Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
Venture Capital
• Anthropic, a SF-based foundational AI model company, is in talks to raise $10b, up from a previous $5b at a $170b valuation, per Bloomberg. Iconiq is said to be leading. Go deeper
⚡️Crusoe Energy Systems, a Denver-based data center infrastructure company, is planning to raise $1b in equity and debt at a $10b valuation. Go deeper
• Ontic, an Austin, Texas-based protective intelligence platform, raised $230m in Series C funding. KKR led, joined by JMI Equity, Silverton Partners, Ridge Ventures, and Ten Eleven Ventures. Go deeper
• Stark, a German weaponized drone maker, raised $62m at a $500m valuation. Sequoia Capital led, joined by 8VC, Thiel Capital, NATO Innovation Fund, In-Q-Tel, Project A, and Döpfner Capital. Go deeper
• Wellth, an LA-based digital health platform, raised $36m in Series C funding led by Mercato Partners, with participation from FCA Venture Partners, Comcast Ventures, SignalFire, NY Life, and CD-Venture. Go deeper
• Verdata, an Atlanta-based commercial risk data and analytics company, raised $8m in Series A funding led by Continental Investors, with participation from 1st & Main Growth Partners, Front Porch Venture Partners, and Overline Venture Capital. Go deeper
⚡️ OSW, an Australian solar equipment wholesaler, raised $5.5m led by SparkEdge Capital. Go deeper
🌎 Vanilla Vida, an Israeli sustainable vanilla producer, raised $3.5m led by Windare Ventures. Go deeper
⚡ CVector Energy, an industrial AI software startup, raised $1.5m in pre-seed funding led by Schematic Ventures. Go deeper
Private Equity
🌎 Closed Loop Private Equity acquired industrial food collection company Agri-Cycle. Go deeper
Public Listings
• EquipmentShare, a Columbia, Mo.-based construction equipment rental company that's raised over $500m from BDT & MSD and Insight Partners, is prepping for an IPO as early as this year, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
M&A
⚡️Crusoe, a Denver-based modular data center company valued by VCs at nearly $3b, acquired Atero, an Israeli provider of GPU management and memory optimization for AI workloads, for $150m in cash and stock. Go deeper
• Kraken, a U.S.-based crypto exchange, acquired Capitalise.ai, an Israeli trading automation startup backed by Headline and Silverhorn Investment Advisors. Go deeper
🌎 Meatable, a Dutch cultivated meat developer, acquired the lab-grown protein division of U.K. biotech Uncommon Bio. Go deeper
⚡Schneider Electric, a France-based energy management company, acquired Boston-based residential energy startup WattBuy. Go deeper
It's Personnel
• Anne Neuberger, former U.S. deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging tech, joined a16z as a senior advisor. Go deeper
🚑 Cheryl Pegus, former managing director of Morgan Health Ventures, joined FlyteHealth as CEO. Go deeper
Odds & Ends
🌎 Beyond Meat, the El Segundo, Calif.-based plant-based meat producer, denied media reports that it's considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Go deeper
⚡️Hitachi Energy, a Swiss power equipment maker, plans to invest $106m to expand its transformer equipment factory in Alamo, Tenn. Go deeper
⚡️Radiant, an El Segundo, Calif.-based advanced nuclear startup, says it's signed a contract with the Department of Energy to buy high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel for its reactor, the first company to do so. Go deeper
⚡️The U.S. Department of Agriculture said renewables developers will no longer be able to borrow up to $10m from the federal government to cover installation costs of wind and solar projects on farmland. Go deeper
⚡️Swedish utility Vattenfall said it will select either Cambridge, Mass.-based GE Vernova or the U.K.'s Rolls-Royce Holdings to supply SMRs for a planned 1.5 GW nuclear project. 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.
