Axios Pro Rata

My typing fingers hurt. And it's your fault.

• Yeah. You. The deal-makers who are investing at a pace that would have caused the music to stop at an Industry Standard rooftop party in 1999.

By the numbers: Venture capitalists invested $288 billion in the first half of 2021, an all-time record, per Crunchbase.

• Venture capitalists invested $140 billion into U.S.-based startups in the first half of 2021, an all-time record, per Ernst & Young. At that pace, the 2020 total should be surpassed in a matter of days.
• Venture capitalists sold $232 billion worth of tech startups in the first half of 2021, an all-time record, according to 451 Research (a unit of S&P Global Market Intelligence).
• 410 companies went public on the Nasdaq in the first half of 2021, an all-time record, partially driven by an all-time record number of SPAC listings.
• Buyout activity in the first half of 2021 hit an all-time record, including a whopping $126 billion for North American deals in Q2 alone, per Preqin.
• Global M&A in the first half of 2021 topped $2.82 trillion, as we previously discussed, an all-time record.

All of this feeds on itself. For example, lots of VC exits lead to lots of VC deals, both because of animal spirits and structural reasons like fund recycling provisions.

• Plus, Preqin reports that there was an all-time record 5,248 private equity and venture capital funds in market at the start of July, targeting $900 billion. That would be on top of an all-time record amount of existing dry powder in PE/VC funds.

The bottom line: I've always prided myself on the comprehensive nature of these morning missives. But never before has that meant so many deals, or so much fear of developing carpal tunnel syndrome...

LinkDoc Technology, a Chinese oncology big data platform, postponed an IPO that had been expected to price tonight.

• Why it's the BFD: This is the first U.S. IPO to fall as a result of the Chinese government's new crackdown on data security and overseas tech company listings. Expect a domino effect, for both companies already on file and companies (like fitness app Keep) that were planning to file.

• Details: LinkDoc had planned to raise around $200 million at a $1.5 billion valuation, listing on the Nasdaq. It has raised nearly $300 million in VC funding from backers like NEA, China Broadband Capital and Alibaba.
• Bonus: Axios Re:Cap focuses on China's tech crackdown. Listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Axios.com.
• The bottom line: "The core paradox of modern China — a hypercapitalist success story while remaining a Communist dictatorship — is resolving itself in favor of the latter. China's moguls, and foreign shareholders, should expect a lot more turbulence ahead." — Felix Salmon, Axios

• Clearco, a San Francisco-based provider of non-dilutive, revenue-based financing to startups, raised $215 million in new Series C funding from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. http://axios.link/S8vA

• Bunq, an Amsterdam-based challenger bank, raised €193 million led by Pollen Street Capital. It also agreed to buy Irish lender Capitalflow Group from Pollen Street. http://axios.link/dcHB

• Younited Credit, a French consumer credit platform, raised $170 million. Goldman Sachs led, and was joined by Eurazeo, Bpifrance and AG2R La Mondiale. http://axios.link/YsUp

• DealShare, an Indian social commerce site, raised $144 million in Series D funding at a $455 million post-money valuation. Existing backer Tiger Global led, and was joined by WestBridge Capital, Alpha Wave Incubation, Z3Partners, Partners of DST Global and Alteria Capital. http://axios.link/s9cc

• Mmhmm, a presentation creation startup led by Evernote founder Phil Libin, raised $100 million in Series B funding. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 led, and was joined by Sequoia Capital, Mubadala Capital, Human Capital and World Innovation Lab. http://axios.link/XiSo

🚑 Mirxes, a Singapore-based cancer diagnostics startup, raised $77 million in Series C funding at a $500 million valuation. CR-CP Life Sciences led, and was joined by Rock Springs Capital, CCB International and Keytone Ventures. http://axios.link/iiER

• Unit21, a San Francisco-based no-code security platform, raised $34 million in Series B funding. Tiger Global led, and was joined by Iconiq Capital insiders Gradient Ventures, A.Capital and South Park Commons. http://axios.link/NHHG

• R2C, a security-focused code analysis startup, raised $27 million in Series B funding. Felicis Ventures led, and was joined by insiders Redpoint Ventures and Sequoia Capital. http://axios.link/KtSW

• Techmint, an Indian live tutoring and teaching platform, raised $20 million. Learn Capital led, and was joined by CM Ventures. http://axios.link/ZOmf

• Assured Allies, a Wellesley, Mass.-based longevity assurance platform, raised $18.3 million in Series A funding. Core Innovation Capital and New Era Capital Partners co-led, and were joined by Wilton Re, LionBird Ventures and Harel Insurance. www.AssuredAllies.com

• Lacuna Technologies, a provider of mobility management solutions for cities, raised $16 million in Series A funding. Xplorer Capital Management led and was joined by Playground Global. http://axios.link/RSNz

• LightGuide, a Wixom, Mich.-based AR platform for manual assembly and manufacturing processes, raised $15 million in Series B funding. G2 Venture Partners led, and was joined by Capital Midwest Fund and Michigan Capital Advisors. www.lightguidesys.com

• Raylo, a British smartphone subscription startup, raised $11.5 million in Series A funding led by Octopus Ventures. http://axios.link/hlDF

• WellSaid Labs, a developer of synthetic speech tools, raised $10 million in Series A funding. FUSE led, and was joined by insiders Voyager, Qualcomm Ventures and GoodFriends. http://axios.link/qqS0

• Opaque, a cloud data security startup, raised $9.5 million in seed funding. Intel Capital led, and was joined by Race Capital, The House Fund and FactoryHQ. http://axios.link/VbzR

• Smile Identity, an Africa-focused provider of ID verification and KYC compliance solutions, raised $7 million in Series A funding co-led by Costanoa Ventures and CRE VC. http://axios.link/ASBS

• Coast, a financial platform for transportation, raised $6 million in seed funding. Better Tomorrow Ventures led, and was joined by Avid Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, BoxGroup, Colle, Foundation Capital, Greycroft and SciFi VC. http://axios.link/u8qK

• Repeat, a Los Angeles-based product replenishment service, raised $6 million in Series A funding. Battery Ventures led, and was joined by insiders Mucker Capital and Harlem Capital. http://axios.link/FaPq

• Gredu, a Jakarta-based education collaboration platform, raised $4 million in Series A funding. Intudo Ventures led, and was joined by insider Vertex Ventures. http://axios.link/XR8m

• Cloverly, an Atlanta-based developer of APIs for companies to measure and offset carbon emissions, raised $2.1 million in seed funding. TechSquare Ventures led, and was joined by SoftBank, Panoramic Ventures, Circadian Ventures, Knoll Ventures and SaaS Ventures. http://axios.link/55Kn

• 48forty Solutions, an Alpharetta, Ga.-based portfolio company of Audax Private Equity, acquired Oregon Pallet, a Salem, Ore.-based provider of recycled wood pallets and pallet services. www.48forty.com

• Brentwood Associates invested in L-Nutra, a Los Angeles-based maker of fast mimicking products. www.l-nutra.com

🚑 Francisco Partners agreed to buy Starlims, an Israeli lab information management company, from Abbott (NYSE: ABT). http://axios.link/EFbr

• KKR agreed to buy Neighborly, a Waco, Texas-based network of home services providers, from Harvest Partners. www.neighborly.com

• L2 Capital Partners acquired Ecotone, a Forest Hills, Md.-based provider of logical restoration-focused design, engineering and construction services. www.ecotoneinc.com

• NextEdge Networks, a San Francisco-based portfolio company of Bow River Capital Partners, acquired Tachyon Communication Services, a Roswell, Ga.-based provider of wireless and wireline infrastructure services, from MSouth Equity Partners. www.nextedgenetworks.com

• Sun Capital Partners bought LoanLogics, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based provider of mortgage automation software that had raised VC funding from firms like Ben Franklin Technology Partners. http://axios.link/IwIj

• Supply Chain Services, an Oakdale, Minn.-based portfolio company of Sole Source Capital, acquired ISG Technologies, an Arlington, Texas-based reseller of AIDC hardware. www.supplechainservices.com

• Bridge Investment Group, a Salt Lake City-based real estate investment manager with $26 billion in AUM, set IPO terms to 18.8 million shares at $15-$17. It would have a $1.8 billion fully diluted value, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (BRDG). http://axios.link/6EOn

• Chobani, the Norwich, N.Y.-based Greek yogurt maker, filed confidentially for an IPO that could value the company at more than $10 billion, per Reuters. http://axios.link/6kKy

🏋️ F45 Training, a fitness chain whose SPAC deal collapsed last year, set IPO terms to 20.3 million shares at $15-$17. It would have a $1.5 billion fully diluted value, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (FXLV). Shareholders include Mark Wahlberg (4.6% pre-IPO stake). http://axios.link/PLOM

🚑 Icosavax, a Seattle-based developer of a vaccine for respiratory syncytial virus, filed for an IPO. The pre-revenue company plans to list on the Nasdaq (ICVX) and raised $155 million from Qiming Venture Partners (13% pre-IPO stake), Adams Street Partners (12.9%), RA Capital (12.3%), Aventis (12.2%) and NanoDimension (10.8%). http://axios.link/QB6k

🚑 Nuvalent, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech focused on kinase targets in cancer, filed for an IPO. The pre-revenue company plans to list on the Nasdaq (NUVL) and raised $187 million from Deerfield Management (60% pre-IPO stake), Bain Capital Life Sciences (8.4%), Fidelity (7%), Wellington Management, Viking Global, Janus Henderson, Avoro Capital Advisors, Boxer Capital, Venrock, Fairmount Funds, Driehaus Capital Management and Logos Capital. http://axios.link/0Eo6

• Wise (f.k.a. TransferWise), an international money transfer platform, completed a direct listing in London (LSE: WISE) at a valuation north of $11 billion. It had raised over $540 million from firms like IA Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Old Mutual Global Investors and IVP. http://axios.link/8Fi6

• Zomato, an Indian food delivery company most recently valued by VCs at $5.4 billion, disclosed plans to raise $1.3 billion in its IPO, with an upper limit valuation of nearly $8.6 billion. Backers include Ant Group, Tiger Global, Dragoneer, Fidelity, Kora Management, Info Edge, Glade Brook, Sequoia Capital India, Nexus Venture Partners and Vy Capital. http://axios.link/gcxs

Source: Giphy

Circle, a Boston-based provider of payment and treasury infrastructure solutions for online businesses, agreed to go public at an implied $4.5 billion valuation via Concord Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: CND), a SPAC formed by former Barclays boss Bob Diamond.

• Circle last month raised $440 million at around a $3.5 billion valuation, in the largest-ever crypto funding round, although that price was able to climb based on specifics of a SPAC deal.

• Planet, a San Francisco-based satellite imaging platform, agreed to go public at an implied $2.8 billion valuation via dMY Technology Group IV (NYSE: DMYQ). The deal includes a $200 million PIPE. Planet had raised over $380 million from backers like DCVC, Capricorn Investment Group, DFJ and Yuri Millner. http://axios.link/hrcy

• Agrico Acquisition, an ag-tech SPAC led by Brent de Jong, raised $125 million in its IPO. http://axios.link/Bb6S

• Apex Technology Acquisition II, a tech SPAC co-led by Jeff Epstein (Bessemer Venture Partners) and Brad Koenig (FoodyDirect), filed for a $300 million IPO. http://axios.link/AiEq

• Atlas Growth Acquisition, an Asia SPAC led by Sung Hwang (Atlas Investment Management), filed for a $110 million IPO. http://axios.link/g7bI

• Inflexion Private Equity hired William Blair to find a buyer for optoelectronics provider Halo Technology, per PE Hub. http://axios.link/wZjf

• View (Nasdaq: VIEW) acquired IoTium, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of secure edge-cloud infrastructure solutions for smart buildings. IoTium had raised around $22 million from firms like Honeywell Ventures, JC2 Ventures, Hanna Ventures, GE Ventures, Hack VC, Flight Ventures, KAAJ Ventures and Juniper Ventures. www.iotium.io

• Dataminr, a New York-based real-time information discovery platform VCs at $4.1 billion, bought WatchKeeper, a London-based geovisualization platform that had been seeded by MMC Ventures. http://axios.link/FUun

• Goldman Sachs bought a minority stake in InCommodities, a Denmark-based gas and power trading firm. http://axios.link/1Bcw

• Google agreed to buy Japanese mobile payments startup Pring for around $182 million, per Nikkei. http://axios.link/Puz3

• ZeroFox, a VC-backed provider of social media monitoring solutions, bought dark web threat intelligence firm Vigilante. http://axios.link/tYXx

• Acrylic, a Brooklyn-based VC firm focused on crypto, raised $55 million for its debut fund. It’s led by Ash Egan (ex-Accomplice). http://axios.link/5p80

• Peloton Capital Management, a Canadian midmarket PE firm, raised C$550 million for its debut fund. www.pelotoncapitalmanagement.com

• J.B. Kiley joined GCM Grosvenor as a managing director in its client group, after 11 years with KKR. www.gcmgrosvenor.com

• Justin Lay joined Ridgemont Equity Partners as a partner. He previously was with Barings as a managing director of global private finance. http://axios.link/tvMo

• Justin Overdorff joined Lightspeed Venture Partners as a New York-based partner focused on fintech. He previously spent six years with Stripe. http://axios.link/SP43