Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Venture Capital
• Kalshi is in talks to raise funds at a $40b valuation, per the FT. Go deeper
• Meta invested $900m in Indian fintech CRED, valuing it at $4.5b post-money. CEO Kunal Shah will step down to join Meta as its head of WhatsApp. Go deeper
• Airwallex, a payments platform, raised $320m in Series H funding at an $11b post-money valuation. Addition led, joined by Baillie Gifford, Hummingbird, QED Investors, T. Rowe Price, Hedosophia, Haun Ventures, Washington University, and Amex Ventures. Go deeper
• Taktile, an NYC-based automation startup for financial institutions, raised $110m in Series C funding. Goldman Sachs Alternatives led, joined by Balderton Capital, Index Ventures, Tiger Global, YC, and Dig Ventures. Go deeper
• Fomo, an NYC-based crypto trading app, raised $75m in Series B funding at a $550m valuation. Index Ventures led, joined by Union Square Ventures and Benchmark. Go deeper
• Allium, an NYC-based blockchain data platform, raised $40m in Series B funding. Amplify Partners led, joined by Kleiner Perkins and Theory Ventures. Go deeper
• American Perpetuals Exchange, a perpetual futures startup, raised $30m at a $300m valuation led by Lux Capital. Go deeper
• Attention, an NYC-based developer of software for revenue teams, raised $30m in Series B funding led by RTP Global. Linea Ventures and returning investors Aglaé Ventures, Eniac, Alven, and angel investors joined. Go deeper
• Caplight Technologies, a VC data and transaction platform, raised $16m in Series A funding. BlackRock and Fin Capital led, joined by UBS. Go deeper
• TurboFlow, a Singaporean on-chain trading ecosystem, raised $6m in seed funding. Pantera Capital led, joined by Susquehanna Crypto and DCG. tf.xyz
• Orthogonal, a payment layer for the internet, raised $4.3m in seed funding led by Pantera Capital. YC, Pioneer Fund, Decasonic, Blast, Outbound, and Surreal joined. Go deeper
• Ground, an on-chain finance startup, raised $3.6m from Bain Capital Crypto, ParaFi, Nascent, Robot Ventures, and Chapter One. Go deeper
• Kalipso, a Barcelona-based regulatory compliance startup, raised $3.2m from Varsity, Lanai, Plug and Play, Kima Ventures, and Vento. Go deeper
• Ralo, an "AI-native mortgage broker," raised $2.9m in seed funding from YC, Manresa Ventures, and Pack Ventures. Go deeper
• Anchorbase, a Canadian payments automation platform, raised US$2m in pre-seed funding from TTV Capital and Cambrian VC. Go deeper
• Nudge, an NYC-based agentic optimization commerce platform for consumer brands, raised $1.1m in pre-seed funding from S16VC and Antler. Go deeper
Private Equity
• Balbec Capital acquired Funding 365, a British property lender. Go deeper
• Berkshire Partners invested in Harbourfront, a Canadian wealth management firm, at a C$1.78b valuation. Existing investor Audax Private Equity will retain a "significant interest." Go deeper
• CertifID, backed by Arthur Ventures and Centana Growth Partners, acquired CloseSimple, a Minneapolis-based provider of real estate closing software, from Straylight Capital. Go deeper
• Edward Jones invested in Quicken, a Menlo Park-based personal financial management software firm owned by Aquiline. Go deeper
• Flexpoint Ford invested in Novel, a Jersey City, N.J.-based underwriting and insurance services platform. Go deeper
• Permira and Warburg Pincus completed their $8.4b take-private buyout of Clearwater Analytics, a Boise, Idaho-based investment and accounting software maker. BFD flashback
• Pollen Street agreed to buy Universal Banking, the core banking software business of Finastra, a London-based portfolio company of Vista Equity Partners. Go deeper
• Reverence Capital Partners and co-investors will buy a majority stake in Minneapolis accounting firm Eide Bailly, valuing it at $1.8b per the WSJ. Go deeper
Public Offerings
• Safepoint, a Tampa-based property and casualty insurer focused on coastal areas, withdrew registration for an IPO that could have raised around $267m at a $1.2b fully diluted valuation. Go deeper
Liquidity events
• Sofi (Nasdaq: SOFI) acquired Composer, a Toronto-based automated investing platform for retail traders. Composer had raised over $11m from firms like Left Lane Capital and First Round Capital. Go deeper
More M&A
• Backbase acquired Kasisto, a banking and financial services platform backed by Oak HC/FT and Naples Technology Ventures. backbase.com
• Maridea Wealth Management acquired Ashford Investment Advisors, a Daytona Beach, Fla.-based wealth management firm with approximately $180m under management. Go deeper
• Ridgepost Capital (NYSE: RPC) completed its acquisition of Stellus Capital Management, a midmarket direct lender with around $4b in AUM. Go deeper
Fundraising
• 224 Ventures, led by Shaun Johnson (ex-AIX Ventures), is raising $81m for its debut fund, per an SEC filing.
• Menlo Ventures raised $3b for a pair of new funds. Go deeper
• Seedcamp, a European seed firm, raised $220m for its seventh flagship fund and $100m for its second "select" fund. Go deeper
It's Personnel
• Annie Shapiro was promoted to partner at Inspired Capital. She was VP of platform. inspiredcapital.com
• Larry Greenberg was named president of private markets platform Willow Wealth. Go deeper
