Illustration: Megan Robinson/Axios
Venture Capital
• Auradine, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based blockchain and AI infrastructure company, raised $153m in Series C funding led by StepStone Group, with participation from Maverick Silicon, Premji Invest, Samsung Catalyst Fund, Qualcomm Ventures, Mayfield, MARA Holdings, and GSBackers. Go deeper
• Chapter, a NYC-based Medicare navigation company, raised $75m in Series D funding led by Stripes, with participation from insiders XYZ Venture Capital, Susa Ventures, Addition, Narya Capital, and Maverick Ventures. Go deeper
• PolicyMe, a Canadian digital insurance provider, raised C$30m from Blue Cross Life and Securian Canada. Go deeper
• Skin Analytics, a British developer of skin cancer diagnostics, raised £15m in Series B funding led by Intrepid Partners. Go deeper
• Scout AI, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AI maker for defense applications, raised $15m in seed funding led by Align Ventures and Booz Allen Ventures. Go deeper
• Capsule, a video editor for brands, raised $12m in Series A funding. Innovation Endeavors led, joined by Swift Ventures, and Hubspot Ventures. Go deeper
• Blue Onion, a financial data infrastructure startup for CFOs, raised $10m in Series A funding. blueonion.ai
• Deck, a Canadian API startup, raised $12m in Series A funding led by Infinity Ventures. Go deeper
• Resolv Labs, which created the Resolv DeFi protocol and USR stablecoin, raised $10m in seed funding led by Cyber.Fund and Maven11, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, SCB Limited, Arrington Capital, Gumi Cryptos. Go deeper
• Pillar Security, an Israeli AI security startup, raised $9m in seed funding. Shield Capital led, joined by Golden Ventures and Ground Up Ventures. Go deeper.
• Glider, a orchestration layer for building automated onchain investment portfolios, raised $4m led by a16z. glider.fi
⚡️ Cosmic Robotics, an SF-based developer of construction robots for solar farms, raised $4m in pre-seed funding. Giant Ventures led, joined by HCVC and MaC Ventures. Go deeper
• Finch, a tech startup for injury law firms, raised $3.75m in seed funding. Sequoia Capital led, joined by Roar Ventures and Liquid 2 Ventures. Go deeper
🌎 BeSirius, a Dutch sustainability data provider for metals, mining, and heavy industries, raised €3m in seed funding. NAP (fka Cavalry Ventures) led, joined by Fund F, Techstars, Blackwood, WEPA Ventures, and Golden Egg Check. Go deeper
• Inephany, a British AI optimization startup, raised $2.2m led by Amadeus Capital Partners, with participation from Sure Valley Ventures and Steve Young. Go deeper
• SlashExperts, an SF-based platform for B2B marketing and sales teams, raised $2m in seed funding led by Social Leverage, with participation from Touring Capital and Veridical Ventures. Go deeper
• Sonix, a Swiss provider of AI voice communication for gamers, raised CHF 1.8m (~$2m). Go deeper
🌎 Catchfree, a Swiss plant-based seafood producer, raised CHF 1.2m (~€1.3m) in seed funding led by FortyOne Group and Stiftung Startfeld.
Private Equity
• ActiveCampaign, a Chicago-based marketing automation platform backed by Susquehanna Growth Equity and Silversmith Capital Partners, acquired Hilos, a Mexico City-based WhatsApp automation startup. Go deeper
• Comau, an Italian portfolio company of One Equity Partners, agreed to acquire Automha, an Italian warehousing and intralogistics automation company, from Trasma. comau.com
• First Reserve is forming a third IOG Resources platform, per an SEC filing. IOG provides onshore producing non-operated oil & gas investments and structured drilling capital. iogresources.com
• Goldman Sachs Alternatives acquired a majority stake in PeopleStrong, an Indian HR SaaS. Go deeper
• Stonepeak acquired Lafayette, La.-based Dupré Logistics. Go deeper
• TPG completed its $2.2b take-private acquisition of Altus Power, the solar energy provider. Go deeper
M&A
• Lighthouse, a British commercial platform for travel and hospitality, acquired The Hotels Network, a Spanish hotel marketing personalization company. Go deeper
• Securitize, a real-world asset tokenization firm, acquired the fund administration unit of MG Stover. Go deeper
⚡️ Foresight Group (LSE: FSGF) agreed to buy U.K. battery storage investment firm Harmony Energy Income Trust (LSE: HEIT) for £210m. Go deeper
Liquidity Events
• Featured.com, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based expert journalist platform, acquired Help A Reporter Out (HARO) from Platinum Equity portfolio company Cision. Go deeper
• KKR is considering a sale of Atlantic Aviation, a Plano, Texas-based private jet fixed-base operator that could fetch around $10b, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
Fundraising
• Crayhill Capital Management, an alt asset firm focused on asset-based finance, raised $1.31b for its third flagship fund. crayhill.com
It's Personnel
• Former Rep. Drew Ferguson joined Hyundai Motor Group as SVP of government affairs in the automaker's DC office, effective from May 1. Ferguson was a Republican congressman representing Georgia from 2017-2024. Go deeper
• Chase Packard left Coatue to joined VC firm Marathon. Go deeper
- Erin Brodwin, Colin Campbell, Katherine Davis, Katie Fehrenbacher, Ryan Lawler, Alan Neuhauser, Dan Primack, and Aaron Weitzman contributed to this report.
