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Scoop: Ardan investing in Clinical Ink

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Climate Week power hour

Exclusive: $20M for post-acute care tech

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Driving the day

🚨 Deals Deals Deals!

Final numbers

Ardan Equity is investing in Clinical Ink alongside existing backer GI Partners, valuing the pharma tech company at $400 million, Axios Pro has learned.

Ardan and GI Partners each will own roughly half the company, three sources say.

Catch up quick: Clinical Ink was marketed on more than $100 million in revenue and about $30 million of EBITDA.

Centerview and Guggenheim ran a process that drew interest from sponsors like TPG and General Atlantic, Axios Pro reported in June.

Clinical Ink's software lets trial sponsors and CROs collect and analyze clinical data from patients and sites. GI Partners acquired it in 2020.

Zoom out: Sponsor-backed clinical trial tech continues to consolidate.

LLR-backed Suvoda combined with Thoma Bravo-owned Greenphire last year in a $1.9 billion transaction, with Bain also investing in the combined company. 

Ardan and GI Partners declined to comment. 

1. Scoop: Ardan investing in Clinical Ink

NEW YORK — An unusual thing is happening at Climate Week: little talk of climate.

The big picture: The race to decarbonize has been supplanted by the race to bring power online. 

"Climate Week should be rebranded to Get Energy Faster Week," Tesla co-founder and Redwood Materials CEO JB Straubel said yesterday during an onstage conversation at Axios House. 

State of play: Tech firms, project developers, financiers and utilities are trying to bring as much 24/7 electricity online as fast as possible — unleashing an enormous tide of new fossil fuel investment. 

Projected new natural gas-fired generation in the U.S. alone has doubled to 155 GW by 2035. 

What they're saying: That push for more power is distorting the investment criteria, investors said on the sidelines.

"I have never felt this much market pull for our energy companies," one climate VC told Axios Pro. 

Between the lines: Climate-focused venture firms are still backing zero-emissions technologies.

But emissions levels are largely irrelevant for private equity and infrastructure firms writing the biggest checks. 

What we're watching: Inflating valuations have stoked investor wariness of a looming correction, even as they feel compelled to invest or be left behind.

"There's a lot of bullshit about what these companies are capable of," another investor says. "One of my concerns is it's turtles all the way down." 

2. Climate Week power hour

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Basalt Health, a provider of post-acute care software, raised a $20 million Series A round led by NEA, CEO Ben Hackett tells Axios Pro exclusively.

Existing backers Frist Cressey Ventures and 25m Health joined.

Inside the room: NEA preempted the Series A this summer, after participating in Basalt's $4.5 million seed round in July 2025.

Basalt could look to raise again next year if current growth continues, Hackett says.

How it works: Basalt's software ingests medical records, hospital discharge data and insurance information to help post-acute care sites make admission decisions. 

The company works with long-term care facilities, inpatient behavioral health centers and rehab centers. 

What's next: Basalt wants to build reimbursement tools starting next year and is eyeing discharge workflows after that. 

It also plans to expand to other post-acute care sites next year, including skilled nursing facilities.

Zoom out: Early-stage funding is piling into post-acute workflow automation.

Vali Health raised a $6 million seed in June; Enzo Health raised a $20 million Series A round in May; and ExaCare raised a $30 million Series A round last October.

3. Exclusive: $20M for post-acute care tech

🪙 Exclusive: Teen crypto coffers (Ryan Lawler)

NG.Cash, which offers digital accounts to young adults, raised $15m. 

 🌎 Exclusive: Greener HVAC (Katie Fehrenbacher) 

Mojave Energy Systems raised a $19m Series B round.

💨 Exclusive: Upwind's M&A gust (Chris Metinko)

The cloud security company is eyeing more deals after acquiring Aegis.

🍽️ Strategics eat healthy (Ryan Barwick)

Health-conscious consumers are fueling better-for-you food dealmaking.

Concerns about deteriorating stock market breadth may be overblown.

4. Driving the day

Illustration of the Axios Pro logo and "DRVNG THE DAY" on a license plate.

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

Basecamp Research, a Cambridge, Mass.-based developer of AI models for therapeutic designs, raised $140m in Series C funding. S32 led, joined by Anthropic, Catalio, European Tech Collective, Firebrand River Capital, Inception Fund, King Philanthropies, NATO Innovation Fund, Nvidia, PostScriptum, Redalpine, The Rockefeller Foundation, Singular, Sovereign AI, and True Ventures. Go deeper

Pilgrim, a Redwood City, Calif.-based biological threat detection platform, raised $25m at a $150m valuation led by Buckley Ventures. Go deeper

Bessemer Venture Partners raised $4b for a new growth fund and $1.75b for a new seed and early-stage fund. Go deeper

5. 🚨 Deals Deals Deals!

That's the new gas capacity utility and IPP partners are building to serve Amazon's growing power needs, per Cleanview Research.

Amazon plans to power a massive AI data center campus in West Texas with up to 7.65 GW of on-site natural gas generation, along with solar and batteries.

Friction point: The project highlights the tension between Amazon's previously stated climate goals and its AI buildout.

"We are still committed to our climate pledge," Kara Hurst, Amazon's top sustainability official, said on stage at Axios House in New York.

6. Final numbers

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September 23, 2026

1. Scoop: Ardan investing in Clinical Ink