Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios
Venture Capital
• Decagon, an SF-based customer support conversational AI startup, raised a $250m Series D round at a $4.5b valuation. Coatue Management and Index Ventures led, joined by ChemistryVC, Definition Capital, Starwood Capital, a16z, A*, Accel, Avra, Bain Capital Ventures, Elad Gil, T.Capital, Forerunner, and Ribbit Capital. Go deeper
• Eliyan, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based maker of connectivity products for computing systems, raised $50m from AMD, Arm, Coherent, Meta, Samsung Catalyst Fund, and Intel Capital. Go deeper
• Outtake, an NYC-based automation platform for cybersecurity, raised $40m in Series B funding. Iconiq led, joined by CRV and S32. Go deeper
• Mesh Security, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based cybersecurity mesh architecture startup, raised $12m in Series A funding. Lobby Capital led, joined by S Ventures and BrightPixel Capital. Go deeper
• Limy, an NYC-based brand optimization company, raised $10m led by Flybridge with participation from a16z speedrun, Axiom, Clarim, Communitas, JRV, and AnD. Go deeper
• Bleap, an onchain finance app founded by former Revolut operations and product managers, raised a $6m seed round led by Blossom Capital. Go deeper
🌎 Dexmat, a Houston-based advanced materials developer, raised $5m in seed funding led by Non Sibi Ventures. Go deeper
• Sentra, a developer of an organizational memory system, raised $5m in seed funding led by a16z and Together Fund. Go deeper
🌎 Carbonaide, a Finnish green concrete tech developer, raised €3.7m from Vantaan Energia, Redstone, Ihantola Invest, Zero Carbon Future Group, Product Ecology, Helkama Kiinteistöt, and Ikorni Invest. Go deeper
⚡️Emobi, an SF-based EV-charging startup, raised $3.4m in seed funding led by Florida Funders, joined by insiders Aves Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Gaingels, Gener8tor, Goodwater Capital, Oasis Capital, OneSixOne Ventures, Ride Wave Ventures, and YC. Go deeper
• Oro, an LA-based homeownership employee benefits platform, raised $3m in a round led by Slauson & Co., with participation from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and Bronze Valley. Go deeper
Private Equity
🚑 Accel-KKR invested in Exxat, a Warren, N.J.-based provider of clinical and experiential education technology for health care. Go deeper
• AEA Investors acquired Boston-based digital marketing firm 829 Studios from CIVC Partners. Go deeper
• AutoManager, a portfolio company of The Beekman Group, acquired Macrosmith, a provider of document management software for auto retailers. Go deeper
🚑 Conscious Capital Growth and Petra Capital Partners acquired RD Nutrition, a provider of dietitian consulting services to health care facilities. Go deeper
🚑 Healthcare Holding Schweiz, backed by KKA Partners, acquired PlusORTHO Prothetik, a Swiss maker of orthopedic implants and fixation systems. Go deeper
• Incline Equity Partners invested in MCCi, a Tallahassee, Fla.-based enterprise content management and workflow automation solution. Century Park Capital Partners exited. Go deeper
• Pavement Preservation Group, a portfolio company of The Sterling Group, acquired both Holbrook Asphalt and Integrated Pavement Solutions. Go deeper
⚡️ RESA Power, a Kohlberg & Co. portfolio company, acquired Société Générale d'Électrotechnique, a Canadian provider of development and maintenance of electrical utilities infrastructure. Go deeper
• Rover Group, a Seattle-based pet-sitting firm owned by Blackstone, acquired Meowtel, a cat-sitting marketplace backed by Hustle Fund, SaaSCraft Ventures and Hands On Angel. Go deeper
• Stonepeak is investing $2.4b for a 25% stake in a shipping JV formed alongside CMA CGM Group. United Ports plans to acquire 10 of the major CMA CGM-operated port terminals. CMA CGM will own 75% of the JV, valuing it at $9.6b. Go deeper
Liquidity
• Automation Anywhere reportedly is in talks to merge with C3.AI (NYSE: AI), per The Information. Automation Anywhere's investors include Norwest, Salesforce Ventures, Workday Ventures, General Atlantic, Goldman Sachs Growth Equity, and NEA. Go deeper
• Handshake, backed by Kleiner Perkins, Notable Capital, and EQT Ventures, acquired data label auditing startup Cleanlab, which raised $30m from firms like Bain Capital Ventures, TQ Ventures, and Menlo Ventures. Go deeper
Going Public
• KRAKacquisition (Nasdaq: KRAQU), a Menlo Park, Calif.-based SPAC backed by Kraken, Tribe Capital and Natural Capital, raised $300m in an upsized IPO. Go deeper
🚑 Veradermics, a New Haven, Conn.-based hair-loss biotech, set IPO terms to 13.35m shares at $14-$16. It would have a $500m market cap, were it to price in the middle, and plans to list on the NYSE (MANE). The pre-revenue company raised around $260m from SR One, Longitude Capital, Viking Global, J.W. Childs, Marshall Wace, Invus, Columbia Threadneedle, Infinitium, and LifeSci Venture Partners. Go deeper
M&A
• Air Baltic, Latvia's state-backed carrier, is seeking to sell a minority stake after IPO plans stalled, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
• LIV Golf, the Saudi-backed pro golf league, plans to sell minority stakes in its teams, per Bloomberg. Team valuations could approach $300m. Go deeper
Fundraising
⚡️ Boyne Capital raised a single-asset continuation fund for Pilot Energy, a San Diego-based energy advisory. Go deeper
• Equality Asset Management closed its second private equity fund with $575m. Go deeper
• Seed+speed Ventures of Germany raised €90m for its third fund. Go deeper
⚡️ Voyager Ventures raised $275m for its second fund, emphasizing energy and national security over the firm's traditional climate-tech focus. Go deeper
Odds & ends
🌎 Beyond Meat (Nasdaq: BYND) was accused in a class-action lawsuit of concealing the need for a writedown last year. Go deeper
Debt
• Funnel, a Swedish marketing intelligence platform, secured an $80m debt facility from HSBC Innovation Banking and Hercules Capital. Go deeper
Colin Campbell, Katherine Davis, Katie Fehrenbacher, Ryan Lawler, Alan Neuhauser, Chris Metinko, Dan Primack, Erin Brodwin, Natalie Breymeyer and Brock E.W. Turner contributed to this report.
