Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Venture Capital
⚡️ Reliable Robotics, a Mountain View, Calif.-based autonomous aircraft system developer, raised $160m. Nimble Partners led, joined by Eclipse, Lightspeed, Coatue, Pathbreaker Ventures, Island Green Capital, Socium Ventures, AE Ventures, RTX Ventures, Presidio Ventures, UP.Partners, KAS Venture Partners, What If Ventures, Calm Ventures, Gaingels and Mana Ventures. Go deeper
💊 Ray Therapeutics, a Berkeley, Calif.-based vision restoration biopharma startup, raised a $125m Series B. Janus Henderson Investors led, joined by Adage Capital Management, Franklin Templeton, Invus, Marshall Wace, 4BIO Capital, Deerfield Management, MRL Ventures Fund, Norwest, Novo Holdings, and Platanus. Go deeper
🚑 Tava Health, a Salt Lake City-based behavioral health company, closed a $40m Series C led by Centana Growth Partners, joined by Catalyst Investors, Blue Heron Ventures, Peterson Ventures, and Springtide Ventures. Go deeper
• Syenta, a Sydney-based semiconductor company, raised a $26m Series A led by Playground Global and Australia's National Reconstruction Fund. Existing investors Investible, Salus Ventures, Jelix Ventures and Wollemi Capital joined. Go deeper
🌎 Humble, an SF-based provider of autonomous electric freight haulers for commercial fleets, raised a $24m seed. Eclipse led, joined by Energy Impact Partners. Go deeper
⚡️ Exergy3, a Scottish thermal-energy storage developer, raised a £10m seed led by Axeleo Capital, joined by Bayern Kapital, Kibo Invest, Scottish Enterprise, Zero Carbon Capital and Old College Capital. Go deeper
• Firenze, a U.K.-based Lombard lending fintech, raised £6m led by AlbionVC and joined by Outward VC and Form Ventures. Go deeper
⚡️ A&K Robotics, a Canadian maker of self-driving vehicles for airports, raised a C$8m Series A led by BDC's Industrial Innovation Venture Fund and Vantage Futures. Go deeper
⚡️ Bubble Robotics, a Swiss maritime autonomous workforce developer, raised a $5m pre-seed led by Episode 1 Ventures, Asterion Ventures, and Norrsken Evolve. Go deeper
🌎 AuX Labs, a Canadian casein producer for vegan cheese, raised US$4m led by Nya Ventures and Nàdarra Ventures, joined by Bluestein Ventures, Builders VC, Congruent Ventures, and Verdex Capital. Go deeper
⚡️ Eccasion, a Dutch EV platform, raised €3.2m from Playfair VC, Rethink Ventures, and Swapfiets co-founder Dirk de Bruijn. eccasion.com
Private Equity
• Avem Partners and True West Capital Partners acquired Precision Aircraft Machining Company (PAMCO), a Sun Valley, Calif.-based aerospace and defense precision manufacturing company. Go deeper
• Century Park Capital Partners launched Green Summit Landscape Group, merging Lansing, Mich.-based landscaping groups R&D Landscape and LandMark Landscape. Go deeper
• F2 Strategy, a Renovus Capital Partners-backed financial services firm, acquired Meradia, a privately held investment operations company. Go deeper
• F.L. Putnam, an Emigrant Partners portfolio company, bought Arcadia, a Kalamazoo, Mich.-based investment adviser with $670m AUM. Go deeper
• Gryphon is testing the market for Jensen Hughes, seeking $1.5b for the Baltimore-based fire safety services company. Go deeper
• Thermal Concepts, a portfolio company of Trivest Partners and Halmos Capital Partners, acquired Hunter Mechanical, a Newport News, Va.-based HVAC company. Go deeper
Liquidity
🚑 Alcami, a CDMO backed by GHO Capital, Vistria, and Ampersand Capital Partners, agreed to acquire Tjoapack, a Dutch contract packaging organization, from Ampersand. alcami.com
• Catchment Capital will acquire Isolatek International, a Stanhope, N.J.-based fireproofing technology company, from SK Capital. Go deeper
• LumApps, a French employee intranet developer, agreed to acquire workplace experience platform Comeen, backed by Arclay, Alpine, Falfurrias Management Partners, and Nouvelle Aquitaine Co-Investissement. Go deeper
🚑 WCG, a clinical research company backed by Leonard Green, Novo Holdings, and GIC, agreed to acquire The Contract Network, a clinical trials contract negotiations startup. The Contract Network raised about $11m from Tusk Venture Partners and others. Go deeper
Public
⚡️ Fermi (Nasdaq: FRMI) is being pushed toward a sale by co-founder and largest shareholder Toby Neugebauer following his removal as CEO, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
Odds & Ends
• President Donald Trump said he'd "love somebody to buy" Spirit Airlines, while downplaying a merger between United Airlines and American Airlines. Go deeper
⚡️ Honda and Sony are scaling back their Afeela EV venture and absorbing employees back into the parent companies, per Automotive News. Go deeper
