I recently told this anecdote on local radio, so might as well also share it here:

• While in Davos last month, we needed a last-minute speaker replacement and the CEO of a major health-care company agreed to step in. Very appreciative.
• But then the CEO's rep texted to make sure that we wouldn't ask anything about politics. Given that it was inauguration week and this CEO's business is highly-regulated, it was an risible request.
• The interview didn't happen.

Many of the world's most successful executives and investors are completely cowed by President Trump, even if he hasn't yet paid them specific notice.

• Topics that corporate titans once gave speeches or wrote blog posts about are now mentioned only in off-the-record whispers.

This isn't about the topics themselves, whether that be DEI, ESG, DOGE, or any other acronym.

• Plenty of execs and investors wholeheartedly endorse many MAGA positions. Maybe they're a bit louder than they once were, or are recent converts, but at the very least are playing their part in vital national debates.
• A striking number of those who don't, however, have muted themselves. Walked out of the arena, forfeiting the presumption of sincerity in the future.

"Why don't you understand that it's all changed," a different Fortune 500 exec recently asked me.

• The answer, of course, is because it hasn't. Core beliefs don't change just because the White House has. One can be pragmatic about a new administration — even collaborative and supportive — without abandoning what was recently held dear.
• It's the sort of thing that leaders used to do.

Apptronik, a Texas-based developer of humanoid robots, raised $350 million in Series A funding co-led by B Capital and Capital Factory, with Google also participating.

Why it's the BFD: This is a haul that's designed to scale the company's robots from tech conference novelty acts to essential "workers" in a variety of industries.

• Also, "Apollo" is kind of adorable. You know, if it's not taking your job.

The bottom line: "There are thousands of robots that do one thing, but we want to build one robot that can do thousands of different tasks." — Jeff Cardenas, co-founder and CEO of Apptronik

🚑 Abcuro, a Newton, Mass.,-based developer of anti-KLRG1 treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer, raised $200m in Series C funding. NEA led, and was joined by Foresite Capital and insiders RA Capital Management, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Redmile Group, Samsara BioCapital, Sanofi Ventures, Pontifax, Mass General Brigham Ventures, New Leaf Ventures, abrdn, BlackRock, Eurofarma Ventures, and Soleus Capital. axios.link/4hSlaLR

• EnCharge AI, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of analog in-memory-computing AI chips, raised over $100m in Series B funding. Tiger Global led, and was joined by Maverick Silicon, Capital TEN, SIP Global Partners, Zero Infinity Partners, CTBC VC, Vanderbilt University, Morgan Creek Digital and insiders RTX Ventures, Anzu Partners, Scout Ventures, AlleyCorp, ACVC, and S5V. enchargeai.com

🚑 Newleos Therapeutics, a Boston-based developer of anti-anxiety drugs, raised $93.5m in Series A funding. Goldman Sachs Alternatives led, and was joined by Novo Holdings, Longwood Fund, DCVC Bio, and Arkin Bio Capital. axios.link/42URQQD

• Sardine, a Miami-based fraud prevention startup, raised $70m in Series C funding. Activant Capital led, and was joined by insiders a16z, Nyca Partners, GV, Geodesic Capital, Cross Creek Capital, Moody's Analytics, Experian Ventures, and NAventures. axios.link/3Ev7GXW

• SpotDraft, a New York-based contract management platform for in-house legal teams, raised $54m in Series B funding. Vertex Growth Singapore and Trident Partners co-led, and were joined by insiders Xeed VC, Arkam Ventures, Prosus Ventures, and Premji Invest. axios.link/4gFckQL

🚑 Candid Health, an SF-based revenue cycle management platform for medical billing, raised $52.5m in Series C funding led by Oak HC/FT. axios.link/40Zf19V

🚑 Justpoint, a startup that wants to identify dangerous drugs for the sake of litigation, raised $45m in Series A funding led by SignalFire. axios.link/42Sf2z5

🚑 Latent Labs, a programmable biology startup, raised $40m in Series A funding. Radical Ventures and Sofinnova Partners co-led, and were joined by Flying Fish, Isomer, 8VC, Kindred Capital, and Pillar VC. axios.link/4gDMbBx

• Endera, an Ottawa, Ohio-based electric bus maker, raised $36m. Magnetar led and was joined by Pulse Fund and Pritchard Auto Co. axios.link/40STOhH

• Antithesis, a Vienna, Va.-based autonomous software testing startup, raised $30m. Amplify Partners led, and was joined by Spark Capital. antithesis.com

• Germitec, a French maker of disinfectant solutions, raised $30m led by Eurazeo. axios.link/3CWiNIY

• SGNL, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based identity management startup, raised $30m in Series A funding. Brightmind Partners led, and was joined by Costanoa Ventures, M12, and Cisco Investments. axios.link/4gCKAMj

• Pathify, a Denver-based digital engagement hub for higher ed, raised $25m from Five Elms Capital. axios.link/3EDx4eo

• Plasma, a Swiss blockchain for stablecoin payments, raised $24m in Series A funding led by Framework Ventures. plasma.to

• Positron, a Reno, Nev.-based developer of AI inference tech, raised $23.5m from Flume Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management, and Resilience Reserve. axios.link/42P3YTj

• Finmo, a Singapore-based treasury OS, raised $18.5m in Series A funding. Quona Capital and PayPal Ventures co-led, and were joined by Citi Ventures. finmo.net

• Legend, a DeFi superapp, raised $15m co-led by Coinbase Ventures and a16z. axios.link/4hXZrSR

• Beam, a fintech for construction, raised $11m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Zigg Capital led, and was joined by Accel, RXR, Teamworthy, 20Sales, and Spearhead. axios.link/40WM8Lr

🚑 Keragon, a Boston-based provider of HIPAA compliance automation, raised $7.5m in seed funding. Upfront Ventures led and was joined by Afore Capital, Focal, and 25m Health. axios.link/41cOmro

🚑 HD, a Thai health-care services marketplace, raised $7.8m from Merck, SBI Ven Capital, M Venture Partners, FEBE Ventures, and Partech Partners. axios.link/4hMTSGK

• Era, a New York-based wealth management platform, raised $6.2m in seed funding from MaC Venture Capital, Third Kind Venture Capital, and Protagonist. era.app

🌎 Agteria Biotech, a Swedish startup aimed at reducing livestock methane emissions, raised €6m in seed funding. Industrifonden and AgriZeroNZ co-led, and were joined by insiders Norrsken Launcher and Mudcake. axios.link/3ExLwV3

• Jscrambler, a Portuguese in client-side protection startup, raised $5.2m from Iberis Capital. jscrambler.com

• Keychain, a New York-based CPG manufacturing platform, raised $5m led by Bright Pixel Capital. keychain.com

• Aracor AI, a legal-tech startup, raised $4.5m in pre-seed funding led by Fuel Venture Capital. aracor.ai

• Mirai Labs, a crypto-focused AI agent developer, raised $4m led by Mechanism Capital, with participation from Oak Grove Ventures, Sophon Foundation, Selini Capital, Bitscale Capital, Manifold, Rubik Capital, Protagonist, and Lhava. axios.link/3X0ZxRE

• Bluebook, a Swedish accounting automation startup, raised $3m from EQT Ventures and YC. axios.link/3WXS5GK

⚡ Spark E-fuels, a German sustainable aviation fuels developer, raised €2.3m in pre-seed funding. Nucleus Capital led, and was joined by Zero Carbon Capital, IBB Ventures, Chemovator, Voyagers.io, and 1.5° Ventures. axios.link/3X0llwJ

• Mercury, an SF-based digital banking startup, is in talks to raise funding led by Sequoia Capital at a valuation north of $3b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4jYiXAd

• Advent International, Bain Capital, and EQT are among the suitors for Japanese cybersecurity firm Trend Micro (Tokyo: 4704, which has around an $8.5b market cap, per Reuters. axios.link/3Qno1Ax

🌎 Aventia, a Lakewood, Colo.-based environmental consultancy backed by Bernhard Capital, acquired Westbrook, Maine-based peer St.Germain. axios.link/4hy1PQs

🚑 AmeriPro, an Atlanta-based portfolio company of Whistler Capital Partners, acquired Priority Medical Transport, a North Platte, Neb.-based emergency medical services provider. ameriprohealth.com

• BGF invested in Paperchase Accountancy, a U.K. accountant for restaurants and other hospitality operators. paperchase.ac

• Carlyle bought a control stake in Indian auto parts companies Highway Industries and Roop Automotives, which are being combined. axios.link/4hTqHlb

• Gemspring invested in Sitemetric, a Houston-based provider of construction jobsite security, safety, and workforce management solutions. sitemetric.com

• Handgards, an El Paso, Texas-based portfolio company of Wynnchurch Capital, acquired Inno-Pak, a Delaware, Ohio-based food packaging provider, from Emerald Lake Capital Management. handgards.com

• Hidden Harbor Capital Partners acquired Coast to Coast Logistics, a Deerfield, Ill.-based provider of drayage freight brokerage services. coasttocoastlogistics.com

• KKR is considering an investment in Nissan (Tokyo: 7201), which has ended merger talks with Honda (T: 7267), per Bloomberg. axios.link/3Exlq4G

• Platinum Equity completed its take-private buyout of Héroux-Devtek, a Canadian maker of aerospace landing gear, for C$1.35b. axios.link/40Um8Aw

• Purchase Capital invested in Jetset Pilates, a Reformer Pilates chain. axios.link/40UM5zN

• Uscreen, a Bethesda, Md.-based video monetization platform for creators, raised $150m from PSG. uscreen.tv

• Warburg Pincus agreed to acquire Vermont Information Processing, a provider of software for beverage distributors, for around $1b (including debt), per Reuters. axios.link/4b32dnp

• Sailpoint, an Austin, Texas-based identity governance software provider owned by Thoma Bravo, raised $1.38b in its IPO. It priced at $23 per share, the top of its upwardly-revised range, and will list on the Nasdaq (SAIL). axios.link/4hDJn98

• Artius II Acquisition (Nasdaq: AACQ), a tech SPAC formed by Artius Capital, raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/3UAmR7h

• Crane Harbor Acquisition, a SPAC led by HEPCO Capital Management execs, filed for a $175m IPO. axios.link/4hUzGmb

• Harvard Ave Acquisition, a SPAC formed by South Korea's Plutus Partners execs, filed for a $250m IPO. axios.link/4gxG5CQ

• Maywood Acquisition, a SPAC led by Zikang Wu (First Cover), raised $75m in its IPO. axios.link/4a0IILQ

• Steve Madden (Nasdaq: SHOO) agreed to buy luxury footwear and fashion accessory brand Kurt Geiger from Cinven for £289m. axios.link/41dmhA8

• Elon Musk said he'd withdraw his $97.4b takeover offer for OpenAI, if the company stops its reorganization plan that would result in a for-profit company that's separate from its nonprofit board.

• You might recall that some OpenAI investors can claw back their money if such a reorg doesn't occur.
• We've also learned more about Musk's bid, via a court filing from OpenAI. It's all-cash, without a debt financing contingency. No details on where the full amount would come from.

• Aristocrat Leisure (AX: ALL) completed the sale of its mobile gaming unit Plarium Global to Modern Times (STO: MTG) for up to $820m ($600m upfront). axios.link/40IqTOP

🍷 Treasury Wine Estates (ASX: TWE) said it's failed to find buyers for its budget brands, including Wolf Blass and Blossom Hill. axios.link/4jPWKo9

• Antler raised $100m for its second fund focused on early-stage startups in the Nordics. antler.co

• PSG raised $6b for its sixth flagship fund, plus $2b for a new continuation fund that will cover six portfolio companies. psgequity.com

• Ulu Ventures, a seed-stage firm that focuses on diverse founder teams, raised $208m for its fourth fund. axios.link/3Eyjs3M

• President Trump nominated Brian Quintenz, head of crypto policy at az16, to chair the CFTC. axios.link/4gFrk11

• Matt Brennan, Gautum Gupta each stepped down as general partners with TCV at the end of 2024, while David Zhang stepped down as a partner, Axios has learned. Zhang has launched a new firm called Decades Holdings, while Brennan and Gupta (each General Catalyst vets) are said to be opening their own shop. tcv.com

• Jared Cohen joined Star Mountain Capital as a managing director. He previously was with Ocean Park Capital Management. axios.link/3CKoOsl

• Mark Dale is stepping down from Carlyle, where he was a managing director focused on European buyouts, per PE News. axios.link/4gDqOAn

• Timothy Mattar is retiring as CEO of Investcorp, and will be succeeded by Mohamed Aamer. axios.link/40VVQOb

• Brett McGurk joined Lux Capital as a venture partner. He previously was deputy assistant to President Biden and National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa, and also served in the three prior administrations. luxcapital.com

• James Pyo (ex-Wafra) joined New Catalyst Strategic Partners as a portfolio manager, while Ivaldo Basso (GCM Grosvenor) and Beth Rahn (New Era Advisors) both joined as operating partners. newcatalystsp.com

• True Ventures named both Kevin Rose (Digg, GV) and Mike Montano (ex-head of engineering at Twitter) as partners. axios.link/4gJY5d7

Yesterday's surprisingly hot inflation report was tough news for private equity, which had been banking on more rate cuts to spur deal activity.

• There's more than a little bit of déjà vu from this same moment in 2024.
• One big difference, of course, is the unknown of what President Trump will actually implement in terms of tariffs.