Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios
Venture Capital
🚑 Chai Discovery, an SF-based developer of AI-designed molecules, raised a $130m Series B. Oak HC/FT and General Catalyst led, joined by Thrive Capital, OpenAI, Dimension, Menlo Ventures, Lachy Groom, Yosemite, Neo, SV Angel, Emerson Collective, and Glade Brook. Go deeper
• Octane, a NYC-based recreational vehicle financing platform, raised a $100m Series F at a $1.3b valuation. Valar Ventures led, joined by Upper90, Huntington National Bank, Camping World, and Holler-Classic Family. Go deeper
• PolyAI, a London-based conversation AI company, raised $86m in Series D funding at a $750m valuation. Georgian, Hedosophia and Khosla Ventures led, joined by NVentures, British Business Bank, Citi Ventures, Squarepoint Ventures, Sands Capital, Zendesk Ventures, and Point72 Ventures. Go deeper
💊 Alphyn Biologics, an Annapolis, Md.-based dermatology company, raised $25m. QCA Investment Group led, joined by Angel Physicians Fund and Serial Stage Venture Partners. Go deeper
• Workbooks, a U.K. provider of CRM software, raised £16.6m from BGF. Go deeper
• First Voyage, an AI companion for habit-building tasks, raised $2.5m in seed funding from a16z, SignalFire, and True Global. Go deeper
Private Equity
• Ardian agreed to buy a majority stake in Fermax, a Spanish manufacturer of intercom systems, home automation solutions and access control technologies, from Eurazeo and MCH Private Equity. Go deeper
• BC Partners is in talks to buy a majority stake in Fortidia, an Italian shipping and fulfillment services firm that could be valued at €800m, from Oaktree Capital Management and the company's founding family, per Bloomberg. Go deeper
• Brückner Group, a German machinery maker owned by Capvis, agreed to acquire Hennecke Group, a German provider of polyurethane processing machinery. Go deeper
💊 Carbyne Equity Partners acquired nutraceutical ingredients provider SuanNutra from Suanfarma, a Madrid-based portfolio company of Archimed. Go deeper
⚡️ ICG invested in W Power Storage, a German developer of grid-scale battery energy storage systems. Go deeper
• ITE Management agreed to buy the chassis business of Milestone Equipment, a St. Charles, Mo.-based portfolio company of Barings and Partners Group. Go deeper
• Wise Equity agreed to invest in Marullo, an Italian maker of pistachio-based ingredients. Go deeper
• YA Group, a THL Partners portfolio company, acquired J.M. Reagan Consulting, a Magnolia, Texas-based firm focused on property damage consulting and construction claims. Go deeper
M&A
• Blockstream Capital Partners acquired Corbiere Capital Management, a Jersey-based equities hedge fund manager led by Rodrigo Rodriguez. Go deeper
💊 Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group will pay $200m to acquire a 53% stake in Green Valley Pharmaceutical, a Chinese company that developed the country's first therapy for Alzheimer's. Go deeper
Fundraising
• ALM Ventures raised $100m for a first early-stage fund dedicated to humanoid robots, embodied AI, and spatial intelligence. Go deeper
• Encore Consumer Capital raised over $150m for a single-asset CV for portfolio company Lion Beverages. encoreconsumer.com
• Lightspeed Venture Partners raised $9b across multiple funds. Go deeper.
🚑 Olympus Innovation Ventures is raising a $150m second fund to invest in GI, urology and respiratory medtech. Go deeper
It's Personnel
• Bob Barthelmes joined Madison River Capital as an operating advisor. He previously was with Blackstone. Go deeper
• Kevin C. Clark returned as president and CEO of Cross Country Healthcare (Nasdaq: CCRN), which he co-founded, after John Martins' departure. Go deeper
• Alex David, former Raymond James division director, was named CEO of Insurer National Life Group. Go deeper
• Morris Davis, former chief housing economist for the White House Council of Economic Advisers, was appointed to the board of BOXABL. Go deeper
• Dani Dudeck, former chief corporate affairs officer at Instacart, was named chief communications officer at Netflix, effective Jan. 12. Go deeper
• Malik Nabulsi was promoted to managing director at MGX. Go deeper
• Ted Tanner, former chief technology and strategy officer at BigBear.ai, was named chief technology officer at Leidos (NYSE: LDOS). Go deeper
- Ryan Barwick, Natalie Breymeyer, Erin Brodwin, Colin Campbell, Katherine Davis, Katie Fehrenbacher, Ryan Lawler, Chris Metinko, Alan Neuhauser, Dan Primack, and Brock E.W. Turner contributed to this report.
