ByteDance, the Chinese maker of TikTok, is the world's most valuable startup. But in an era when tech industry share prices are falling and pink slips are flying, it may also be the world's most beleaguered startup.

Driving the news: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has agreed to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, his first-ever appearance before a Congressional committee.

• Per this morning's committee statement, Chew will be asked about "TikTok's consumer privacy and data security practices, the platforms' impact on kids, and their relationship with the Chinese Communist Party."

The big picture: TikTok, which is ByteDance's crown jewel in the U.S., appears closer to being smashed than at any time since former President Trump tried (and failed) to ban the app in mid-2020.

• On Feb. 27, a new law kicks in that bans TikTok from federal government employees' work devices, although enforcement mechanisms remain unclear.
• It's also been banned on government-issued devices in more than a dozen states, while several large U.S. universities have barred it from their WiFi networks.
• The House Foreign Affairs Committee next month plans to vote on a new bill to ban TikTok in the U.S.

Backstory: It wasn't supposed to be this way. ByteDance seemed to have successfully waited out Trump, winning some court battles along the way, while also forging a tech partnership with Oracle that was designed to satisfy U.S. national security concerns.

• That partnership, nicknamed Project Texas, remains on the table, but has proven so unpersuasive that TikTok felt the need to launch a new PR offensive that included a briefing for select journalists and academics.
• One takeaway from the briefing, per Lawflare Blog, is that it would cost $1.5 billion to form a superstructure to monitor Project Texas, plus another $1 billion per year in operating costs. For context, ByteDance was wildly unprofitable in 2021, although the revenue-to-cost gap began to shrink in Q1 2022 (it's unknown what TikTok contributes to either income statement line).

The bottom line: Following Trump's opening salvo, ByteDance began working on a carveout plan for TikTok that likely would have culminated in an IPO. Don't be surprised to see such talks eventually resume, given how much there is at stake for the company and its investors.

Paradigm, a New York-based clinical trial tech platform, raised $203 million in Series A funding co-led by Arch Venture Partners and General Catalyst. It also acquired an oncology patient recruitment startup called Deep Lens.

Why it's the BFD: Clinical trial recruitment is a costly bottleneck for drug development, yet many patients struggle to access relevant trials. Thus a new class of matchmaking infrastructure startups like Paradigm, whose outsized bankroll could help it quickly catch rivals.

Other investors include F-Prime Capital, Lux Capital, GV, Magnetic Ventures, Mubadala Capital and the American Cancer Society.

• Deep Lens, based in Columbus, Ohio, had raised over $17 million from firms like AIX Ventures and Northpond Ventures.

The bottom line: "There were 17 deals for digital health companies developing clinical trial tech, collectively valued at nearly $300 million, last year. This potential has drawn interest from drugmakers such as GSK, the British pharmaceutical giant, which signed a four-year deal in September with Medable, a clinical trial software unicorn." — Gabriel Perna, Digital Health Biz & Tech

🚑 Alto Neuroscience, a Los Altos, Calif.-based developer of psychiatry drugs, raised $25m in Series B extension funding from Alpha Wave Ventures. It also secured up to $35m via a new credit facility with K2 HealthVentures. www.altoneuroscience.com

• AtomicJar, a Newark, N.J.-based open source testing startup, raised $25m in Series A funding. Insight Partners led, and was joined by insiders Boldstart Ventures, Tribe Capital and Chalfen Ventures. https://axios.link/3wDOrEr

🚀 Atomos Space, a Denver-based developer of orbital transfer vehicles, raised $16.2m in Series A funding. Cantos Ventures and the Yamauchi No. 10 Family Office co-led, and were joined by Upheaval Investments, Dolby Family Ventures, Arden Road Investments, Elefund and Techstars. https://axios.link/40foIQr

• Sovereign Labs, an interconnected rollup ecosystem, raised $7.4m in seed funding led by Haun Ventures. www.sovereign.xyz

• Dalia, a Boston-based recruitment marketing automation platform, raised $5m in Series A funding. Lewis & Clark Ventures led, and was joined by SaaS Ventures, FJ Labs and Remarkable Ventures. www.dalia.co

• Anthropic, an SF-based generative AI company, is in the process of raising around $300m at around a $5b valuation, per the NY Times. Last year it raised $580m in a Series B round led by Sam Bankman-Fried, whose investment could get clawed back via the FTX bankruptcy. https://axios.link/3HJoGZT

• Ascend Capital Partners invested in both Allied Physicians Group, a New York-based pediatric care provider, and Adjuvant Health, a Melville, N.Y.-based medical practice administration. www.alliedphysiciansgroup.com

⚡ Energy Capital Partners completed its £2.1b acquisition of British waste management and recycling firm Biffa. https://axios.link/3xVlOUr

• TRM Equity acquired the assets of Innovative Hearth Products, a Russellville, Ala.-based maker of indoor and outdoor fireplaces, free-standing stoves and related products. www.ihp.us.com

• Cheche Technology, a Beijing-based auto insurance search engine, agreed to go public at an implied $841m enterprise value via Prime Impact Acquisition I (NYSE: PIAI), a SPAC led by former Western Digital execs. Cheche backers include China Capital Group, InnoVen Capital, China Broadband Capital Partners and Shunwei Capital. https://axios.link/3kNQG5r

🚑 Istesso, a British developer of immunometabolism drugs, is in talks to merge with Hambro Perks Acquisition, the first London-listed SPAC, per Sky News. https://axios.link/3XPKYyu

• C&W Acquisition, the fifth real estate SPAC formed by Cushman & Wakefield, withdrew registration for a $250m IPO.

• Messer, a German industrial gas maker, is talking with sovereign wealth funds to help it buy full control of a joint venture with CVC Capital Partners, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3Rlayt0

Fidelity again marked down the value of its Twitter stock, representing more than a 60% decline between the end of October and year-end.

🚑 Altamira Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CYTO) said that the buyer for its inner ear therapeutics assets, including Zilentin, failed to come up with the money. Altamira never identified the other party, except to say it’s a European family office. https://axios.link/3XNvsTX

• Audi acquired a minority stake in Formula 1 team Sauber Group. https://axios.link/3Js1Abu

• LVMH (Paris: MC) and L’Oréal (Paris: OR) submitted bids for Aesop, an Australian skin care brand owned by Brazil’s Natura Cosmetics, per Bloomberg. A prior report identified other bidders as CVC Capital Partners, L'Occitane (HK: 00973) and Japan’s Shiseido (which Bloomberg says is only considering an offer). https://axios.link/3Y5vYfN

🚑 Qiagen (NYSE: QGEN) is seeking to sell a minority stake in its bioinformatics unit, which could be valued north of $1b, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3HG7WT9

• Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) named three new directors, as it seeks to defend itself from activist investor Elliott Management. They are Mason Morfit (CEO of ValueAct Capital), Arnold Donald (ex-CEO of Carnival Corp.) and Sachin Mehra (CFO of Mastercard). https://axios.link/3jlLvsZ

• Convergence Partners raised $296m for a private equity fund focused on tech companies in sub-Saharan Africa. https://axios.link/3XMTmPp

• Gemspring, a Westport, Conn.-based private equity firm, raised $1.7b for its third buyout fund and $400m for its first non-control fund. www.gemspring.com

• Radical Ventures, a Toronto-based VC firm focused on AI startups, secured US$325m for a US$550m-targeted second fund. It also named Dominic Barton (ex-McKinsey) and Aaron Rosenberg as partners. https://axios.link/3kRHvky

• Warburg Pincus has secured $15.4b for its 11th flagship private equity fund, which is targeting $16b, per regulatory filings. https://axios.link/3Y2wawa

⚡ Rhoman Hardy joined Bernhard Capital Partners as an operating partner. He previously was with Shell, most recently as SVP of chemicals and products for the U.S. Gulf Coast. www.BernhardCapital.com

• Sammy Kayello is stepping down as Morgan Stanley's head of MENA, per Reuters. https://axios.link/3DnZzZK

• Kathryn Pothier joined Epiris as investor relations partner. She previously led IR for Trive Capital. www.epiris.co.uk

• AE Industrial Partners promoted Jennifer Essigs to head of ESG. www.aeroequity.com

• CRV promoted Caitlin Bolnick Rellas to general partner. www.crv.com

• Inovia Partners promoted Mia Morisset (Montreal) and Mike McGraw (London) to principals. www.inovia.vc

• New Water Capital promoted Dwight Closson to partner. www.newwatercap.com

• Summit Partners promoted Gus Phelps to partner. https://axios.link/3kTSv0x

Food price inflation eased last month, but that may not last. Go deeper.