Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
Venture Capital
• Ramp, the NYC-based expense management startup, hit a $32b valuation after a $300 million primary financing round and employee tender offer.. Lightspeed Venture Partners led, joined by new investors including Alpha Wave Global, Bessemer Venture Partners, Robinhood Ventures, 1789 Capital, Epicenter Capital, and Coral Capital. Axios Pro flashback
• Sakana AI, a Japanese AI model maker, raised ¥20b ($135m) in Series B funding, valuing it at $2.7b. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Khosla Ventures, Macquarie Capital, NEA, Lux Capital and In-Q-Tel invested. Go deeper
• Celero Communications, a Laguna Beach, Calif.-based digital signal processor provider for AI infrastructure, raised a $100m Series B round led by CapitalG, as well as $40 million in Series A and seed funding led by Sutter Hill Ventures and joined by Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management and Maverick Silicon. Go deeper
• Faire, an SF-based wholesale marketplace, launched a $100m share sale valuing it at $5.2b, per Bloomberg. WCM Investment Management is leading, joined by Baillie Gifford & Co. and True North Fund. Go deeper
• Gridware, an SF-based electric grid tech firm, raised a $55m Series B round led by Tiger Global and Generation Investment Management. Go deeper
• PowerLattice, a Vancouver, Wash.-based chiplet developer that reduces power needs, raised a $25m Series A round led by Playground Global and Celesta Capital. Go deeper
• Bone AI, a Seoul and Palo Alto, Calif-based unmanned vehicle company, raised $12m in seed funding led by Third Prime and joined by Kolon Group. Go deeper
• Runlayer, an NYC-based protocol for agents to connect to data, raised $11m in seed funding from Khosla Ventures' Keith Rabois and Felicis. Go deeper
• Backflip, a Charlotte, N.C.-based platform for real estate investors, raised $10m from investors including FirstMark Capital, LiveOak Venture Partners, and Vertical Venture Partners. Go deeper
• Self, an SF-based zero-knowledge identity solution, raised $9m in seed funding. Investors included Greenfield Capital, Startup Capital Ventures x SBI Fund (Softbank), Spearhead VC, Verda Ventures and Fireweed Ventures. Go deeper
• Luminal, an SF-based compute optimization company, raised $5.3m in seed funding led by Felicis Ventures. Paul Graham, Guillermo Rauch, and Ben Porterfield joined. Go deeper
Private Equity
• Ardurra Group, a Littlejohn & Co portfolio company, acquired MKN & Associates, an Arroyo Grande, Calif.-based wastewater engineering services firm. Go deeper
• BetterCo Holdings, a newly formed Paine Schwartz Partners portfolio company, acquired Crisp, a food supply chain platform, and Lucky Energy, a better-for-you energy drink brand. Go deeper
• The Cook & Boardman Group, a Platinum Equity portfolio company, acquired Norwood Hardware and Supply, a Cincinnati-based maker of commercial doors and frames. Littlejohn & Co. retains a stake. Go deeper
• TPG, through Rise Climate, has agreed to buy a minority stake in Charlotte, N.C.-based grid services company Pike. La Caisse will invest alongside TPG for a minority stake. Go deeper
M&A
• IonQ (NYSE: IONQ), a College Park, Md.-based quantum computing company, agreed to acquire Skyloom Global, a Broomfield, Colo.-based planetary-scale network provider that raised nearly $53 million from Castlegate Capital Advisors and IronGate Capital Advisors. Go deeper
• Lincoln Property Company, a Dallas-based real estate firm, acquired Capstone Development Partners, a Birmingham, Ala.-based student housing and university facilities development and management company. Go deeper
• Versant Media Group, the media group being spun off from Comcast, hired Lazard to explore a sale of youth-sports app SportsEngine that could value it at $400m to $500m, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
Fundraising
• Rockland Capital closed Rockland Power Partners V at $1.2b. Go deeper
It's Personnel
• Chris Jackson has been named head of Truist Financial's (NYSE: TFC) new Institutional Capital Group, which will serve middle-market private equity sponsors and select family offices. Go deeper
