There's an old VC joke about all the big companies that would be rendered worthless if just one could develop Star Trek-style teleportation.

• Now that's getting a biotech spin courtesy of NewLimit, a longevity pharma startup co-founded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and former Google Ventures partner Blake Byers.

Driving the news: NewLimit has raised $40 million in Series A funding from Dimension, Founders Fund, Kleiner Perkins, Eric Schmidt, Elad Gil, Garry Tan and Fred Ehrsam.

• The company previously raised $105 million from its co-founders, as announced in late 2021.
• Byers says the outside investment is intended to be a signal that "this company isn't supposed to be a nonprofit Blake and Brian research institute." Instead, it wants to be a drug developer and boost its small 17-person team by up to 10 more employees by year end.

What it does: In short, NewLimit wants to reverse cellular aging.

• To do so, it seeks to use new epigenetics tools to "reprogram" cells so that they act younger, with an initial focus on T-cells. Not only could this increase quality of life as people age, but it also could prevent the development of diseases like cancer.
• Byers notes that humans already reprogram their cells, in a way, via reproduction; adding that newborn cells are always zero days old, no matter the age of their parents.
• He adds that the giant challenge for Newlimit is to shrink the functional performance delta between actual young cells and reprogrammed older ones.

Yes, this is a massive moonshot. Armstrong acknowledges the long odds of NewLimit's ambition, but says the reward is worth the risk.

• "Think of how many dollars are spent trying to figure out treatments for major diseases, most of which are in some way correlated to aging," Armstrong says. "It would be a huge success if you could wipe out even one of those disease categories, so think about how exciting it is to go after something even more fundamental."
• One thing Armstrong doesn't particularly want to discuss, however, is the suggestion that NewLimit's ultimate mission is immortality. Instead, his frame is to "radically expand human healthspans."

The bottom line: We wanted flying cars. Instead we may get longer life.

The Federal Trade Commission reportedly will sue to block Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) from buying rare disease drugmaker Horizon Therapeutics (Nasdaq: HZNP) for $27.8 billion in cash.

Why it's the BFD: This is the first time in more than a decade that the FTC has sued to stop a big pharma merger, and reflects the Biden administration's expansive view of antitrust law.

• If completed, the deal would give Amgen access to the blockbuster thyroid eye disease drug Tepezza, which could help it offset possible revenue declines posed by competition to its arthritis drug Enbrel.
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) previously argued that Amgen's history of raising the price of Enbrel is an "anticompetitive" reason for regulators to closely scrutinize the Horizon merger.

The bottom line: "In recent years, the [FTC] allowed drug industry mergers to move forward so long as the companies divested any overlapping treatments. Even then, it didn't often demand adjustments. A Bloomberg Law analysis found that the FTC imposed conditions on less than one-third of the 38 pharmaceutical deals valued at $10 billion or more between 2010 and 2021." — Bloomberg

• Avenue One, a New York-based provider of real estate management platform for institutions, raised $100m. WestCap led, and was joined by MetLife Investment Management. www.avenue.one

🚑 Ray Therapeutics, an SF-based optogenetics company, raised $100m in Series A funding. Novo Holdings led, and was joined by Deerfield Management, Norwest Venture Partners, Platanus, MRL Ventures Fund and 4BIO Capital. www.raytherapeutics.com

• Zip, an SF-based B2B procurement fintech, raised $100m in Series C funding at a $1.5b valuation. Y Combinator led, and was joined by from CRV and Tiger Global. www.ziphq.com

• Anybotics, a Swiss developer of industrial inspection robots, raised $50m in Series B funding. Walden Catalyst and NGP Capital co-led, and were joined by Bessemer Venture Partners, Aramco Ventures, Swisscom Ventures, Swisscanto Private Equity. www.anybotics.com

🚑 Hippocratic AI, developer of a large language model for health care, raised $50m in seed funding co-led by General Catalyst and Andreessen Horowitz. https://axios.link/3pOUhT9

• Spiff, a Salt Lake City-based provider of sales commission software, raised $50m in Series C funding. Salesforce Ventures led, and was joined by Lightspeed Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Kickstart Fund and Album. https://axios.link/3BNZaPr

• Together, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based provider of open-source generative AI models, raised $20m in seed funding led by Lux Capital. https://axios.link/42Myz12

• E-con Systems, a Riverside, Calif.-based embedded vision player, raised $13m from GR 2022 Holdings. www.e-consystems.com

💎 Nivoda, a London-based B2B marketplace for diamonds and jewelry, raised $11m in Series A funding led by Headline. www.nivoda.net

• Visual Layer, an Israeli visual data set management startup, raised $7m in seed funding co-led by Madrona and Insight Partners. https://axios.link/45gPnii

• Jenfi, a revenue-based financing startup for Southeast Asian companies, raised $6.6m. Headline Asia led, and was joined by Monk's HIlll Ventures, ICU Ventures, Granite Oak, Korea Investment Partners, Golden Equator Capital and Atlas Ventures. https://axios.link/41HyASv

🌎 SaveMoneyCutCarbon, a British carbon-cutting and savings app, raised £5m from Low Carbon Initiative Fund 2, Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital and IW Capital. https://axios.link/452YJOA

🎵 AnotherBlock, a Swedish web3 music startup, raised €4m led by Stride VC. https://axios.link/3pJl3MW

• Wrangle, a Durham, N.C.-based productivity software startup, raised $2m in seed funding from Accomplice, Correlation Ventures, Triangle Tweener Fund, Bloomberg Beta, Eniac Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures and TDF Ventures. https://axios.link/3McjDlw

• Amwins and Flexpoint Ford co-led a $250m recapitalization of SageSure, a Jersey City, N.J.-based underwriter of catastrophe-exposed property insurance, with Ares Management also participating. www.sagesure.com

• Bluestar Alliance, the brand management company, has acquired the U.S. wholesale and retail business assets of Dutch apparel brand Scotch & Soda. https://axios.link/3o04Lyy

• Brompton, a British maker of folding bicycles, raised £19m from BGF. https://axios.link/3pNt4AA

• Bruin Capital acquired Proof of the Pudding, an Atlanta-based catering, food service and events company. www.proofpudding.com

• Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Macquarie Asset Management reportedly will abandon their €19.3b takeover offer for Telecom Italia's landline network, leaving KKR as the only bidder. https://axios.link/431nW9Y

• Castlelake agreed to buy up to $4b of consumer installment loans from Upstart (Nasdaq: UPST). https://axios.link/433Fz9v

• Centerbridge Partners invested in Netwrix, a Frisco, Texas-based visibility and governance software provider whose existing backers include Updata Partners. www.netwrix.com

• Entrepreneurial Equity Partners invested in Furlani Foods, a Canadian maker of garlic breads for retail and food service distribution. www.furlanifoods.com

🚑 Envision Healthcare, a Nashville-based physician staffing firm that KKR bought in 2018 for $9.9b, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. https://axios.link/45eYwYL

• Fifth Season, the Pittsburgh-based studio behind "Severance" and "80 for Brady," is seeking to raise $300m, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3Os11kv

• Hidden Pigeon Co. was launched as a multiplatform kid and family content startup by author Mo Willems, Stampede Ventures and RedBird Capital Partners. Sources say that the new company will not let the pigeon drive the bus. https://axios.link/3OeGShF

⚡ Foremark, a League City, Texas-based portfolio company of SK Capital Partners, acquired NexGen Chemical Technologies, a Cypress, Texas-based natural gas sweetening solutions, from Black Bay Energy Capital. www.nexgenchem.com

⚡ Sequitur Renewables, a portfolio company of ArcLight, acquired an operating wind farm in California’s Altamont Pass.

• Tendit Group, a Loveland, Colo.-based portfolio company of Osceola Capital, acquired Clean D Windows, a Tempe, Ariz.-based commercial window cleaning and glass restoration company. www.tenditgroup.com

• True Environmental, a New York-based portfolio company of Halle Capital, acquired Matrix New World, a Florham Park, N.J.-based provider of environmental consulting, engineering, and infrastructure solutions. www.true-environmental.com

• Atmus Filtration Technologies, a Nashville-based filtration business being spun out of Cummins (NYSE: CMI), set IPO terms to 14.1m shares at $18-$21. It would have a $1.6b market value, were it to price in the middle. https://axios.link/3nY8Ovv

⚡ Global Hydrogen Energy, a New York-based industrial gas supplier, agreed to go public at an implied $112m enterprise value via Dune Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: DUNEU), a SPAC formed by delta2 Capital. https://axios.link/453LZa6

⚡ FPA Energy Acquisition, a carbon neutral real estate sector SPAC, filed for a $100m IPO. It’s led by Christopher Yurko (Forsa Power Alliance, ex-Greenwave Energy). https://axios.link/3IgQowS

⚡ Makara Strategic Acquisition, a natural resources SPAC led by Amin Badr-El-Din, withdrew registration for a $250m IPO. https://axios.link/44YWoEl

• Ardian agreed to sell ASR Wind, a portfolio of 12 wind farms, to Spanish renewable energy group Naturgy (Madrid: NTGY). www.ardian.com

• Brookfield Property Partners is seeking a buyer for holiday parks chain Center Parcs UK and Ireland, per Sky News. https://axios.link/3Ij2HZt

• Edenred (Paris: EDEN) acquired Reward Gateway, a London-based employee engagement software company, for £1.15b from Abry Partners and Castik Capital. https://axios.link/3o23HdH

• IBM (NYSE: IBM) acquired Polar Security, an Israeli automated cloud data security startup that raised funding from firms like Glilot Capital Partners, per TechCrunch. https://axios.link/3pO0oHG

⚡ KKR is in talks to sell its Monterra Energy fuel storage terminal in Mexico to Pemex for around $320m, per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3IbPNMO

🎧 Rumble (Nasdaq: RUM) acquired Callin, an SF-based podcast and live audio-streaming platform that had raised around $12m from Craft Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Goldcrest Capital. As part of the deal, Callin and Craft Ventures founder David Sacks will join the Rumble board of directors. https://axios.link/431EsqA

• Twitter's parent company acquired Laskie, an SF-based tech talent recruiting startup that had raised around $6m from firms like Bloomberg Beta, Peak State Ventures and Rebel Fund. It's Twitter's first acquisition under Elon Musk's ownership. https://axios.link/452A8JC

• Warburg Pincus agreed to sell Peachtree City, Ga.-based aftermarket defense components provider Wencor Group to Heico (NYSE: HEI) for $2.05b in cash and stock. https://axios.link/454KIzB

• AlTi Global (Nasdaq: ALTI), formed earlier this year via a SPAC merger, agreed to buy Singaporean wealth manager AL Wealth Partners. https://axios.link/3pNrD5a

⚡ Elliott Management called on NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) to make several strategic changes and said that the company's recently $2.8b all-cash purchase of Vivint Smart Home was "the single worst deal in the power and utilities sector in the past decade." Elliott holds around a $1b, or 13%, stake in NRG. https://axios.link/3BpvVSC

• EU antitrust regulators approved Microsoft's proposed $69b takeover of gaming company Activision Blizzard, despite objections from U.K. and U.S. authorities. https://axios.link/3OaIetu

🍔 Shake Shack (NYSE: SHAK) added an independent director, as part of an agreement with activist investor Engaged Capital, which had sought to launch a proxy fight for three board seats. https://axios.link/3BsnCp8

• Vodafone (LSE: VOD) is seeking to sell up to a 49% stake in its IoT unit at around a £1b valuation, per Sky News. https://axios.link/3M8LJOL

• Wolverine Worldwide (NYSE: WWW), a Rockford, Mich.-based footwear and lifestyle company, said it is considering strategic alternatives for its Sperry brand. https://axios.link/3IeI1BW

• East Ventures, an Indonesian VC firm, raised $250m for its 12th fund. https://axios.link/42M0TRa

• Elkstone of Ireland raised €100m for an early-stage fund focused on Irish startups. www.elkstonepartners.com

• Chris Ullman, who spent 17 years leading global communications for Carlyle Group, has joined Narrative Strategies as a senior advisor, Axios has learned. He'll also continue to run his own comms group. (Fun fact: Chris is a four-time whistling champion.)

• William Bell joined Arch Capital Group as chief investment officer of alternatives. He previously was a managing director with KKR. https://axios.link/41SVTZL

• Kristin Schaefer, former CFO of Postmates, joined Miami-based venture studio Atomic as a general partner. www.atomic.vc

• Mark Shafir, former co-head of global M&A at Citi, joined Declan Kelly’s Consello Group as a managing partner of M&A advisory and investment banking, per the WSJ. Also joining Consello as a senior advisor will be Serena Williams. https://axios.link/454E3FC

• Tim Sullivan and Tom Souleles have become co-CEOs of Madison Dearborn Partners, succeeding Paul Finnegan and Sam Mencoff. www.mdcp.com

• Triago, a Paris-based private equity advisory, promoted Elisabeth Masson to partner. It also hired Mitchell Carter (ex-Virgo Investment Group) as a San Diego-based senior associate. www.triago.com

• UBS poached at least seven TMT bankers from Barclays, per Reuters. They are Laurence Braham, Richard Hardegree, Richard Casavechia, Ozzie Ramos, Jason Williams, Neil Meyer and Ken Tittle. https://axios.link/4524lsd

• Mark Robert Uy stepped down as head of Philippines at Credit Suisse to join conglomerate Ayala Corp., per Bloomberg. https://axios.link/3MbFl9v

Denver-based gold miner Newmont (NYSE: NEM) has agreed to buy Australian rival Newcrest (ASX: NCM) to US$17.5 billion in stock.

• The offer was valued at around $19.5 billion when first announced last month, but fell alongside corresponding stock prices.
• One big holdup could be regulatory approval. Newmont already is the world's largest gold miner, and adding Newcrest would give it nearly double the output of second-place Barrick Gold. Plus lots of copper.