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Scoop: Bezos-backed EV maker raising $500M 

A gray Slate Auto electric pickup prototype is parked on the side of a road, by leafy trees, an open grassy field, and a clear blue sky.

Exclusive: $80M for restaurant tech

Illustration of a hundred dollar bill with Benjamin Franklin wearing a chef's hat. 

U.K. clears Paramount-WBD deal

An aerial view of the Paramount logo on the water tower at Paramount Studios on February 23, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. 

Driving the day

🚨 Deals Deals Deals!

Final word

Slate Auto, a Jeff Bezos-backed developer of affordable electric pickup trucks, is raising around $500 million in Series D funding, Axios Pro has learned.

Why it matters: The startup expects to begin delivering its sub-$30,000 EV as soon as this year.

Inside the room: The round's structure is still being determined, but will likely include both equity and debt.

Follow the money: Slate Auto announced a $650 million Series C round in April and has amassed nearly $1.5 billion since its 2022 launch.

The Troy, Mich.-based company's relatively short list of investors includes Bezos Expeditions, General Catalyst, Slauson & Co., TWG Global, View Different, and Walter Group.

State of play: Slate Auto in June began accepting $300 preorders for its bare-bones electric pickup truck at a starting price tag of $24,950.

The two-seater features hand-crank windows, manually adjusted mirrors, and no built-in stereo or infotainment system — all aimed at keeping costs low.

Slate estimates the pickup will offer 205 miles of driving range, 2,000-pound towing capacity and 1,550-pound payload capacity.

It plans to produce the trucks in Warsaw, Ind., where it's investing close to $400 million.

What we're watching: Ford says the first model produced on its new low-cost EV platform will be a truck called Fathom and have a starting price of $28,350. The new model is arriving in 2027.

Slate Auto declined to comment. Slate's investors did not respond to a request for comment.

1. Scoop: Bezos-backed EV maker raising $500M

Slate Auto's debut pickup starts as the "blank Slate" but can be customized with color wraps and other features from a forthcoming online marketplace. Photo: Alan Neuhauser/Axios

MarginEdge, a developer of restaurant management software, raised $80 million in a mix of Series D equity and debt, CEO Bo Davis tells Axios Pro.

Why it matters: Restaurant ordering decisions are more important than ever as rising food prices cut into tight margins.

Zoom in: Ten Coves Capital and Schooner Capital led the Series D, joined by Derive Ventures and Osage Venture Partners. Davis didn't disclose details of the debt financing.

Founded in 2015, MarginEdge has raised $162 million to date.

How it works: MarginEdge's software provides automated invoice processing, cost analytics, and assistance with inventory and ordering decision-making.

MarginEdge also plans to launch its own payment card — similar to Ramp's corporate cards — to help restaurants monitor and control spending.

By the numbers: The Arlington, Va.-based startup works with more than 12,000 restaurants and has about $45 million in ARR, Davis says.

The company says it helps process more than 300,000 invoices a week, providing it with data for its own proprietary AI models.

What's next: The new round should take MarginEdge to cash-flow breakeven and help it expand into international markets, Davis says.

State of play: Restaurant tech startups raised more than $2 billion in the first seven months of this year, matching the total for all of 2025, per PitchBook.

Wonder's $650 million round last month buoyed those numbers significantly.

2. Exclusive: $80M for restaurant tech

The U.K. Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) today said it gave Paramount the green light to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery.

It comes following assurances from Paramount that it would preserve editorial independence, invest in U.K. programming and protect children's networks.

Why it matters: It's a major regulatory win for Paramount, which is facing a more contentious approval battle back home. 

Zoom in: Paramount today confirmed it entered "into a deed of covenant and undertaking" with the U.K. Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

It also says the decision by the U.K. government not to intervene in the deal demonstrates "the misguided and gerrymandered market definitions relied upon by the US state AGs in their antitrust complaint in California."

The big picture: Paramount says it has already received clearances from antitrust and competition authorities in 66 jurisdictions around the world, including key markets such as Europe, Australia, Brazil, Canada and China.

The U.S. federal government has also cleared the deal. 

Catch up quick: Paramount last month agreed to postpone closing its merger with WBD until five days after a state antitrust case opposing the deal is resolved, or until its merger agreement expires in June 2027.

On Tuesday, a court scheduled a 12-day trial for the states' case against Paramount to begin on March 2, 2027. Paramount was pushing for a trial this fall, as the company's expensive ticking fee goes into place Oct. 1.

What to watch: The nearly-unanimous approval of the deal by competition authorities around the globe gives credence to critics who say politics motivated the dozen Democratic state attorneys general who have sued to block the deal. 

On Tuesday, Paramount chair David Ellison argued in an op-ed that the states' lawsuit wasn't rooted in antitrust concerns, but "whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner's CNN."

The bottom line: It will be up to an independent judge to make that determination next year at trial, unless Paramount settles the states' lawsuit before that. 

3. U.K. clears Paramount-WBD deal

Paramount Studios in Los Angeles. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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RPM companies are scaling despite reimbursement headwinds.

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Its lead drug could pressure Bristol Myers Squibb.

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Apollo beat out rival bidder Castlelake for the budget carrier. 

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Niche transportation managers are dealmaker darlings.

👀 Trump may get a big tariff authority (Neil Irwin)

A new bill would allow tariffs of up to 100% on Russian energy importers.

💰 Exclusive: Consumers could get paid for AI training data (Madison Mills)

A startup called Verb wants people — not data brokers — to profit. 

4. Driving the day

Animated illustration of a steering wheel that turns back and forth before turning into a clock that moves from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and then changing back.

👉 GO HERE TO CATCH UP on deals since this morning's Pro Rata, including: 

Acrab, a Singaporean developer of agentic AI compute infrastructure, raised $130m in Series B funding from insiders Vertex Ventures SEA & India and Vertex Growth. Go deeper

Spencer Spirit Holdings, parent company of Spencer's Gifts and Spirit Halloween, agreed to acquire retailer Hot Topic from Sycamore Partners for a reported $350m. Go deeper

Pregis, backed by Warburg Pincus, acquired MP Global Packaging, a Norfolk, Neb.-based cold chain and thermal packaging business. Go deeper

5. 🚨 Deals Deals Deals!

 "I think commentators are overreacting to what he's doing."

 — Goldman Sachs president John Waldron, speaking to Axios about the pushback following Federal Reserve chairman Kevin Warsh's press conference last week

6. Final word

Slate Auto's debut pickup starts as the "blank Slate," but can be customized with color wraps and other features from a forthcoming online Marketplace. Photo: Alan Neuhauser

August 06, 2026

1. Scoop: Bezos-backed EV maker raising $500M