Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Venture Capital
• Kraken, an SF-based crypto exchange, is seeking $500m at a $15b valuation ahead of a potential IPO, per The Information. Go deeper
• Motive, an SF-based ops platform for the physical economy, raised $150m. Kleiner Perkins led, joined by AllianceBernstein. Go deeper
• RD Technologies, a Hong Kong-based stablecoin startup, raised $40m in Series A2 funding led by ZA Global, with participation from China Harbour International Finance, Bright Venture Capital, Hivemind Capital Partners, HSG, and Guotai Junan International. Go deeper
• Prophet Security, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based provider of agentic AI for SOCs, raised $30m in Series A funding. Accel led, joined by Bain Capital Ventures. Go deeper
• Conversion, a marketing automation startup, raised $28m in Series A funding. Abstract Ventures led, joined by True Ventures and HOF Capital. Go deeper
🌎 AIR, an Israeli eVTOL developer, raised $23m in Series A funding led by Entrée Capital. Go deeper
• Still Bright, a Newark, N.J.-based copper extraction tech developer, raised $18.7m in seed funding led by Material Impact and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, joined by Azolla Ventures, Fortescue, Impact Science Ventures, and SOSV, per TC. Go deeper
• PlayerZero, an Atlanta-based predictive software quality company, raised $15m in Series A funding led by Foundation Capital and $5m in seed funding led by Green Bay Ventures. Go deeper
• Flyhomes, an Issaquah, Wash.-based real estate platform, raised $15m in Series D funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Norwest Venture Partners, Canvas Ventures, and Camber Creek. Go deeper
💊 Pahr Therapeutics, a Boston and Japan-based biotech developing pulmonary arterial hypertension treatments, raised a $14m seed round. RA Capital Management, AN Venture Partners and University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners led. Go deeper
• OffDeal, an N.Y.-based AI investment banking platform, raised a $12m Series A led by Radical Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Rebel Fund, and Centre Street Partners. Go deeper
🚑 C8 Health, an NY-based patient outcomes technology company, raised $12m in Series A funding led by Team8, with participation from 10D and Vertex Ventures Israel. Go deeper
🌎 NuCicer, a Davis, Calif.-based chickpea producer, raised $11.5m in Series A funding. Rhapsody Venture Partners led, joined by Leaps by Bayer, Illumina Ventures, Better Ventures, and Stray Dog Capital. Go deeper
• Falcon Finance, a Dubai-based synthetic dollar protocol, raised $10m from Trump family-backed World Liberty Financial. Go deeper
• Runloop, an SF-based infrastructure platform for AI coding agents, raised $7m in seed funding. The General Partnership led, joined by Blank Ventures. Go deeper
🌎 Tric Robotics, a San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based developer of pest-control robots for ag, raised $5.5m in seed funding led by Version One Ventures, per AgFunder News. Go deeper
🌎 Solidec, a Houston-based sustainable chemicals manufacturer, raised $2m in pre-seed funding led by New Climate Ventures, joined by Plug and Play Ventures, Ecosphere Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Safar Partners, Echo River Capital, and Semilla Climate Capital. solidec.com
Private Equity
• Archimed acquired a majority stake in Arkstone, a Boca Raton, Fla.-based infectious disease-focused clinical decision support provider. arkstone.ai
• ClearCourse, an embedded payments firm for SMBs backed by Aquiline Capital Partners, acquired retail management and POS provider Davidson Richards. Go deeper
• DataServ, an accounts payable company backed by Renovus Capital, agreed to merge with xFact, a Massachusetts-based IT consulting firm. renovuscapital.com
💊 KKR acquired a majority stake in HealthCare Royalty Partners, a Stamford, Conn.-based biopharma royalty acquisition company. Go deeper
• KKR and Pacific Investment Management Co. will each buy 4.9% common-equity interests in Harley-Davidson Financial Services. Go deeper
• Partners Group acquired a minority stake in Nozomi Networks, an SF-based provider of industrial cybersecurity software that previously raised $245m from VCs. Go deeper
• Thoma Bravo made a strategic investment in Trading Technologies, a global capital markets technology platform owned by 7RIDGE. Go deeper
Public Listings
• Black Rock Coffee Bar, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based chain whose backers include Cynosure Partners, filed confidential IPO papers, per Reuters. It could be valued at more than $1b. Go deeper
Liquidity
• Five Point Infrastructure is in talks to sell Northwind Midstream Partners to MPLX (NYSE: MPLX) for around $2.3b, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
💊 KKR sold its entire stake in Indian pharma company J.B. Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals to Torrent Pharmaceuticals for $1.4b. Go deeper
M&A
• Iveco Group NV, an Italian automotive company, will sell its defense unit to aerospace giant Leonardo SpA for an EV of €1.7b ($1.95b). Tata Motors is set to acquire the rest of Iveco, which makes trucks and buses, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
• Evercore (NYSE: EVR) agreed to acquire Robey Warshaw, a U.K.-based independent advisory firm, for about $196m. Go deeper
• DTN, a Minneapolis-based agtech company, acquired Grain Discovery, a Canadian CRM platform for grain buyers and growers. Go deeper
• Consco Foods, a Canadian protein distributor, acquired Allied Food Distributors, a Canadian distributor of kosher food brands. Go deeper
Fundraising
• Bonfire Ventures raised $245m for its fourth fund and promoted Tyler Churchill to partner. bonfirevc.com
It's Personnel
• Shamrock Capital promoted Mike LaSalle to co-president and Andrew Howard to partner, and said that Stephen Royer has transitioned to a chairman role. shamrockcap.com
⚡️ Mirela Gavrilas joined Elementl Power, a D.C.-based nuclear project developer, as VP of regulatory affairs. Gavrilas was executive director for operations at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Go deeper
Odds & Ends
🌎 Beyond Meat, the El Segundo, Calif.-based plant-based meat producer, is rebranding as simply "Beyond" as it expands beyond imitation animal proteins. Go deeper
💊 Dx&Vx, a South Korean biotech, signed a co-development and licensing agreement valued at about $220m with an unnamed biotech to develop an mRNA-based cancer vaccine. Go deeper<br/><br/>🌎 Friends & Family Pet Food, an Oakland-based lab-grown meat-based pet food producer, received regulatory approval to begin sales in Singapore. Go deeper
💊 Kissei Pharmaceutical, a Japanese biotech, is paying $70m upfront and up to $350m to Waltham, Mass.-based Viridian Therapeutics for Japanese rights to two thyroid eye disease drug candidates. Go deeper
💊 Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, a Pennsylvania pharma company, is paying $120m upfront and up to $2.1b to Chinese biotech CSPC Pharmaceutical for a preclinical GLP-1 receptor agonist. Go deeper
- Ryan Barwick, Natalie Breymeyer, Erin Brodwin, Colin Campbell, Katherine Davis, Katie Fehrenbacher, Ryan Lawler, and Chris Metinko contributed to this report.
