Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Venture Capital
⚡️ Pudu Robotics, a Chinese commercial service robotics company, raised nearly $150m at a valuation of more than $1.5b. Investors were not disclosed. Go deeper
• Salmon, a Filipino consumer finance app, raised $60m in equity and $40m in debt. Investors include Spice Expeditions, Washington University Investment Management Company, Moore Strategic Ventures, and FJ Labs. Go deeper
⚡️ Decade Energy, a French electrification provider for logistics depots, raised €22m led by Eiffel Investment Group and SET Ventures. Go deeper
• Band, an SF-based interaction layer developer for multi-agent systems, raised a $17m seed. Sierra Ventures, Hetz Ventures, and Team8 participated. Go deeper
• PvX Partners, a Singapore-based consumer financial services platform raised a $10.5m Series A. T-Accelerate Capital, Z Venture Capital and Drive by DraftKings led. Existing investors Play Ventures, and General Catalyst joined. Go deeper
🌎 Fasal Bio, a Croatian plant-based plastics producer, received a €7m investment from BlackPeak Capital. Go deeper
• Astor, an SF-based AI investment advisory platform, raised a $5m seed led by Monashees. YC, Goodwater Capital, Gilgamesh Ventures, 468 Capital, Valutia, Sunshine Lake and executives from Stripe and OpenAI participated. Go deeper
⚡️ Cloneable, a Raleigh, NC-based heavy industry AI automation company, raised a $4.6m seed. Congruent Ventures led, joined by First In, Overline, St. Elmo Venture Capital, and Bull City Venture Partners. Go deeper
⚡️ TheStorage, a Finnish industrial thermal energy storage developer, closed a €3.6m seed led by Voima Ventures, joined by Momentum and insiders Superhero Capital and 2C Ventures. Go deeper
💊 Ferrosa Therapeutics, a Swiss biotech treating anemia of inflammation, raised a $3.5m seed from Forty51 Ventures. Go deeper
⚡️ Vrey, a German solar provider for multi-unit buildings, closed a €3.3m seed led by Rubio Impact Ventures, joined by High-Tech Gründerfonds and Kopa Ventures. Go deeper
Private Equity
• Gravis, backed by New Water Capital, acquired Western Packaging Solutions, a Canadian flexible and bulk packaging company. Go deeper
🚑 Kipu Health, a behavior health treatment provider backed by TCV, will buy Team Recovery Technologies, a Draper, Utah-based patient engagement software provider. Go deeper
🚑 Parkview Dental Partners, a dental service organization backed by Cathay Capital, bought VIP Dental, a Palm Harbour, Florida-based general and emergency dental practice. Go deeper
• United Building Solutions, a portfolio company of AE Industrial Partners, acquired McCarl's Services, a Cranberry Township, Penn.-based HVAC and refrigeration provider. Go deeper
M&A
💊 Apotex, a Canadian drugmaker, is acquiring the U.S. businesses of Cumberland Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: CPIX), a Nashville-based specialty pharmaceutical company. Go deeper
⚡️ CEZ AS, a Czech power utility, is planning to split its assets to allow the government to acquire the company's electrical business. Go deeper
⚡️ Headwater Energy, a Durham, N.C.-based solar developer, acquired Arena Renewables, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based distributed solar and storage developer. Go deeper
🚑 Independent Emergency Physicians, a Farmington Hills, Mich.-based physician-led medical group, is making a strategic investment in ConsensioHealth, a Milwaukee, Wis.-based RCM provider focused on emergency medicine. Go deeper
🚑 Inventurus Knowledge Solutions, the U.S. subsidiary of Inventurus Knowledge Solutions Limited (NSE: IKS), agreed to acquire TruBridge (Nasdaq: TBRG), a health technology provider for rural hospitals, for up to $565m. Go deeper
• Metro Supply Chain Group, a Canadian logistics firm and new subsidiary of Nippon Express of Japan, will acquire select warehousing assets from BR Williams, an Eastaboga, Ala.-based trucking carrier. Go deeper.
Liquidity
• Cox Automotive, an Atlanta-based automotive retail services company, agreed to buy Fullpath, a customer data platform backed by Riverwood Capital. Go deeper
Debt
⚡️ Venture Global Calcasieu Pass, a subsidiary of Cameron, La.-based LNG company Venture Global, closed a $750m offering of 6% senior secured notes due 2036. Go deeper
Fundraising
⚡️ EIV Capital, a Houston-based energy-focused firm, raised $1.1b for two funds. Go deeper
💊 Kurma Partners, a Paris biotech investor, closed a $252m fourth fund. Go deeper
💊 Oncology Ventures, an Austin, Texas-based cancer-focused investor, raised a $62m second fund. Go deeper
It's Personnel
⚡️ Clay Corbus was named president and CEO of Clean Energy Fuels (Nasdaq: CLNE), a Newport Beach, Calif.-based RNG supplier. Corbus was SVP, per LinkedIn. He succeeds co-founder Andrew Littlefair, who is transitioning to government relations consultant. Go deeper
⚡️ Michael Sheehan was named CEO of Aspen Power, an NYC-based distributed solar and storage developer. Sheehan was COO of Dimension Energy; he succeeds co-founder Jorge Vargas. Go deeper
Odds & Ends
🌎 Naturbeads, a U.K.-based plant-based plastics developer, received €4.1m in grant funding. Go deeper
