 Ventures led, joined by Mischief VC, Starting Line VC, Gilgamesh Ventures, and Company Ventures. axios.link/4gBUp0m

• Takt, a Reston, Va.-based warehouse labor management platform, raised $9.3m in Series A funding led by Ballast Point. axios.link/4xbfO6C

• Peripheral, a Toronto-based startup turning sports broadcast feeds into 3D environments, raised US$8.7m in seed funding. Deloitte Ventures and Inovia Capital led, joined by Khosla Ventures and Entrepreneurs First. axios.link/467Jeq8

• Xpander, an SF-based AI agent deployment company, raised $7.5m in seed funding. Pico Venture Partners led, joined by Emerge Ventures, Samsung Next, and SeedIL. axios.link/4xNiWp3

• Hypercubic, an SF-based AI platform for legacy mainframe software, raised $5.3m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. CIV led, joined by YC, Afore Capital, Pioneer Fund, and Multimodal Ventures. axios.link/4x6kdaD

• InfiniG, a Los Gatos, Calif.-based enterprise cellular startup, raised $5.2m in seed funding led by J2 Ventures and Stormbreaker Ventures. infinig.io

• Grounded, a Detroit-based customizer of electric and gas-powered vans, raised $5m in seed funding from Also Capital, The 81 Collection, Animal Capital, and the Michigan Outdoor Innovation Fund. axios.link/3SjjHXH

• Birdsview, a Norwegian provider of concrete inspection technology, raised €3.7m from Sarsia, Butterfly Ventures, Proptechfonden, Kiilto Ventures, Nordic Makers, and Momentum. axios.link/4xIxjLb

• Astara Capital Partners acquired Dynatec Systems, a Burlington, N.J.-based maker of industrial wastewater treatment systems. axios.link/3SfFcIT

• Bowmark Capital acquired a majority stake in InfraXmedia, a London-based media and events company for the digital-infrastructure market, from Opus Origin. axios.link/4g5RH2X

• DoiT acquired Israeli startup Attribute, which measures AI and cloud spending. DoiT backers include Pantheon, Bain Capital, Charlesbank Capital Partners, and Deutsche Bank. Attribute had raised $13.5m from Mensch Capital, SCapital, HarelTech, and IBI. axios.link/3UCJTNI

⚡ Exponent agreed to invest more than €70m into OFS, an Irish provider of specialist technical services to the power industry. axios.link/3U31rCA

🚑 Francisco Partners agreed to acquire Weave Communications (NYSE: WEAV), a patient engagement and payments platform, for around $650m, or $7.40 per share. axios.link/4bUbH6d

🚑 Hg invested in Nourish Care, a provider of software for the U.K. social and community care sector. axios.link/4zo24Xn

🚑 Leo Pharma, owned by Nordic Capital, will pay up to $435m upfront (plus earnouts) for the rights to a skin disease drug from Tanabe Pharma, owned by Bain Capital. axios.link/4ztazAM

🚑 New Heritage Capital invested in Carepoint Pharmacy, a Schaumburg, Ill.-based access hub and dispensing pharmacy. axios.link/4qorb8B

• Salt Creek Capital acquired Craig Wire Products, a Douglasville, Ga.-based maker of magnet wire. axios.link/4qkvEsM

• THL Partners agreed to buy a majority stake in Queue-it, a Copenhagen-based provider of online traffic orchestration solutions, from GRO Capital. axios.link/4wsSJLf

• Triton Partners acquired Swedish media measurement firm Cint for less than $300m. axios.link/3SDrfEY

• Crusoe, a Denver-based data center developer valued by VCs at $10b, is meeting with banks about an IPO, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4cqCTJW

• NorthStrive Acquisition I, a manufacturing SPAC, raised $100m in its IPO. axios.link/4yBONdA

• Fort Robotics, a Philadelphia-based provider of robot safety solutions, agreed to go public via a reverse merger with Newbury Street II Acquisition Corp (Nasdaq: NTWO) at an implied $557.4m enterprise value. Fort has raised over $70m from Tiger Global, Prologis Ventures, Lemnos, Compound, FundersClub, Creative Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, GRIDS Capital, Mana Ventures, Neman Ventures, Gaingels, Mark Cuban, and Ahoy Capital. axios.link/4zpxUTG

🚑 Linden Capital hired Jefferies to shop oncology-focused consultancy Aptitude Health, per Axios Pro. axios.link/45D9dWi

• Spin Master (TSX: TOY) acquired Hapiko (dba Stickerbox), a Brooklyn-based toy company that had raised $7m from firms like Maveron and Serena Ventures. axios.link/4ifxHfD

• Summit Partners hired Piper Sandler to find a buyer for freight factoring firm OTR Solutions, per Axios Pro. axios.link/4qpyg8W

• Veritas Capital agreed to sell Epiq Design Solutions, a Rolling Meadow, Ill.-based provider of specialized radio technologies, to TTM Technologies (Nasdaq: TTMI) for $1.1b. axios.link/3SDObUv

• Alphabet is paying $10m for business data from bankrupt Spirit Airlines. axios.link/3SbHFEs

• AvalonBay Communities completed its merger with fellow apartment owner Equity Residential, forming a new company called Vivmark Residential (NYSE: VMRK) with around a $51b market cap. axios.link/4bTz93u

• HomeTrust (NYSE: HTB) agreed to buy Richmond, Va.-based Blue Ridge Bank for $448m in stock. axios.link/4x6jNB6

• Inspire Brands Asia is seeking to sell gym chain Anytime Fitness Asia for upwards of $400m, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4bRmtKC

• MAI Capital Management acquired Waypoint Wealth Counsel, an Atlanta-based RIA with $490m under management. axios.link/4hzbJ7c

⚡ Optiver agreed to buy a majority stake in Dutch energy trader Northpool. axios.link/4hG4DxI

🚑 Universal Health Services (NYSE: UHS) closed its acquisition of Talkspace, a virtual mental health platform. Axios Flashback

• Floating Point, an early-stage VC firm, raised $125m for its third fund. axios.link/4gi0cqq

• Reach Capital, an SF-based venture firm, raised $265m for its fifth fund. axios.link/4gf7vzg

• Jessica Cooney joined Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as a Boston-based partner in the law firm's M&A practice. She previously was with Ropes & Gray. axios.link/4wubM7V

• Tim Hsu and Chris Todisco joined H.I.G. Capital as managing directors of capital formation. Hsu previously was with Oaktree Capital, while Todisco was with Schroders Capital. axios.link/4gfTxND

• Kristin Kirby joined PPC as VP of operations. She previously was with McKinsey & Co. axios.link/4qjA2YY

Workday shares have given back some of the gains from a Reuters report about a possible Silver Lake takeover, which would be one of the largest software buyouts ever.

• Workday was valued at around $43 billion before last Thursday's leak, after which shares surged around 18%. They've since retreated over 7%, for a $48.5 billion market cap.
• The S&P Software Index, meanwhile, was down nearly 3% yesterday but remains up 18.5% for the year.