Illustration: Lazaro Gamio/Axios
Venture Capital
• Prime Intellect, an SF-based agentic AI building platform, raised $130m in Series A funding at a $1b valuation. Radical Ventures led, joined by Nvidia Ventures, Intel Capital, Dell Technologies Capital, and Iconiq. Go deeper
• Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based developer of rocket engines for hypersonic flight, raised $91m in Series B funding. Mercury Fund led, joined by Lockheed Martin Ventures, MESH, PEAK6, Draper Associates, Starboard Star Venture Capital, and Green Sands Equity. Go deeper
🚑 Leo Cancer Care, a U.K.-based maker of radiation therapy devices for cancer patients, raised $65m in Series D funding. Yu Galaxy led, joined by Eventide Asset Management. Go deeper
• Kaon AI, an SF-based generative AI company for the entertainment industry, raised a $60m Series B from B Capital, Redpoint Ace, Goodwater Capital, and DCM. Go deeper
• Vendelux, an NYC-based B2B events marketing platform, raised $50m in Series B funding. Tribeca Venture Partners led, joined by S3, Pelion Ventures, HubSpot Ventures, FirstMark, and Cervin Ventures. Go deeper
⚡️Axle Energy, a British virtual power plant operator, raised €21m in Series A funding. Energize Capital led, joined by insiders Accel, Picus Capital, and Eka Ventures. Go deeper
• EdVisorly, an LA-based provider of educational admissions and enrollment software, raised $13.3m in Series A funding. Breachway Capital led, joined by U.S. News & World Report, Lumina Foundation, Strada Education Foundation, Motley Fool Ventures, Juvo Ventures, and Zeal Capital Partners. Go deeper
⚡️Bohr Energie, a French distributed energy management provider, raised €10m in Series A funding. Suma Capital led, joined by Irdi Capital Investissement, GSO Capital, Crédit Agricole, and insiders Varsity, Founders Future, and AFI Ventures. Go deeper
⚡️Fuchs & Eule, a German startup guiding commercial landlords through energy retrofits, raised €10m. GET Fund led, joined by PI Impact, Wave-X, and insiders SET Ventures, Picus Capital, and Realyze Ventures. Go deeper
🌎 Aardaia, a Dutch startup domesticating protein-rich tubers, raised €5m in seed funding. Point Nine led, joined by Astanor, Grey Silo Ventures, and FoodLabs. Go deeper
🚑 Wonderdog, a Hermosa Beach, Calif.-based canine preventive health startup, raised $5m in pre-seed funding led by WndrCo and Maveron. Go deeper
⚡️Forge Industries, a Las Vegas-based waste-to-fuel tech developer, raised $3.9m. Next Phase Capital and 8090 Industries led, joined by Golden Seeds. Go deeper
Private Equity
•Ardian invested in Paris-based software firm HR Path at nearly a $1b valuation. Go deeper
• Bregal Sagemount invested in Pandion, a Fairport, N.Y.-based group purchasing organization. Go deeper
• CVC Capital Partners acquired DistroKid, an NYC-based music distributor. Go deeper
• Enterprise Risk Associates, a Macquarie Group portfolio company, acquired Insurance Solutions of America, an Oviedo, Fla.-based commercial insurer. Go deeper
• Paine Schwartz Partners acquired minority stakes in Amfresh, a fresh produce company, and its Bloom Fresh multi-fruit breeding and IP licensing subsidiary. Go deeper
• Shore Capital Partners acquired Denver-based ThrivePass, a platform that streamlines employee benefits administration for employers. Go deeper
• Tricor Pacific Capital acquired Arctec Alloys, a Canadian maintenance welding platform. Go deeper
Liquidity
• York Space Systems (NYSE: YSS) acquired All Space, a British satellite communications company that had raised nearly $130m from Boka Group, IAGi Ventures, and Shift Ventures. Go deeper
M&A
• Tesco (LSE: TSCO) is in talks to sell its Central and Eastern European operations, per the FT. Go deeper
Fundraising
• Expeditions, a VC firm focused on European defense-tech, raised €197m for its second fund. Go deeper
• Paradigm, a crypto-focused VC firm, raised $1.2b for its fourth fund. Go deeper
It's Personnel
• Shawn Devilla joined Norwest as a principal on the growth equity team. He was previously at Carlyle's buyout group. Leslie Foard joined as head of operations on the team. She previously led people operations at Alpine Investors. Go deeper
• Luchi Mmegwa was promoted to managing director at American Pacific Group. He was previously at Goldman Sachs. Go deeper
Odds & Ends
🚑 Blue Owl and Moor Park sealed their £1.3b acquisition of a portfolio of 12 acute-care hospitals from U.K. private hospital operator Spire Healthcare. Go deeper
