Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Venture Capital
• Quantinuum, a quantum computing group backed by Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON), is in talks to raise new funding at a $10b valuation, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
• Upstage, an enterprise document AI startup, raised $45m in Series B funding from Korea Development Bank, Amazon, and AMD. Go deeper
🌎 Better Meat, a plant-based meat producer, raised $31m. Future Ventures and Resilience Reserve led, joined by Epic Ventures and Sigmas Group. Go deeper
🚑 Wisdom, a dental RCM startup, raised $21m in Series A funding. Permanent Capital Ventures led, joined by Juxtapose. withwisdom.com
• Bluefish, a New York-based AI marketing platform, raised a $20m Series A. NEA led the round, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Crane Venture Partners, Swift Ventures, and Bloomberg Beta. Go deeper
• Garage, a secondhand equipment marketplace for public safety groups, raised $13.5m in Series A funding led by Infinity Ventures. Go deeper
🚑 Cascala Health, a Boston-based developer of patient data summarization tech, raised $8.6m in seed funding. Flare Capital Partners and Eniac Ventures co-led, joined by Tau Ventures, Digital Health Venture Partners, Redesign Health, Ziegler Linkage Funds, and Omega Healthcare Investors. Go deeper
🌎 Wallround, a German provider of energy-efficient building upgrades, raised €4.2m in seed funding. Revent led, joined by GGF and Vonovia. Go deeper
🌎 SugaROx, a U.K.-based crop biostimulant developer, raised €1.1m in seed funding from the Mosaic Company, the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and Regenerate Ventures. Go deeper
Private Equity
• Ames Watson agreed to buy the North American business of bankrupt jewelry retailer Claire's for $104m. Go deeper
• BTX Precision, a portfolio company of L Squared Capital Partners, acquired High Tech Solutions, a Kansas City-based manufacturer of aerospace components. btxprecision.com
🚑 Ethos Risk Services, a medical management and claims investigations firm owned by Carousel Capital, acquired ForzaCare, a Mesa, Ariz.-based clinical case management provider. ethosrisk.com
• Sequoia Financial Group, backed by Kudu Investment Management and Valeas Capital Partners, agreed to acquire Utah-based wealth manager Martin Worley Group. Go deeper
Liquidity
🚑 CentralReach, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based provider of autism care software, acquired SpectrumAi and AI.Measures. SpectrumAi, a maker of predictive analytics for clinicians to monitor therapy quality, had raised some $9m from backers like F-Prime Capital and Frist Cressey Ventures. Go deeper
• Grundfos of Denmark acquired Newterra, a Coraopolis, Pa.-based provider of water and wastewater treatment solutions, from Frontenac. grundfos.com
⚡️ Honeywell (Nasdaq: HON) acquired three software and data services from SparkMeter, a D.C.-based electric utility software developer backed by Breakthrough Energy and Accurant International. Go deeper
🚑 Quadria Capital is in talks to sell a minority stake in Indian topical pharma company Encube Ethicals at a $2b valuation, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
M&A
🌎 80 Acres Farms, a Hamilton, Ohio-based vertical farming company backed by General Atlantic and Barclays Climate Ventures, plans to merge with Soli Organic, a Harrisonburg, Va.-based indoor farm backed by CPPQ. Go deeper
It's Personnel
🌎 Chris Callieri is joining Levi Strauss as SVP and chief supply chain officer, effective Sept. 15. He previously was chief supply chain officer at Victoria's Secret. Go deeper
⚡️ Chris Osowski was promoted to CEO of Green Plains, an Omaha, Neb.-based renewable fuels producer. Go deeper
⚡️ Monica Opderbeck was promoted to chief commercial officer of Vesper Energy, a Dallas-based utility-scale renewables developer and operator. Go deeper
⚡️ Samuele Ravelli is joining Macquarie Group in November to lead its global LNG trading business. He currently is Equinor's VP for Asian LNG. Go deeper
🌎 Andrew Pask was appointed chief biology officer of Colossal Biosciences, the Austin, Texas-based de-extinction company where he was an advisor. Go deeper
Odds & Ends
🌎 Seabound, a U.K. developer of modular carbon-capture systems for ships, received a £1.1m grant from the U.K. government. Go deeper
- Ryan Barwick, Natalie Breymeyer, Erin Brodwin, Colin Campbell, Katherine Davis, Katie Fehrenbacher, Ryan Lawler, Chris Metinko, Alan Neuhauser, Dan Primack, and Brock E.W. Turner contributed to this report.
