Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Venture Capital
• Quince, a DTC online fashion retailer, raised a $500m Series E at a $10.1b post-money valuation. Iconiq led, joined by Baillie Gifford, Basis Set Ventures, DST Global, Marcy Venture Partners, Notable Capital, Wellington Management and WndrCo. Go deeper
• Replit, a vibe-coding company, raised $400m at a $9b valuation. Georgian led, joined by G Squared, Prysm Capital, 1789 Capital, YC, Coatue, a16z, Craft Ventures, Qatar Investment Authority, Accenture Ventures, Databricks Ventures, Okta Ventures, and Tether. Go deeper
💊 Vima Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Mass.-based movement disorder biotech, raised $40m in Series A extension financing from Frazier Life Sciences, Atlas Venture, Access Industries and Canaan Partners. Go deeper
• Xscape Photonics, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based silicon photonics startup, added $37m to its Series A round. Addition led, joined by IAG Capital Partners and Nvidia. Go deeper
• Ernesta, a custom-sized rug retailer led by Peloton founder John Foley, raised $20m in Series B funding. Addition led, joined by True Ventures, and Platform Capital Management. Go deeper.
• Remitian, a Miami-based tax payments platform, raised $7m in seed funding from Ryan Lazanis, Richard Kopelman, Daniel Eberhard, Rex Salisbury and other angels. Go deeper
🌎 Another Earth, an Austrian developer of Earth observation software, raised €3.5m from Wake-Up Capital, Rockstart, Inovexus, Stamco AG, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, and Austria Wirtschaftsservice. Go deeper
⚡️ Imperium Technologies, an Austin, Texas-based steam systems intelligence provider, raised $2m from E8 Angels. Go deeper
• Kayna, an Irish embedded insurance platform, raised €1.5m in seed funding led by Delta Partners, with MiddleGame Ventures, Aperture, Leo Capital, Enterprise Ireland and Digital Irish participating. Go deeper
Private Equity
• AIM MRO, a Miamiville, Ohio-based aerospace repair parts maker backed by AE Industrial, will acquire Advanced Air West Palm Beach (AA Bushings), a Jupiter, Fla.-based maker of landing gear. Go deeper
⚡️ Ara Partners acquired thermal power-plant operator Gate City Power and ethanol producer Gate City Renewable Fuels from HF Capital for around $875m. The deal also included a stake in fuel retailer Jet. Go deeper
• Bain Capital acquired APP Jet Center, a provider of aviation services at supply-constrained airports, from Ridgewood Infrastructure. Go deeper
⚡️ Blackstone agreed to acquire a majority stake in Advanced Cooling Technologies, a Lancaster, Pa.-based thermal management and energy efficiency solutions company. Go deeper
• Chimney Rock acquired Gas Clip Technologies, a Cedar Hill, Texas-based maker of gas detection equipment. Go deeper
⚡️Greenbelt Capital Management agreed to acquire Peak Utility Services Group, a Broomfield, Colo.-based utility infrastructure services provider, from Orix Capital Partners. Go deeper
• Irth Capital Management, a Qatari investment fund backed by Brookfield Asset Management, submitted a $1.5b takeover bid for pizza chain Papa John's (Nasdaq: PZZA), per the WSJ. Go deeper
Public Offerings
• BEST SPAC II Acquisition, a consumer goods SPAC, filed for a $100m IPO. Go deeper
M&A
• Bite Investments, a British alternative investments software provider, acquired Untap, an AI-powered portfolio management and fund-intelligence platform. Go deeper
Fundraising
• Samaipata, a Madrid-based VC firm, raised €110m for its third fund. Go deeper
It's Personnel
⚡️ Asaf Alperovitz is stepping down as CFO of SolarEdge Technologies, an Israeli solar inverter developer. Go deeper
• Gelila Bekele joined Union Square Advisors as head of AI strategy. She previously was with Trilogy Search Partners. Go deeper
• Matt Roesch and Phil Sampognaro were promoted to partners at HGGC. Go deeper
🌎 Jared Smith is stepping down as CEO of ski resort owner Alterra Mountain Co. Go deeper
Odds & Ends
⚡️Base Power, the Austin, Texas-based home-battery developer that last fall raised a $1b in Series B funding, plans to install 100 MW of home batteries with Texas utility Denton County Electric Cooperative. Go deeper
🌎 Electra, a Boulder, Colo.-based developer of clean-iron production tech, closed a $30m venture debt facility from J.P. Morgan. Go deeper
• Porsche is considering U.S. production after paying €700m in tariffs last year. Go deeper
⚡️ Pure Data Centres Group and AVK launched Europe's first large microgrid, a 110 MW site in Dublin. 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.
