Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Venture Capital
• AUI, an NYC developer of a hybrid symbolic–generative model for conversational AI, raised a $20m bridge SAFE at a $750m valuation cap from eGateway Ventures and New Era Capital Partners. Go deeper
• Source.ag, a Dutch provider of AI software for controlled environment agriculture, raised $17.5m in Series B funding led by Astanor. Go deeper
🚑 Indomo, a Boston-based provider of at-home prescription dermatology treatments, raised $25m from Atomic, Foresite Capital, and Polaris Partners. Go deeper
• Liquid, a crypto perp DEX aggregator, raised $7.6m. Paradigm led, joined by General Catalyst. Go deeper
• Cephia, an SF-based developer of vision sensor products, raised $4m in seed funding. Radiant Opto-Electronics and Incharge Capital led, joined by MetaVC Partners, NRM Partners, and SOSV. Go deeper
• GitLaw, an SF-based legal companion for businesses, raised $3m in pre-seed funding. Jackson Square Ventures led, joined by Flex Capital and Background Capital. Go deeper
Private Equity
• Brown & Root, a One Equity Partners portfolio company, agreed to acquire SWAT, a Gonzales, La.-based provider of turnaround, cooling tower, and industrial catalyst services. Go deeper
• Clearstone Capital acquired Brüst Beverages, a maker of ready-to-drink protein coffee. Go deeper
• Motive Partners invested US$100m in Electric Mind, a Toronto-based AI consulting company. Go deeper
• Valence Surface Technologies, an ATL Partners portfolio company, acquired Foresight Finishing, a Tempe, Ariz.-based provider of precious metal surface treatment for highly engineered products. Go deeper
Debt
• Antora Energy, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based heat battery startup, raised a $70m convertible note to increase production at its San Jose factory. Go deeper
Going Public
• DuPont completed the spinoff of its semiconductor materials business, renamed Qnity (NYSE: Q), with an initial $4b valuation. Go deeper
• Pine Labs, an Indian payments business, will go public this week at a valuation some 40% lower than its last private round, valuing it around $2.9b at the upper end of the range. Backers include PayPal and Mastercard. Go deeper
SPAC
• Xanadu, a Canadian photonic quantum computing company, agreed to go public at a $3.6b valuation via Crane Harbor Acquisition Corp. (Nasdaq: CHAC), a SPAC led by HEPCO Capital Management execs. Xanadu has raised over $240m from firms like Bessemer Venture Partners, OMERS Ventures, Georgian, Forward Investments, BDC Capital, Alumni Ventures, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Draper Associates, Capricorn Investment Group, and Porsche. Go deeper
Liquidity
• Ayvens (Paris: AYV), a French car-leasing firm, agreed to buy back €275m in shares from an investor group that's trying to offload a total of €986m, per Bloomberg. The investors include TDR Capital, ADIA, GIC, ATP, and PGGM. Go deeper
• Comvest Partners sold a 75% stake in its private credit business to Manulife (TSX: MFC) for US$937.5m. Go deeper
• Zscaler (Nasdaq: ZS) acquired SPLX, an AI security startup that raised $7m from LAUNCHub Ventures, Inovo VC, South Central Ventures, and Runtime Ventures. Go deeper
M&A
⚡️Sinopec Group is in talks to buy jet fuel distributor China National Aviation Fuel Group, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
• Sportsradar (Nasdaq: SRAD) completed its purchase of IMG Arena and its portfolio of global sports betting rights from Endeavor Group (NYSE: EDR). Go deeper
• State Street Investment Management made a minority investment in Coller Capital, a private market secondaries manager. Go deeper
Fundraising
• Stone Point raised over $3b for an eight-asset continuation vehicle. Go deeper
• F2 Venture Capital plans to raise $100m for a fourth fund focused on seed-stage investments, per Calcalist. Go deeper
• Founders' Co-op raised $50m for its sixth fund. Go deeper
It's Personnel
• Harbert Management is promoting president and COO Travis Pritchett to CEO, effective Jan. 1, while founder Raymond Harbert will transition to exec chair. Go deeper
• Sebastian Fain joined Gibson Dunn as a New York-based partner in the law firm's M&A group and as co-head of cross-border M&A. He previously was with Freshfields. 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.
