The Yale Model, which has undergirded modern venture capital, may be dying.

Catch up quick: Ivy League endowments, and many of their charitable foundation peers, for decades have overallocated to venture capital.

• It's been a mutually beneficial relationship.
• Endowments and foundations have generated outsized returns to fund their missions, while venture has gotten to feel good about the money it's managing.

The latest: Venture distribution cycles have elongated to the point that LPs now risk a decade of negative cash-flow on many of their VC relationships.

• That's not sustainable for institutions with large spend requirements, such as a university endowment. At least not if it's overallocated to venture.

Zoom in: We've spent a lot of time discussing LP frustrations with the lack of liquidity, particularly tied to the dearth of IPOs, and how it threatens the industry's foundational alignment of interests.

• A subplot is that it's also exposed a fissure among LPs.
• On one hand you have these traditional groups, many of whom subscribed to some version of the Yale Model. Limited capital inflows, required outflows, and relatively small scale.
• On the other are sovereign wealth funds and U.S. public pensions. High capital inflows and such large scale that they can make the same dollar allocations to VC funds without the same concentration risk. In short, they can afford to play a longer game.

What to watch: Annual reports from endowments and foundations, as most of their fiscal years end Sunday.

What they're saying: "It's now such a brute force capital game that you're seeing a shift in the composition of LP bases," one longtime LP tells me. "Many large VC funds have started turning to the sorts of investors they wouldn't have even met with 10 years ago."

The bottom line: This sea change might be fine for venture in the short-term, particularly as fee-hungry firms raise larger funds. But it's also a major risk to dump your longtime partner for someone who might view you as a fling.

ZeroEyes, a gun detection video analytics and alert platform, raised over $53 million in Series B funding.

Why it's the BFD: America has shown little interest in restricting the most popular means of mass murder, but at least some tech companies are working to reduce the number of incidents.

Investors: Sorenson Capital led, and was joined by Intel Capital and BroadLight Capital.

How it works: The company's computer vision software integrates with existing digital security cameras, including those in schools, hospitals, transit centers, and casinos. Its purpose is to identify guns and then share those images with trained professionals who can alert first responders and local staff if appropriate.

The bottom line: ZeroEyes CEO Mike Lahiff tells Axios that his company has nearly 400 clients, and that there have been over a dozen arrests as a result of its software. "Every time a shooting happens, people give thoughts and prayers," he says. "That's bulls**t. Let's do something."

• Rohlik, a Czech grocery delivery company, raised $170m. EBRD led, and was joined by European Investment Bank and insiders Sofina, Index Ventures, Quadrille, and TCF Capital. axios.link/3RLOc5e

• Hebbia, a New York-based document search AI startup, raised nearly $100m in Series B funding led by a16z, per TechCrunch. axios.link/3VGF2s0

• Clay, a New York sales and marketing AI startup, raised $46m in Series B funding at a $500m valuation. Meritech led, and was joined by First Round Capital, Sequoia Capital, Box Group, and Boldstart. axios.link/3xxyBzp

• Clearstory, a Walnut Creek, Calif., change order management platform for construction, raised $16m in Series B funding. Prudence led, and was joined by Industry Ventures, Jackson Square Ventures, Building Ventures, GS Futures, and Cloud Apps Capital Partners. clearstory.build

• MagicSchool AI, a Boulder, Colo.-based K12 tech platform focused on preventing teacher burnout, raised $15m in Series A funding. Bain Capital Ventures led, and was joined by Adobe Ventures and Common Sense Media. magicschool.ai

⚡ Libattion, a Swiss provider of energy storage solutions from upcycled EV batteries, raised €14m. A&G Energy Transition Tech Fund led, and was joined by Teknia, HCapital, and EBL. axios.link/3W29X3p

• Bling, a German family fintech app, raised $12m in Series A funding. Owl Ventures led, and was joined by Neosfer, Peak, and Angel Invest. axios.link/4eHYDRi

• CereTax, an Atlanta-based sales tax solution, raised $9m. S3 Ventures led, and was joined by Wild Basin Investments and Leaders Fund. ceretax.com

• Feather, a German startup that helps foreign workers get health insurance, raised €6m. Keen Venture Partners led, and was joined by Pural. axios.link/4eJASZ6

• Heidi, a British online tour operator focused on ski trips, raised £5.6m. Mercia Ventures led, and was joined by Active Partners. axios.link/45QHQr1

⚡ Heatio, a British residential energy-management provider, raised £2m. Ascension led, and was joined by Conduit Connect, the Syndicate Room, Baltic Ventures, and Lyva Labs. axios.link/45H6cTX

• Scoutlabs, a Hungarian insect-monitoring service for farms, raised $2m from Depo Ventures, Interactive Venture Partners, SVG Thrive, and Impact Ventures. axios.link/4clMrnI

🥒 Avenue Sports Fund bought a minority stake in CityPickle, an indoor pickleball club concept. axios.link/4eJ9KZU

🚑 Arcadia, a Boston health care data platform whose backers include Peloton Equity and Vista Credit Partners, acquired Carejourney, an Arlington, Va., provider of health-care cost and quality analytics. axios.link/4cleEuP

• Bernhard Capital Partners acquired Brailsford & Dunlavey, a Washington, D.C.-based institutional program management company. bdconnect.com

• Cinven agreed to acquire Idealista, a Spanish online real estate classifieds business, from EQT and Oakley Capital at a €2.9b enterprise value. axios.link/4ezS8zI

• GrowthCurve Capital bought Duetto, an SF provider of revenue management software for the hospitality market, from Warburg Pincus. axios.link/3W0XIEc

• Keywords Studios (LSE: KWS), an Irish video game services firm, said it would accept a £1.96b takeover offer from EQT. axios.link/3W2JYJ9

• Madison Dearborn Partners invested in Omni Federal, a provider of mission and enterprise software to U.S. defense and intelligence agencies. axios.link/3W1AX2X

• TPG acquired a majority stake in Altimetrik, a Southfield, Mich., digital business transformation company. axios.link/3L9hNlb

• Vista Equity Partners completed its $1.25b take-private buyout of Model N, a San Mateo, Calif., provider of revenue optimization and compliance solutions for pharma and med tech. axios.link/49xGVfg

🚑 Alumis, a South SF-based precision immunology company, raised $210m in its IPO. It priced 13.1m shares at $16, versus plans to sell 17.7m shares at $16-$18. It will list on the Nasdaq (ALMS), and had raised over $630m from AyurMaya, Baker Bros, Foresite Capital, Samsara BioCapital, venBio Partners, Lilly Asia Ventures, Cormorant Asset Management, SR One, Nextech, Ally Bridge, HBM Healthcare Investments, Omega Funds, and Piper Heartland Healthcare. axios.link/4bnjN43

• Andretti Acquisition II, a SPAC whose management team included racecar driver Michael Andretti, filed for a $200m IPO. The first Andretti SPAC merged with Zapata AI, and is down 94% from its $10 offer price. axios.link/3ROiaFB

⚡ LandBridge, a Delaware Basin-focused oil property acquirer formed by Five Point Energy, raised $247m in its IPO. It priced at $17 (below $19-$22 range), and will list on the NYSE (LB). axios.link/3xoO9VZ

• Pershing Square USA, a closed-end investment fund managed by Bill Ackman, said it will offer shares at $50 in an upcoming New York IPO. axios.link/3L5Spgc

🚑 AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) acquired Celsius Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based inflammatory disease biotech whose first drug is focused on IBD, for $250m in cash. Celsius had raised over $140m from Third Rock Ventures, Casdin Capital, Amgen, Amplitude Ventures, Catalio Capital, Co-Win Ventures, Fast Track Initiative, Section 32, Alexandria Venture Investments, GV, and Heritage Provider Network. axios.link/3VZR94F

• Hg is considering liquidity options for Septeo, a French legal software provider that could be valued at 4b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/3L2kAgg

• iA (TSX: IAG) completed its $170m purchase of Vericity, a Chicago-based life insurer majority owned by J.C. Flowers & Co. vericity.com

• Nubank (NYSE: NU) acquired Hyperplane, an SF-based developer of customer behavior models for banks that last year raised a $6m round led by Lachy Groom. axios.link/3zeVVlO

• Yellow Wood Partners is seeking to sell British skin-care brand Byoma, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3RLOJUW

• ANZ Group (ASX: ANZ) received Australian government approval for its A$4.9b purchase of insurer Suncorp Group (ASX: SUN), which had initially been blocked by antitrust regulators. axios.link/45M2MiI

⚡ Citadel agreed to buy Energy Grid Corp., a Tokyo-based energy trader. axios.link/4eJ7FNS

• Nokia (NYSE: NOK) agreed to buy Infinera (Nasdaq: INFN), a San Jose, Calif., optical telecom equipment maker, for $2.3b in cash and stock, or $6.65 per share (28% premium to Wednesday's closing price). axios.link/4chMMaT

🚑 Josh Brumm, former CEO of Dyne Therapeutics, joined VC firm Forbion as a general partner. axios.link/3VMfBFc

• Dave DeFelice joined Stone-Goff Partners as VP of portfolio operations. He previously was with Dorilton Capital. axios.link/3xz8E2o

• Excellere Partners promoted Ryan Revolinski to VP and hired Mark Sparrow (ex-KSL Capital Partners) as VP of finance. excellere.com

• Anne Fazioli-Khiari joined G2 Venture Partners as a partner and COO. Past roles have been with Ubiquity Networks and BrightSource Energy. axios.link/3XNpZiV

• Garnett Station Partners promoted Joe Solano to managing director of biz dev. axios.link/45HsIw2

• Jennifer Geoghegan (ex-Focus Financial Partners) and Tony Ling (Corsair Capital) joined Rise Growth Partners as CMO and managing partner of investments, respectively. risegrowth.com

🚑 Daniil Kalyuzhny joined BTIG as a managing director of health-care investment banking. He previously was with Bank of America. axios.link/4bsyB1f

• Stephen Wong joined VC firm Valley Capital Partners as a managing partner. He previously led Hong Kong investment banking for Goldman Sachs. valleycapital.vc

We're basically at the halfway mark of 2024, and U.S. IPO proceeds are up 96% from this point last year, per Renaissance Capital.

• Sure that's damning with faint praise, but at least the window is opening instead of closing.

Zoom out: The global picture looks different. LSEG reports decreases in IPO proceeds, IPO issuers, and SPAC IPOs, but increases in follow-on public offerings (both number and dollars).