Axios Pro Rata

Today's column didn't quite come together in time. Or maybe I thought I'd win the Powerball and blow off work. Anyway, let's dig into the notebook:

🏈 Kickoff: Pro sports may be on the verge of yet another record-breaking sale.

• Julia Koch and her family have agreed to buy a minority stake in the NFL's New York Giants from the controlling Mara and Tisch families, as first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by Axios.
• The price is said to be around $10 billion. That's way more than the $6 billion that Josh Harris paid for the NFL's Washington Commanders and, depending on the exact figure, could even top what Mark Walter pledged for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers. On the other hand, this is a minority stake sale, whereas both the Commanders and Lakers deals are control transactions. So not quite apples-to-apples.
• It would be Koch's first New Jersey sports play — sorry, I don't make the maps — having previously bought stakes in the NBA's Brooklyn Nets and WNBA's New York Liberty.
• The only major U.S. pro sports team known to be on the block right now is the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, although it won't come close to these valuation figures. What current Penguins owner Fenway Sports Group plans to do with its proceeds, however, could be a different matter...

🦄 Unicorn unrest: Scale AI, the AI data labeling giant backed by Meta, yesterday sued rival Mercor for allegedly stealing trade secrets.

• Scale AI is valued at $29 billion, while Mercor is at $2 billion. Both have blue-chip backers. Dig into the case.

⛰️ Rebrand: Signal Peak Ventures is dead. Long live Run Ventures.

• That's the Salt Lake City-based firm's new name, as it works to wrap up a new $290 million fund (it's around three-quarters of the way there). It previously raised four funds under the Signal Peak brand, the last of which came in at $150 million.
• "This really is a brand new GP with a younger team around us," explains partner Brandon Tidwell. "Our longtime partners, Ron [Heinz] and Scott [Petty] had transitioned as part of our last fund, so we thought it warranted a new stake in the ground."
• He adds that the firm originally invested in Mountain West startups, but since have expanded the strategy to back founders in other underserved geographies. It still plans to focus on leading Series A rounds.

The Carlyle Group raised over $20 billion for private equity secondaries, including $15 billion for its eighth AlpInvest fund.

Why it's the BFD: This is what dormant DPI will get you — an ongoing secondaries boom.

• It also reflects Carlyle's continued diversification from core buyouts, with AlpInvest VIII actually raising more money than Carlyle's current flagship fund.

Zoom in: Carlyle also secured $3.2 billion in co-investment commitments for secondaries, plus $2 billion for similar vehicles via its private wealth channel.

The bottom line: "AlpInvest's distributable earnings — a metric favored by analysts as a proxy for cash flows — doubled in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2024, and its assets have increased 15% over the same time, making it Carlyle's best-performing business line." — Antoine Gara, FT

OpenAI is boosting the size of its secondary share sale to $10.3b from $6b, still at a $500b valuation, per CNBC.

• Quantinuum, a quantum computing group, raised $600m at a $10b valuation. Backers include Honeywell, Quanta Computer, NVentures, JPMorgan, Mitsui, and Amgen. axios.link/4m1fj8H

• BETA Technologies, a Vermont-based maker of electric aircraft, raised $300m from GE Aerospace. axios.link/486r2iK

🚑 Enveda, a Boulder, Colo., drug discovery startup that focuses on medicinal plants, raised $150m in Series D funding. Premji Invest led, joined by Baillie Gifford, Kinnevik, Lingotto Investment Management, Peakline Partners, FPV, Socium Ventures, Dimension, Level Ventures, Henry Kravis, IA Ventures, and Lux Capital. axios.link/4njLNw1

• You.com, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based enterprise AI infrastructure startup, raised $100m in Series C funding at a $1.5b valuation. Cox Enterprises led, joined by insiders Georgian, Salesforce Ventures, and Norwest. axios.link/4p8vVhp

• Exa, a "search engine for AI," raised $85m in Series B funding at a $700m valuation. Benchmark led, joined by Lightspeed, Nvidia, and YCombinator. axios.link/46kRDY8

• Recall.ai, an SF-based platform that allows software developers access to meeting recordings, raised $38m in Series B funding at a $250m valuation, per Axios Pro. Bessemer Venture Partners led, joined by HubSpot Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Ridge Ventures, YCombinator, and RTP Ventures. axios.link/4lYmNsS

• Sola Security, an Israeli developer of cybersecurity AI assistants, raised $35m in Series A funding. S32 led, joined by M12, New Era Capital Partners, Mike Moritz, S Capital, and Glilot Capital Partners. sola.security

• ModernFi, a NY-based provider of deposit-management infrastructure for community and regional banks and credit unions, raised $30m in Series B funding. Canapi Ventures led, joined by a16z, Curql, Remarkable Ventures, and Intercontinental Exchange. axios.link/45NO4d0

• FirstClub, an Indian e-commerce startup, raised $23m in Series A funding (90% equity) at a $120m post-money valuation. Accel and RTP Global led, joined by Blume Founders Fund, 2am VC, Paramark Ventures, and Aditya Birla Ventures. axios.link/41x6Suw

• Orchard Robotics, an SF-based developer of vision tech for farms, raised $22m in Series A funding. Quiet Capital and Shine Capital led, joined by insiders General Catalyst, Contrary, Mythos, Valyrian, and Ravelin. axios.link/4gao4fl

• Dispatch, a Miami-based provider of data orchestration software for financial advisories, raised $18m in Series A funding, per Axios Pro. Brewer Lane Ventures led, joined by New York Life Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Perceptive Ventures and existing backers F-Prime, Flyover Capital, and Fika Ventures. axios.link/47ZMlTa

• Vouched, a Seattle-based identity and agent verification startup, raised $17m in Series A funding led by Spring Rock Ventures. axios.link/3JMCRRa

• HemiLabs, developer of a Bitcoin programmability layer, raised $15m from YZi Labs, Republic Digital, HyperChain Capital, Breyer Capital, Big Brain Holdings, Crypto.com, DNA Fund, Selini Capital, Protein Capital, Quantstamp, and Web3. axios.link/4mLcauN

🌎 Xampla, a British maker of plant-based alternatives to single-use plastics raised $14m in Series A funding from Emerald Technology Ventures, BGF, Matterwave Ventures, Amadeus Capital Partners, and Horizons Ventures. axios.link/46d3JBE

• Aurelius Systems, an SF-based developer of counter-drone tech, raised $10m in seed funding General Catalyst and Draper Associates, per Axios. axios.link/4lYVaA6

🚑 Welcome Tech, an LA-based health-care platform for immigrant workers, raised $7.5m from TTV Capital, CityRock Ventures Partners, Mubadala Capital, Next Legacy Partners, BTN Ventures, and Westbound Equity Partners. axios.link/3V1FMbb

🚑 ArcaScience, a French provider of risk-benefit evaluation tools for drugs, raised $7m in seed funding. The Moon Venture led, joined by Pléiade Venture, Plug&Play Ventures, Bpifrance, and AKKA Technologies. axios.link/4g5IW7n

• Alpic, a French "MCP-native cloud platform," raised $6m in pre-seed funding led by Partech. axios.link/4lUKqCJ

• Supersonik, developer of a multilingual AI agent for sales demos, raised $5m in seed funding led by a16z. supersonik.ai

• MEGA, a Swedish voice agent platform for order-to-cash management, raised $2m led by Spintop Ventures. mega.ai

• ADL Final Mile, an Omaha-based portfolio company of Red Dog Equity, acquired DMC Logistics, an SF-based provider of customized and final mile logistics services. adlfinalmile.com

• Charlesbank Capital Partners invested in Q6 Cyber, a threat intelligence platform focused on fraud and financial crime. q6cyber.com

• GTCR is considering a $1.2b takeover of SimpliSafe, a Boston-based residential security company, from Hellman & Friedman, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4gbiv0b

• KKR acquired South Korean cosmetics packager Samhwa from TPG for $528m. axios.link/469jTvP

• Permira made a minority investment in RightShip, an Australian provider of maritime safety, sustainability, and supply chain due diligence whose founding backers are BHP, Cargill, and Rio Tinto. axios.link/3JKMGiC

• Qodea, a U.K-based Marlin Equity Partners portfolio company, acquired TIQQE, a Swedish cloud consultancy. qodea.com

🌎 Sphera, a Blackstone-backed provider of sustainability and operational risk management software, raised funding from Neuberger Berman Capital Solutions. axios.link/4lYlOsY

• Syndigo, a Summit Partners portfolio company, acquired product management platform 1WorldSynch from Battery Ventures. axios.link/4nbuGfF

⚡ Vision Ridge Partners acquired FortisTCI, an electricity utility serving the Turks and Caicos Islands. axios.link/41z2Bql

• GSR IV Acquisition, a SPAC led by Gus Garcia (ex-BofA) and Lewis Silberman (ex-Oppenheimer), raised $200m in its IPO. axios.link/45d4KJq

• Ardian is in exclusive talks to sell Magimix, a French maker of small kitchen appliances, to Lavafields Group. axios.link/4gdUndu

• Atlassian (Nasdaq: TEAM) agreed to acquire The Browser Co. for $610m in cash. The web browser startup had raised around $125m, including last year at a $550m valuation, from backers like Atlassian Ventures, Thrive Capital, Betaworks Ventures, Pace Capital, Salesforce Ventures, and Venrex Investment Management. axios.link/4nd3uNz

• CoreWeave (Nasdaq: CRWV) acquired OpenPipe, a Seattle-based that helps developers create application-specific LLMs. OpenPipe had raised around $7m from firms like Costanoa Ventures. axios.link/4g40Asa

⚡ EnergyHub, a VC-backed provider of grid management software to electric utilities, acquired Bridge to Renewables, an EV charging software maker that had raised $45m from firms like BP Ventures, Innovatus Capital Partners, and CDPQ, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3V0rl79

⚡ ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is seeking to sell its U.K. and Belgian chemicals plants, which could fetch up to $1b, per the FT. axios.link/3UW8B8W

• Huron (Nasdaq: HURN) acquired Wilson Perumal & Co., a Dallas-based corporate strategy and operations consultancy. axios.link/3JKbiYH

• Rithm Capital agreed to acquire Crestline Management, an alternative investment manager with approximately $17b in AUM. axios.link/481GTz7

• Warner Bros Discovery (Nasdaq: WBD) may sell a 20% stake in its studio and streaming unit before a planned split next year.

• Great Hill Partners raised $7b for its ninth flagship PE fund. axios.link/4lXlRF8

• Steve Baranowski joined Flexpoint Ford as CFO. He previously was with Adams Street Partners. axios.link/3JIIVdy

• Tim Curley joined MiddleGround Capital as a managing director. He previously was with BMO Capital Markets. axios.link/3Vkv6Vn

🌎 Brian DiMarino stepped down as managing director and deputy director of global sustainability at JPMorgan Chase, to become COO of carbon removal company Chestnut Carbon. axios.link/462RYNX

• Gal Gitter, a former Ibex Investors partner, was named a Tel Aviv-based partner with Alpha Partners. axios.link/41BcnZ0

🚑 Shaunak Parikh joined Invidia Capital Management as a partner.. He previously was a managing director withv EW Healthcare Partners. axios.link/3JF98tD

• Tiger Global has disbanded its European investment team, per Sifted. axios.link/42cp4tq

U.S. Steel yesterday dropped its RICO lawsuit against rival Cleveland-Cliffs.

• The case goes back to when then-President Biden blocked Japan's Nippon Steel from buying U.S. Steel, a decision that President Trump later reversed.
• U.S. Steel sued rival Cleveland-Cliffs and steelworker union leadership of conspiring to prevent Nippon from buying U.S. Steel.
• Now that the deal with Nippon is done, so is the lawsuit.