Photo illustration: Greg Ruben/Axios
Venture Capital
• Fal, an SF-based generative media platform, raised $140m in Series D funding led by Sequoia, valuing it at $4.5b. Kleiner Perkins, NVentures, Alkeon Capital, a16z, Kindred Ventures, Meritech, Bessemer Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Shopify Ventures, and Salesforce Ventures joined. Go deeper
💊 SanegeneBio, an obesity and autoimmune biotech, raised $110m in Series B funding from Eli Lilly, Sino Biopharm, Invus, and Qiming Venture Partners. Go deeper
• Duve, an Israeli hotel guest management platform, raised $60m in Series B funding. Susquehanna Growth Equity led, joined by insider XT Venture Capital. Go deeper
• 401Go, a Sandy, Utah-based retirement program setup platform for financial advisors, raised $33m in Series B funding. Centana Growth Partners led, joined by Next Frontier Capital, Rally Ventures, and Impression Ventures. Go deeper
💊 EpilepsyGTx, a London-based gene therapy biotech, raised $33m in Series A funding from XGEN Venture and the British Business Bank. Go deeper
• AnySignal, an LA-based wireless connectivity and national security platform, raised $24m in Series A funding. Upfront Ventures led, joined by BlueYard Capital and First In Ventures. Go deeper
• Aradigm, an NYC-based benefits platform for cell and gene therapies, raised $20m in Series A funding. Frist Cressey Ventures led, joined by a16z and Morgan Health. Go deeper
• Safebooks, an SF-based financial data governance company, raised $15m in seed funding. 10D, Propel Ventures, and Mensch Capital led, joined by Moneta Venture Capital, Magnolia Capital, Cerca Fund, and Blue Moon. Go deeper
• Pryzm, an Arlington, Va.-based government contract procurement system, raised $12.2m in seed funding. A16z led, joined by XYZ Venture Capital, Amplify.LA, and Forum Ventures. Go deeper
⚡South 8 Technologies, a developer of liquefied gas electrolyte for lithium-ion batteries, raised an $11m follow-on funding round co-led by the venture arms of W. L. Gore & Associates and Lockheed Martin. Go deeper
⚡Orbital Marine Power, a Scottish developer of tidal turbines, raised £7m from PXN Ventures. Go deeper
• Opine, a Durham, N.C.-based provider of B2B sales software, raised $5m in seed funding. S3 Ventures led, joined by Knoll Ventures, Atlanta Seed Company, Gray Ventures, Propel Ventures, and Triangle Tweener Fund. Go deeper
🚑 a2z Radiology AI, a Boston-based medical imaging interpretation company, raised $4.5m in seed funding led by Khosla Ventures and SeaX Ventures. Go deeper
🚑 Origin Therapy, a Fairfax, Va.-based enabler of private practice pediatric speech and occupational therapy, raised $2.6m in pre-seed funding led by Distributed Ventures. Go deeper
⚡Anaphite, a British battery tech startup, raised £1.4m in a Series A follow-on round from Innovate UK's Investor Partnerships, Elbow Beach and World Fund. Go deeper
Private Equity
• Aligned Fitness, an Eagle Merchant Partners portfolio company, acquired 13 Club Pilates studios in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Go deeper
• Checkmarx, backed by Hellman & Friedman and TPG, acquired Tromzo, a Mountain View, Calif., provider of autonomous security agents that had raised $11m from backers like Venture Guides and Innovation Endeavors. Go deeper
• Insight Partners invested in Marketing Evolution, an NYC-based provider of marketing analytics. Go deeper
⚡Jensen Hughes, a Gryphon Investors portfolio company, acquired Safety Management Services, a West Jordan, Utah-based provider of process safety hazards analysis and energetic materials consulting and testing. Go deeper
• Kent Road Capital established Bloor Street Flexibles, a flexible packaging company in the U.S. and Canada. Go deeper
• LNC Partners invested $50m in Bennie, an NYC-based employee benefits firm. Go deeper
• Montagu and Kohlberg & Co. agreed to acquire three units from Teleflex (NYSE: TFX) for $2.03b. Go deeper
• Prosperity Partners, a Unity Partners portfolio company, acquired Farkouh, Furman & Faccio, an NYC-based provider of tax, accounting and business consulting. Go deeper
• Shore Rock Partners acquired AMAG Technology, a Hawthorne, Calif., provider of access control and other security solutions, from Warburg Pincus portfolio company Allied Universal (which retains a minority stake). Go deeper
• PestCo Holdings, backed by Thompson Street Capital Partners, acquired Southwest Exterminating, a Houston-based provider of commercial and residential pest control services. Go deeper
⚡Transition Equity Partners invested in Nexus Data Centers, a The Woodlands, Texas-based data center company aimed at avoiding the grid. Go deeper
M&A
⚡Shell (NYSE: SHEL) is in advanced talks to buy LLOG Exploration Offshore, a Covington, La.-based oil and gas producer for more than $3b, per Reuters. Go deeper
• Unilever (NYSE UL) is setting aside $1.7 billion to acquire companies in the U.S. next year, CEO Fernando Fernandez told attendees at an investor conference. Go deeper
Going Public
• Texas Ventures Acquisition IV, an industrial tech SPAC, filed for a $150m IPO. Go deeper
• Gategroup, a Swiss in-flight caterer owned by Temasek and RRJ Capital, is prepping an IPO that could come in the second half of 2026, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
Liquidity
• ABG Sundal Collier (Oslo: ABG) agreed to buy Danish M&A advisory FIH Partners for up to $31m. Go deeper
• Hamburg Commercial Bank, a German lender whose backers include Cerberus, hired Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to explore a sale, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
Fundraising
• TPG has deployed 20% of a $6.2b third credit fund that was announced Tuesday. Go deeper
• TPG Real Estate will seek to raise about $9b to $10b for its next flagship fund. Go deeper
It's Personnel
• Aleka Bhutiani joined Strategic Value Partners as a managing director and head of communications and brand. She previously was with Golub Capital. Go deeper
• Alice Chen and Tim Frederick joined Sydecar, an SPV and fund admin platform, as VP of product and SVP of engineering, respectively. Chen previously was with PrimaryBid, and Frederick previously was with Synapse Health. Go deeper
• Jeff Chesnut joined Conestoga as CFO. He was previously with Upbound Group. Go deeper
• Geoff Hamilton, former CEO and cofounder of Stemson Therapeutics, was named CFO and chief business officer at Ansa Biotechnologies. Go deeper
🌍 Lisa Jackson, the chief sustainability officer of Apple, plans to retire in late January 2026. Go deeper
• Angèle Maki was promoted from independent board director to chief business officer at Ability Biotherapeutics. Go deeper
⚡Kathy Mikells, the CFO of Exxon, plans to retire on Feb. 1. Go deeper
• Erik Nierenberg, former Litmus CEO, joined Invictus Growth Partners as a partner. Go deeper
Odds & Ends
💊 Novartis (NYSE: NVS) agreed to pay Relation Therapeutics $55m upfront and as much as $1.7b in a collaboration deal to develop atopic disease treatments. Go deeper
💊 Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) will pay $150m upfront and as much as $1.93b to China's YaoPharma to develop an oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist. 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.
