B Capital has named Andrew Jackson chief AI officer, a newly created position at the venture capital firm, the firm tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: Jackson, who is joing from G42, will help B Capital develop AI tools, with plans to spin them out to other investors.

• That will build on Bee Hive, the firm's internal investing system that now uses AI to builds most of the firm's investment committee memos, takes notes, and can form pro and cons for potential deals.
• A spinout won't include the firm's data or context from partners, just the underlying model and tools.
• Venture firms have largely kept their AI investing systems inside of their walls.

State of play: Eventually, AI may progress to the point that it has a seat at B Capital's investing committee — giving it more decision-making power.

• But today, Jackson and co-CEO Raj Ganguly see AI's capabilities roughly equal to that of an intern — "it is a very smart, eager to please, and ambitious ... but we wouldn't turn decision-making on investments to that summer intern."
• Today, few firms put decision-making in the hands of AI: QuantumLight Capital puts the final call entirely in the hands of AI, and General Atlantic has a non-voting AI member in its investment committee.

Zoom in: Eclipse named its first chief AI officer earlier this year, while Felicis and Thrive Capital each have their own heads of AI.

What they're saying: B Capital's AI work so far has been championed by co-CEO and Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin.

• Jackson will be involved in everything from "our investing, our diligence, our investing in AI to how we're building our own AI tools and actually building our own AI businesses," says Ganguly.

What's next: Jackson believes there a major opportunity to sharpen decision-making by tracking investor choices that are historically poorly recorded. For example, when a deal is passed on, or a winner missed.

• "90% of the decisions that an investment professional makes is what not to pursue. You tend to capture [data on] what to pursue," says Jackson.
• AI can prompt investors when it notices an email hasn't been answered, and ask why a deal was passed. Beehive can also continue to track that passed deal over its lifetime.
• "I think every investor has one that got away," he says.

Context: It's not the first "first" for B Capital in recent years. In concert with CalPERS, B Capital made its first acquisition earlier this month — agreeing to buy Russell Investments for about $2.8 billion. AI is expected to play a significant role in that tieup.

• It also set up a Middle East office in Doha last year, where Jackson is expected to split part of his time.
• B Capital raised $500 million for its third early stage fund in June.

Soccer dealmaking has kicked off just days after the 2026 World Cup final.

Why it's the BFD: The FIFA World Cup has historically gathered the largest global audience of any recurring television event worldwide, and private equity investors are increasingly bullish on sports and live events.

Driving the news: Fenway Sports Group revealed earlier this week that a consortium led by Amit Bhatia expressed interest in a acquiring a minority stake of Liverpool Football Club.

• A deal could value Liverpool between $6 billion and $7 billion, per the WSJ.

Earlier today, the Financial Times reported that King Power, the Thai owners of Leicester City, had tapped Citigroup to sound out buyers. Premier League champions in 2015, Leicester City has struggled since the pandemic, and now in English football's second tier.

• Revolut, the U.K.-based digital bank, is boosting its valuation to $115b in a recently launched secondary sale. It was valued at $75b in 2025. axios.link/4ffefOq

• Atoms, an LA-based robotics company led by former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, raised a $1.7b round led by Andreessen Horowitz and joined by Bain Capital, Fifth Wall and Uber. axios.link/4wmn8f8

🚑 Crystalys Therapeutics, a San Diego-based company focused on gout treatments, raised $130m in Series B funding led by Frazier Life Sciences, with participation from Wellington Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Soleus Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Trails Edge Capital Partners, Pivotal bioVenture Partners and KCap Biotechnology Fund and all existing investors — Novo Holdings, SR One, Catalys Pacific, Perceptive Xontogeny Venture Funds, Lightstone Ventures, AN Venture Partners. axios.link/44FjEbx

🌎 Asuene, a Japan-based decarbonization and sustainability management solutions company based in Japan, raised $43.8m in Series D funding led by Decarbonization Partners, the joint venture between BlackRock and Temasek. asuene.com

• Arrakis, a London-based industrial agentic AI startup, raised a $30m Series A led by Blossom Capital and a $7.5m seed led by Accel. axios.link/4hrXz7C

• Passionfroot, an NYC-based creator-brand partnership and marketing platform, raised a $15m Series A. Insight Partners led, joined by Creandum, Supernode Global, and s16vc. axios.link/4ftI5xv

• Neon Commerce, an SF-based fintech solution for games, raised $13m in Series A funding. KRAFTON, a16z and Renegade Partners invested. neonpay.com

• Yope, a private social platform for micro communities, raised $12.3m led by Northzone. Inovo, Redseed, and Geek Ventures joined. yope.app

🌎 Circular Materials, an Italian critical raw materials recovery company, raised €11.8m from CDP Venture Capital, the European Innovation Council Fund, EIT RawMaterials, 360 Capital, Corbites and Lumar S.r.l. axios.link/4pFAsZG

• Digital Asset, developer of the Canton Network, raised an additional $10m from Shinhan Financial Group and SC Ventures. axios.link/45mERac

• Plantopia, an Israeli dairy protein developer, raised $9m. Schreiber Foods led, joined by Siddhi Capital. axios.link/3RLzVst

• Cheiron, a Los Altos, Calif.-based drug program operating system, raised $8m in seed funding led by Menlo Ventures, joined by Moderna co-founder Robert Langer; former Pfizer Chief Medical Officer Freda Lewis-Hall; former Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan, Chai Discovery CEO Josh Meier, and former Apple AI chief John Giannandrea. axios.link/4yCdRB7

• Petra Labs, an NYC-based AI search company, raised a $5.2 million seed round led by Work-Bench. Afore, Pathlight and strategic angels joined. axios.link/4yAOjUR

• StrongestLayer, an SF-based email security company, raised $4.1m in funding, bringing its seed to $9.3m. Inovia Capital led, joined by Sorenson Capital, LaunchPod, Alumni Ventures, and Chris Key, former chief product officer of Mandiant. strongestlayer.com

• Act III Holdings invested an additional $50m in Level99, a real-world gaming venue company. axios.link/3TiQCMf

• Bluestone Investment Partners invested in Delphinus Engineering, a Newton Square, Pa.-based provider of maintenance and industrial services to the U.S. Navy and maritime defense community. axios.link/4wkszLD

• Butterfly Equity and Graham Partners invested in Custom Flavors, a San Clemente, Calif.-based flavor maker for bakery items, snack foods, supplements, drinks and dairy products. axios.link/4pyykmn

• Cinven agreed to acquire Salsify, a Boston-based product experience management software solution backed by Crosswork, Ensemble VC, Permira, TPG, Warburg Pincus, StepStone Group, Underscore VC, and Venrock. axios.link/44KiKKH

• KKR plans to gradually sell its investment in LCY Group, a Taiwanese chemical manufacturer that supplies TSMC. axios.link/4pCfBGy

• JM Test Systems, backed by Kanbrick, acquired acquisition of Alltite, Wichita, Kan.-based provider of calibration and torque equipment services. axios.link/3TcXz1r

• Life Science Connect, backed by Latticework Capital Management, acquired Precision Medicine World Conference, a life science events operation. axios.link/4fPs9XF

• Madison River Capital invested in Pro-Max, a Miami-based structural repair, restoration, painting, and roofing solution. pro-max.us

• Orion Legal MSO, backed by Uplift Investors, acquired Bottaro Injury Lawyers. axios.link/4vFGrib

• Platinum Equity is nearing a deal to acquire a stake in Nestlé's European water business that would value the company at close to €5b, per Financial Times. axios.link/4vOIzo6

• Private Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives acquired Aegis Hedging Solutions, a The Woodlands, Texas-based commodity market intelligence, from Greenbelt Capital Partners and Baird Capital. axios.link/4haUfhp

• Vybe Urgent Care, backed by NewSpring Capital, acquired Horsham and Hatfield, Pa.-based Liberty Urgent Care Centers. axios.link/4wcZ7Hb

• Dassault Systèmes agreed to acquire ArisGlobal, a Waltham, Mass.-based supplier of software to the life sciences industry, from Nordic Capital for about $2b. axios.link/4wVqWng

• Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW) agreed to acquire Embrace, a LA-based provider of an observability platform. NEA and AV8 Ventures backed it. axios.link/4yvtwC9

• TE Connectivity (NYSE: TEL) agreed to acquire Astrodyne TDI, a power management and filtering solutions company, for $1.4b from Tinicum. axios.link/4hpQe8C

• Garmin (NYSE: GRMN) acquired TrainingPeaks and TrainHeroic, training platforms for athletes and coaches. axios.link/4fuYmCj

• Kuehne+Nagel is considering strategic alternatives for its Apex Logistics Unit, an Asia-focused frieght forwarder, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4pFbklM

• Mark Foods acquired Endeavor Seafood, a Newport, R.I.-based importer and marketer of frozen seafood products. axios.link/4vHkNKo

• Origin Merchant Partners acquired Consensus, a U.S.-based consumer-focused investment banking firm with offices in Boston and New York. axios.link/4fLilxT

• Progress Software (Nasdaq: PRGS) agreed to acquire the assets and some liabilities of Domo (NASDAQ: DOMO), a Silicon Slopes, Utah-based data company, for $400m. axios.link/4ffZj2u

• Repligen (NASDAQ: RGEN) agreed to acquire BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ: BLFS), a maker of a product that preserves cell therapies, for an enterprise value of about $1.5b. axios.link/45nWvud

• Vireo Growth agreed to acquire The Cannabist Company's cultivation, manufacturing, and retail operations across Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and West Virginia for up to $35m. axios.link/4pzr49R

• Airtel Mobile's money unit plans to list in London later this year. axios.link/4gN9rAZ

• Ionic Digital, a bitcoin miner and cloud infrastructure provider, plans to list directly on the Nasdaq on July 28. Celsius Network, Attestor Capital, and Oaktree Capital Management back the company. axios.link/4gOSZQN

• McCormick (NYSE: MKC) plans to also list in London following its merger with Unilever's food business (LON: ULVR). axios.link/4gO9mwU

• NorthStrive Acquisition I, a blank check company backed by NorthStrive Companies, filed to raise $100m. It's targeting manufacturing companies. axios.link/4yBONdA

• Pinnacle Acquisition, a blank check company led by former ECN Capital CEO Steven Hudson, filed to raise $200m. It is targeting the commercial and consumer finance sector. axios.link/4bGrSDX

• Francisco Partners closed its eighth flagship fund and fourth middle market fund with $21b. axios.link/4vMKY2B

• LLCP, closed LLCP Lower Middle Market IV with $2b. axios.link/3RyPHXo

• Tristan Walker, founder Walker & Company Brands, joined Collaborative Fund as a partner. He will focus on the firm's private equity strategy, Collab Holdings. collabfund.com

Francisco Partners raised $21 billion in new cash since the beginning of the year, and sees opportunities in software, the FT reports (gift link). "AI will not kill the software industry," co-founder Dipanjan Deb said.