Illustration: Rebecca Zisser/Axios
Venture Capital
Rhoda AI, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based robot training startup, raised $450m at a $1.7b valuation. Premji Invest led, joined by Capricorn Investment Group, Khosla Ventures, Leitmotif, Matter Venture Partners, Mayfield, Premji Invest, Prelude Ventures, Temasek, and Xora, and John Doerr.. Go deeper
• Kai, a San Jose Calif.-based agentic AI cybersecurity platform, raised $125m. Evolution Equity Partners led, joined by N47. Go deeper
🚑 Vitestro, a Dutch robotic blood draw company, raised $70m in Series B funding from Labcorp Venture Fund, Mayo Clinic, and Sutter Health, InterVest, MGFO, PGGM, Puma VC, and ROM Utrecht. Go deeper
🚑 Nitra, an AI company focused on health care financial and operational workflows, raised $50 million in Series B funding from Actions Capital, AppWorks, Comma Capital, Dunamu & Partners, Era Funds, NEA, Pantera Capital, and Sazze Partners. Go deeper
• Sandbar, an NYC-based note-taking wearable developer, raised $23m in Series A funding led by Adjacent and Kindred Ventures. Go deeper
• Rebar, an NYC-based operating system for HVAC and plumbing industries, raised $14m in Series A funding. Prudence led, joined by Zero Infinity Partners, Founder Collective, Villain Capital, and Optimist Ventures. Go deeper
⚡️ Hyperscale Power, a Swiss solid-state transformer startup, raised €5m in seed funding led by World Fund and Vsquared Ventures, per TechCrunch. Go deeper
• Kled, an SF-based consumer data marketplace, raised $5.5m in seed funding from Aglaé, K5 Global, Diplo, Parable VC, and Exponential. Go deeper
• Rasa Legal, a Salt Lake City-based legal tech startup, raised $5m in seed funding. Rethink Education led, joined by Social Finance, Halogen Ventures, and Richard King Mellon Foundation. Go deeper
Private Equity
• Hirevue, a Utah-based hiring platform backed by Carlyle, has acquired agentic AI hiring tool Hireguide for an undisclosed amount. Go deeper
• Ardian is working with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to fund a platform for real estate secondaries. Go deeper
• Blackstone and Blue Owl are acquiring minority stakes in Atlas Holdings, a Greenwich, Conn.-based private equity firm focused on manufacturing and distribution. Go deeper
🚑 BV Investment Partners made a majority investment in Moxe Health, a Madison, Wis.-based clinical data exchange platform. Go deeper
🚑 Chicago Pacific Founders invested in Nexben, a Minneapolis-based health benefits company. Go deeper
🚑 Dynamic Access, backed by RiverGlade Capital, acquired PICC Stat, a Minneapolis-based vascular access provider. Go deeper
• Hydraulic Technologies, a Wynnchurch portfolio company, acquired Foxtrot Industriel, a Quebec-based maker of motorized industrial equipment. Go deeper
⚡️IPX Power, carved out of assets from Intersect (which sold to Google for $4.8b), launched with funding from Greenbelt Capital Partners, TPG Rise Climate, and Climate Adaptive Infrastructure. Go deeper
• L Catterton merged Bel Cosméticos and Mundo do Cabeleireiro, creating a Brazilian beauty retail platform. NEIII Fund exited. Go deeper
• Mountaingate Capital invested in Harvest Group, a commerce agency for consumer brands. Go deeper
• Ramarketing, a Boston-based life sciences marketing agency backed by NorthEdge, is acquiring ISR Market Research, a Cary, N.C.-based specialist research firm. Go deeper
⚡️RESA Power, a portfolio company of Kohlberg, acquired JA Tech, a Canadian field and engineering services provider for electrical power systems. Go deeper
• Round 2, backed by Praesidian Capital, acquired train set maker Lionel. Go deeper
Liquidity
⚡️ Electreon (TASE: ELWS), an Israeli provider of wireless EV charging, acquired InductEV, a King of Prussia, Pa.-based wireless charging developer. InductEV had raised $97m from backers like OshKosh, RCH Energy, and Realm Capital Ventures. Go deeper
• SumUp Payments, a London-based point of sale terminal company, is seeking bankers for a European IPO that could value the company at $10b, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
Fundraising
🌎 Emerald Technology Ventures, a Swiss VC firm, raised €100m for its second water- and water-tech fund from Temasek, Grundfos Foundation, Veralto Corporation, Ecolab, SKion Water and Oxy Technology Ventures. Go deeper
It's Personnel
• Susie Cranston was promoted from president to CEO of Cresset. Go deeper
💊 Eric Green plans to retire as CEO of West Pharmaceutical Services once a successor is found. Go deeper
💊 Fred Guerard, former CEO of Opthea, was named CEO of Qlaris Bio. Go deeper
• George Leondis was promoted to CFO of Nissan Motor, succeeding Jeremie Papin. Go deeper
• Roel De Vries, former group COO of City Football Group, was named CEO of Stage Entertainment. Go deeper
Odds & ends
⚡️ Mantle8, a French geologic hydrogen exploration startup, received €2.1m in grant funding from the EU's Just Transition Fund. Go deeper
- Ryan Barwick, Natalie Breymeyer, Erin Brodwin, Colin Campbell, Katherine Davis, Katie Fehrenbacher, Ryan Lawler, Chris Metinko, Chelsea Naso, Alan Neuhauser, Dan Primack, and Brock E.W. Turner contributed to this report.
