One of the very first BFDs in this newsletter was a $33 million Series A round for Boom, a Colorado startup that wanted to revive supersonic air travel for commercial passengers.

• Yesterday, one of its planes broke the sound barrier for the first time, above the Mojave Desert in California.

The big picture: This is something of a back-to-the-future moment, more than two decades since the Concorde was grounded.

• One big difference is that this is a private company accomplishing the feat, whereas Concorde was developed by the French and British governments.
• Another is that Boom believes it can be a much cheaper ride. Boom CEO Blake Scholl says that a Concorde flight between New York and London was $20,000 inflation-adjusted, whereas Boom flights would be break-even at $3,500.

ROI: Boom so far has raised a little over $600 million from private investors, plus another $250 million from the U.S. Air Force, state incentives and customer deposits from United and American Airlines.

• Scholl says that the company has enough cash to last through the next major milestone, which would be running its passenger plane jet engine for the first time.
• After that, it would need "low single-digit billions" to reach the finish line of rolling out planes to customers, although he says some of that could be covered by future orders.

Zoom in: Scholl adds that the biggest lesson he's learned is the value of vertical integration, with Boom ending up doing a lot of engineering for products that it had either bought off the shelf or contracted out.

• "If I had known then what I know now, we could have gotten to this point in half the time with one-third of the money."

Fun fact: The same newsletter that highlighted Boom led with scoop about how a young venture capitalist named JD Vance was leaving his Silicon Valley job to begin investing in Ohio.

Frontier Group (Nasdaq: ULCC) has revived its efforts to merge with rival Spirit Airlines, which rejected the offer and said it's prepared to exit bankruptcy later this quarter.

Why it's the BFD: This highlights the fragile economics of budget air travel, and also a broader belief that the Trump administration will be easier on antitrust than was its predecessor.

Catch up quick: Frontier and Spirit agreed to merge in 2022, but JetBlue then entered the fray and signed a $3.8 billion deal to buy Spirit.

• The Justice Department successfully sued to block JetBlue from buying Spirit, which then filed for bankruptcy protection.

The bottom line: Frontier still wants Spirit, despite having already been left at the altar, which means it may not take Spirit's latest no for an answer.

• Skild AI, a Pittsburgh AI robotics company, is in talks to raise $500m from SoftBank at a $4b valuation, per multiple reports. axios.link/42xB61N

⚡ Veir, a Woburn, Mass., startup replacing conventional power lines with superconductors, raised $75m in Series B funding. Munich Re Ventures led, and was joined by Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Tyche Partners, Piva Capital, National Grid Partners, Dara Holdings, SiteGround, and insiders VXI Capital, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Engine Ventures, Fine Structure Ventures, and Galvanize Climate Solutions. axios.link/4jxgYTo

• Oligo Security, an Israeli application detection and response startup, raised $50m in Series B funding. Greenfield Partners led, and was joined by Red Dot Capital Partners, Strait Capital, and insiders Ballistic Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and TLV Partners. axios.link/3Eh7Ou2

• Onebrief, an Austin, Texas-based platform for military planning and operations, raised $50m in Series C funding. General Catalyst and Insight Partners co-led, and were joined by Caffeinated Capital, 9Yards Capital, and Human Capital. axios.link/40QOA7h

• UVeye, a Teaneck, N.J., vehicle inspection tech startup, raised $41m. Woven Capital led, and was joined by UMC Capital, MyBerg, and insiders W.R. Berkley, Menora Mivtachim, and More Investment House. It also secured a $150m debt facility from Trinity Capital. axios.link/4ghXLCf

🚑 Amplitude Vascular Systems, a Boston-based developer of medical devices for calcified arterial disease, raised $36m in Series B funding. BioStar Capital and Cue Growth Partners co-led, and were joined by the University of Michigan. avspulse.com

🚑 Hone Health, a New York-based telehealth startup focused on longevity care, raised $33m in Series A funding from Tribe Capital, PIF, Republic Capital, Vibe VC, Humbition, Hanwha, Gaingels, Looking Glass Capital, FJ Labs, and Agent Capital. axios.link/3WDdBk9

• Qsic, a Dallas-based in-store audio company, raised $25m in Series B funding led by Hedosophia. axios.link/3PW1Gdk

• Clutch Security, an Israeli non-human identity security startup, raised $20m in Series A funding. SignalFire led, and was joined by insiders Lightspeed Venture Partners and Merlin Ventures. clutch.security

• HockeyStack, a marketing analytics and attribution platform, raised $20m in Series A funding. Bessemer Ventures Partners led, and was joined by YC, Uncorrelated Ventures, and Qnbeyond Ventures. axios.link/42zv3cS

• iPronics, a Spanish maker of optical networking gear for data centers, raised €20m in Series A funding. Triatomic Capital led, and was joined by Fine Structure Ventures, Bosch Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners, and Criteria Venture Tech. ipronics.com

• Naboo, a French corporate events booking platform, raised €20m in Series A funding led by Notion Capital. axios.link/40yYl94

🚑 Delfina, an SF-based maternal health startup, raised $17m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. USVP led, and was joined by Tokio Marine, Mayo Clinic and Artis Ventures. axios.link/4axNpgp

• Bonsai Robotics, a San Jose, Calif., autonomous agriculture startup, raised $15m in Series A funding. Bison Ventures led, and was joined by Cibus Capital, Acre Venture Partners, Congruent Ventures, Fall Line Capital, E14 Fund, SNR, and Serra Ventures. bonsairobotics.ai

• Pod, a stake-based programmable L1, raised $10m in seed funding from a16z CSX, 1kx, Blockchain Builders Fund, and Protagonist. axios.link/3WCaBEA

• Ambak, an India-based home financing startup, raised $7m led by Peak XV. axios.link/40N5fst

• Bizloan, an Indian lending tech startup, raised $4.2m in Series A funding co-led by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and BLinC Invest. axios.link/40PFE1X

• Gallabox, a provider of conversational commerce solutions for SMBs, raised $3.5m. FUSE led, and was joined by Prime Venture Partners and Neon Fund. axios.link/4hwYPTZ

🚑 Aligned Marketplace, a primary care marketplace for self-insured employers, raised $3m in seed extension funding co-led by A* and Maverick Ventures. alignedmarketplace.com

⚡ Hybird Energy, a Danish B2B energy management developer, raised €2.4m. BackingMinds and Climate VC Transition co-led, and were joined by Notion Capital and 2degrees. axios.link/3CEMNZI

• 3 Arts Entertainment, a film production and talent management company known for producing the U.S. version of The Office, is seeking to raise upwards of $250m in minority funding, per Bloomberg. It would continue to be majority owned by Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF). axios.link/4jxFcgn

🚑 Bridgefield Capital acquired the emergency health equipment business of Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG). axios.link/3Co9jWT

🚑 CORA, a Palm Beach, Fla., physical therapy firm owned by H.I.G. Capital, agreed to acquire four clinics under the One to One Physical Therapy brand. coraphysicaltherapy.com

🚑 Fengate Private Equity invested in eMAX Health, a Delray Beach, Fla., pharma R&D firm. emaxhealth.net

🚑 KKR acquired a 12% stake in Henry Schein (Nasdaq: HSIC), a Melville, N.Y., provider of products to dentists and doctors, with an option to increase the position to 15%. axios.link/3WFat77

• Leap, an Indian education fintech, raised $65m in primary and secondary funding led by Apis. axios.link/3CCzU2j

• Nuvei, backed by Advent International, acquired the Japanese subsidiary of global B2B payment services provider Paywiser. axios.link/3WBDHns

🚑 PAX Health, a portfolio company of HCAP Partners and Hamilton Lane, acquired Harris Psychiatry Services, a Smithtown, N.Y., practice focused on patients dealing with workplace injuries and vehicle crashes. axios.link/4aAkt7q

• Pete & Gerry's, a premium egg producer backed by Butterfly Equity, acquired Farmers Hen House. axios.link/4hcbv2U

• Sequoia Financial Group, an Ohio-based wealth manager backed by Kudu Investment Management and Valeas Capital Partners, agreed to buy Carlson Capital Management, a Northfield, Minn.-based investment advisory with $3.8b in client assets. sequoia-financial.com

🚑 Triton Pacific Healthcare Partners and Star Mountain Capital invested in Charlotte, N.C.-based Already Autism Health, which simultaneously acquired Kentucky applied behavior analysis firm Commonwealth ABA. axios.link/42sMDiP

• Unleashed Brands, a youth development platform backed by Seidler Equity Partners, acquired Water Wings Swim School, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3PTC54z

• Whitsons Culinary Group, an Islandia, N.Y., portfolio company of GenNx360 Capital Partners, acquired Glendale Senior Dining. whitsons.com

• Wrike, a San Diego-based work management firm owned by STG Partners, acquired Klaxoon, a French visual collaboration company that had been backed by Eurazeo, Bpifrance Digital Venture, and Sofiouest. wrike.com

🚑 Alcon Research lost a lawsuit that was seeking to block the pending IPO of Aurion Biotech, a Seattle-based developer of regenerative therapies for vision loss. axios.link/3EcdUMa

• Gesher Acquisition II, a SPAC focused on Israeli businesses with international operations, filed for a $125m IPO. axios.link/4jtWJpL

• Titan America, the U.S. business of Belgian cement giant Titan Cement, set IPO terms to 24m shares at $15-$18. It would have a $3b initial market cap, were it to price in the middle of its range, with plans to list on the NYSE (TTAM). axios.link/3PX0jLs

• Balmoral Funds sold Resco Group, a U.S. maker of shaped and unshaped refractories, to Austria's RHI Magnesita for $410m. axios.link/4haEuE4

• Moove, Dutch mobility fintech whose backers include Uber, acquired Brazil's Kovi, which has raised over $140m from firms like Quona Capital, Broadheven Capital Partners, and OneVC. axios.link/4aBw2LC

• American Axle and Manufacturing (NYSE: AXL) agreed to buy auto engineering firm Dowlais (LSE: DWL) for £1.16b in cash and stock. axios.link/4heD6R1

• Leonard Blavatnik invested an additional $827m into DAZN, his global sports streaming service. axios.link/3Ear64q

• Brighthouse Financial (Nasdaq: NHF), a Charlotte insurer valued at nearly $3.5b, is exploring a sale, per Reuters. Brighthouse spun off of MetLife in 2017. axios.link/4ghNoyy

• Diageo (LSE: DGE) agreed to sell its 80.4% stake in Guinness Ghana to Castel Group for $81m, while also denying earlier reports that it would sell the broader Guinness brand. axios.link/3Ereaa8

• Mediobanca (Milan: MB), an Italian merchant bank, rejected a €13.3b buyout offer from rival Monte dei Paschi di Siena. axios.link/40y2Gt3

• NinjaOne agreed to buy Dropsuite (ASX: DSE), an Australian provider of cloud data backup and recovery solutions, for US$252m. NinjaOne is an Austin, Texas-based IT platform for endpoint visibility valued at nearly $2b by VCs. axios.link/4hwtZut

• Public Policy Holding Co. (LSE: PPHC) agreed to buy Texas-based communications agency TrailRunner for $33m. axios.link/3EfDBLV

🌎 Shift4Good, a VC firm focused on sustainable transportation in Europe and Asia, raised €220m for its debut fund. axios.link/42rtCNI

• Gary Gensler is returning to his teaching role at MIT after his four years atop the SEC. axios.link/3WC7dtc

🌎 AIP Management promoted Mads Lerche Holstein, Martin Vering Dalsager, Mikkel Barth-Højgaard, and Daniel Noe Harboe to partners. aipmanagement.dk

• GEM, a $12b outsourced CIO, prompted Matt Bank to co-CIO. geminvestments.com

• Jon Hoffman joined The Chernin Group as a partner in charge of IR and capital formation. He previously was with Rhône Group. axios.link/40Cs00P

🌎 Andrew Symons joined Sustainable Development Capital as managing director of IR and capital formation. He previously was with General Atlantic. axios.link/40DX1Sp

New shots fired in the AI wars, as OpenAI claimed that it has some evidence that China's DeepSeek was at least partially trained on its models.

• Get ready to hear a lot about "distillation," a process whereby smaller models train on larger ones.
• And also the pushback that OpenAI did its own version of "distillation" when it trained on copywritten content. As venture capitalist Bill Gurley tweeted: "The core algorithm everyone uses was developed at DeepMind. No one disputes that. The vast majority of LLM insights and breakthroughs are 'borrowed.' A community of glass houses."