🩳 Short Change
Every currency wants the pants; none fit.
Also available:🇫🇷 Édition française
Good morning!
Eleven heads of state land in New Delhi on 12 September for the eighteenth BRICS summit, and the host has already buried the headline. India’s commerce minister said on 7 August that his government does not favour a common currency and will not support one. Four years of speeches about escaping the dollar have produced a payments app, a working group on digital currencies, and a logo. Meanwhile the dollar took 50.99% of global payment value on SWIFT in July, 57.13% of central bank reserves in the first quarter, and 89% of foreign exchange turnover at the last BIS count.
Everything underneath is worse than advertised. Russia, cut out of SWIFT messaging in 2022, clears through CIPS at Beijing’s discretion. India settled $14.6B of imports in rupees between March and May, mostly Russian crude bought after the Strait of Hormuz shut. Moscow now holds rupee balances that cannot leave the country. Sberbank’s answer, launched in December, was a fund tracking Indian equities, sold to Russian savers. The euro turns 28 in January and still lacks the deposit guarantee proposed in 2015 and scheduled to be running by 2024. The pound has not recovered from 2016. The yen belongs to a country that spent 25 years manufacturing inflation, finally got some, and in July needed Washington’s help to buy its own currency back.
The charge that the dollar has been weaponised is fair. Sanctions have spread from Iran to Russia to whichever small economy irritated a Treasury official on a Wednesday. Gross federal debt passed $40T on 19 August, two years earlier than the CBO once projected, with the last $1T arriving in five months. Kevin Warsh took the Fed chair in May on a 54-45 vote, the narrowest in the job’s history, at an institution the Justice Department had already subpoenaed. None of that makes the alternative better. A system with five mediocre reserve assets and no anchor sends money in five directions during a panic, a different disaster rather than a cure. No central bank stands ready to supply euros to a foreign counterparty overnight. No European treasury guarantees anyone’s deposits, which is exactly the file stuck since 2015.
The de-dollarisation enthusiasts confuse escape with repair. Dollar dominance measures the weakness of every alternative as much as American strength. The work of building institutions worth trusting has been traded for the pleasure of complaining about the one that works. The test is not hypothetical. The war began on 28 February, Hormuz closed, oil went above $100, and money moved into the currency everyone claims to be leaving. When a central bank in Jakarta or Lagos runs short of dollars overnight, the people who pay are not the delegates in New Delhi. They are households whose savings sit in something nobody will accept.
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🗞️ Top Story
- 🇩🇪 Minority Report. The Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, polling under 5 percent, now finds itself in position to make or break far-right rule in eastern Germany. (New York Times)
- 🇪🇸 Advance Notice. Secret documents reveal Spain and Morocco were tipped off about planned border surges in Ceuta, yet the government claims it had no idea of the coming scale. (Die Zeit)
- 🇪🇺 Blank Space. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent mocked Europe’s AI sector at a Dallas conference, saying it amounts to « nothing » compared to US and Chinese giants. (Le Figaro)
- 🇪🇺 Wall Street. Brussels approves €115M in emergency funds for Spain to fortify Ceuta’s border, after 70,000 migrants surged in from Morocco in July. (Le Monde)
- 🇪🇺 Gap Year. Ukraine has shocked European backers by revealing a surprise $27B budget shortfall, just months after securing $100B in loans. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Check Please. Donald Trump promises every American adult a $5,000 dividend if Republicans win Congress, reviving his tradition of cash pledges that never arrive. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Critical Condition. The IMF abruptly abandoned Ricardo Reis for chief economist after discovering his anti-tariff remarks on Trump, proving that frank analysis is hazardous to your hiring prospects. (Financial Times)
- 🇹🇭 Drill of Rights. Thai police now run active shooter drills in Bangkok schools after a deadly attack, hoping rehearsed panic will substitute for real safety. (BBC)
- 🇮🇷 Hang Time. Human Rights Watch reports Iran executed at least 59 protesters and political dissidents in five months, using rushed trials and coerced confessions to silence opposition. (France Info)
- 🇳🇬 Viral Silence. Ibrahim Khalil Dan Shagamu, a prominent Nigerian government critic with a massive social media following, was found murdered at home during the presidential campaign, sparking calls for a full investigation. (Le Monde)
- 🌍 Heat Repeat. The Copernicus Observatory reports August 2026 tied July 2023 as the hottest month ever recorded globally, with average temperatures soaring 1.65°C above preindustrial levels. (France Info)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Trust Issues. The UK’s health regulator says new laws are needed for AI in the NHS, warning that current rules cannot keep up with self-learning machines. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Flight Risk. National Air Traffic Services insists hackers are not to blame for the Heathrow chaos, but airlines are not buying the technical fault excuse. (CNBC)
- 🇬🇧 Party Line. The Metropolitan Police have opened a criminal investigation into Reform UK after undercover footage suggested aides plotted to sidestep foreign donation laws, with £500,000 at stake. (BBC)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Steel Yourself. Democrat John Fetterman appeared at Trump’s convention to support GOP Senator David McCormick and promise unity for Pennsylvania’s steel industry, just as midterms approach. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Name Drop. The Associated Press will keep calling Lake Ontario by its original name, ignoring President Trump’s executive order to rename it Lake America. (Washington Post)
🏛️ Economy
- 🇮🇹 Account Suspended. The US labeled Italian web host Autistici/Inventati a terrorist group, freezing its bank accounts and forcing to shut down after 23 years online. (El Pais)
- 🇪🇺 Common Grounded. The fails to agree on a bloc-wide ban or restriction on products from Israeli settlements, as member states remain divided and action stalls in Brussels. (El Pais)
- 🇪🇺 Gas Lighting. The EU’s RePowerEU plan was supposed to end Russian gas imports by 2027, but auditors say most countries barely spent the money or met targets. (France Info)
- 🇪🇺 Rate Expectations. The ECB is set to raise interest rates by 0.25% to 2.5% on Thursday, but the path ahead is clouded by uncertainty and disagreement among analysts. (Boursier)
- 🇺🇸 Nuclear Option. Once a political third rail, nuclear power is back on the table in California as leaders scramble to meet 100 percent clean energy targets by 2045. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Yield Sign. Treasury yields surged after Scott Bessent’s much-hyped $6B buyback plan underwhelmed Wall Street, leaving investors unimpressed and borrowing costs higher. (Financial Times)
- 🇺🇸 Code Red. Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigns, warning that Anthropic and OpenAI are racing to build superhuman AI without proper safeguards for humanity. (New York Times)
- 🇦🇷 Dollar Instinct. President Javier Milei has stabilized the Argentine peso, but savers keep buying dollars at a five-to-one ratio, proving old habits die hard. (Bloomberg)
- 🇨🇳 Bond Voyage. Chinese banks are piling into government bonds as mortgage and consumer lending dries up, searching for yield in a shrinking loan market. (Bloomberg)
- 🇰🇷 Derivative Drama. The Bank of Korea calls for tighter oversight of foreign derivatives tied to Korean chip stocks, blaming leveraged hedge funds for recent Kospi turbulence. (Bloomberg)
- 🇭🇰 Expat Factor. Hong Kong is attracting a surge of foreign professionals as a boom in dealmaking helps it outpace Singapore as Asia’s top expat hub. (Bloomberg)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Bank Shot. The TUC urges Prime Minister Andy Burnham to fund energy bill discounts for low and middle earners by restoring a higher bank tax, aiming for £9B over four years. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Mind the Gap. UK Chancellor John Healey faces calls to scrap the £100K childcare threshold that prompts parents, especially mothers, to reduce work hours or quit entirely. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Pump and Circumstance. Donald Trump claims oil and gas prices will stay high until after the midterms, promising a sudden drop and war resolution once votes are counted. (CNBC)
🏢 Real Estate
- 🇬🇧 Logo Motion. The City of London Corporation may soon let companies display their names on skyscrapers, ending a tradition that kept branding off the skyline since 1911. (Financial Times)
- 🇪🇺 Home Rules. The Commission proposes unified criteria for cities to tighten short-term rental restrictions, aiming to clarify when platforms like Airbnb can be curbed. (Die Zeit)
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- 🇬🇧 Room for Tax. England’s mayors will soon get the power to impose a tourist levy on overnight stays, letting local leaders decide how to spend the extra cash. (BBC)
- 🇬🇧 Bit Short. Environmental thinktank Verdant says UK datacentres will employ just 25% of the jobs tech lobbyists promised, with 10,400 roles instead of 40,000. (The Guardian)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇺🇸 Rate Escape. With fixed mortgage rates climbing, more Americans opt for adjustable-rate loans, pushing ARM demand to its highest since June in a hunt for relief. (CNBC)
🔗 On-chain
- 🇬🇧 Risky Business. British trust firms are shunning crypto wealth, with concerns about regulation, transparency, and volatility outweighing any appetite for digital riches. (Financial Times)
- 🇩🇪 Hodl No More. The German government wants to scrap the tax-free status for long-term crypto holders, making every Bitcoin profit fair game for the taxman from 2027. (Die Zeit)
- 🇺🇸 Token Gesture. Hunter Biden’s novelty $LAPTOP coin soared briefly before crashing to nearly zero, leaving buyers with a collectible lesson in market gravity. (New York Times)
- 🇺🇸 Act or Fact. Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong insists the will get crypto regulation, whether it comes from Congress or agencies like the SEC and CFTC. (CNBC)
- 🇸🇻 Stable Genius. Tether 🇸🇻 launches a $400M private credit fund with Fasanara Capital 🇬🇧, betting that stablecoin-backed loans will lure more users to USDT. (Financial Times)
- 🇯🇵 Liquid Assets. Ethical hackers exploited a flaw in Japan’s Liquid Network, draining $320M in bitcoin before returning most of it and keeping $47M as a reminder to patch fast. (Italian)
💱 Listed Markets
- 🇫🇷 Prime Launch. Amazon 🇺🇸 signs a major satellite launch deal with Arianespace 🇫🇷 at the Paris Space Summit, brushing off Trump’s boycott calls and giving Europe a rare boost in the space race. (Les Echos)
- 🇫🇷 French Connection. Samsung Electronics 🇰🇷 headlines a €3B investment in Mistral AI, propelling the French AI company to a €21B valuation and new global relevance. (Les Echos)
- 🇨🇭 Family Jewels. Johann Rupert promotes his son Anton to co-vice chair at Richemont 🇨🇭, tightening the family’s grip on the luxury giant’s boardroom. (Le Figaro)
- 🇺🇸 AI of the Tiger. Barclays bumps its S&P 500 target to 7,950, declaring that Big Tech’s AI-fueled earnings have left the rest of the market in the dust. (CNBC)
- 🇺🇸 Double Take. Apple unveils the iPhone Duo, its first foldable phone, featuring a 7.6-inch display and a $1,999 price tag to match the hype. (TechCrunch)
🇺🇸 United States
- 🇫🇮 Power Surge. Shares of Fortum 🇫🇮 jumped 8% after the Finnish energy company struck a nuclear power supply deal with Google 🇺🇸, giving investors something to glow about. (Wall Street Journal)
- 🇺🇸 Fruit of the Bot. Instacart 🇺🇸 debuts Clementine, an AI assistant that builds grocery carts from recipes or chat, aiming to make meal planning obsolete. (TechCrunch)
- 🇺🇸 Dunkin’ the Chains. Inspire Brands 🇺🇸 has tapped Dunkin’ boss Scott Murphy as interim CEO just as it gears up for a major IPO, with Paul Brown sidelined by injury. (Wall Street Journal)
🛎️ Big Deals (M&A)
- Rio Tinto 🇬🇧 acquires the Aurukun bauxite project 🇦🇺 from Glencore 🇨🇭 and Mitsubishi Development 🇦🇺.
- BNP Paribas Asset Management 🇫🇷 sells its stake in Kyobo Axa Investment Managers 🇰🇷.
- Niryo 🇫🇷 acquires BizLink’s medical robotics business 🇹🇼, including its technologies, intellectual property, teams, production, and R&D operations.
- Cegid 🇫🇷 and Silae 🇫🇷 announce their merger, creating a European software group valued at more than €10B. Completion is expected in H1 2027.
- Volkswagen 🇩🇪 is considering divesting motorcycle maker Ducati 🇮🇹 as part of its restructuring.
- Ariston Group 🇮🇹 acquires an 83% stake in Vietnamese water purifier company Mutosi 🇻🇳 from Mekong Capital 🇻🇳.
- Poste Italiane 🇮🇹 raises its cash-and-stock takeover offer for Telecom Italia 🇮🇹 by 5% to $13.2B.
- Renaissance Partners 🇮🇹 acquires yacht interiors maker De Wave 🇮🇹 from Platinum Equity 🇺🇸 for $465M.
- UniCredit 🇮🇹 acquired a minority stake in VC Trade 🇩🇪, a credit markets fintech.
- Starteepo 🇨🇿 builds a 7.3% stake in Xerox 🇺🇸, a $420M-listed office solutions company, and pushes for a review of its financial services business.
- CVC 🇱🇺 is exploring a $2B sale of personal care rollup Arthea 🇺🇸, which owns Dr Teal’s.
- Cerberus Capital Management 🇺🇸 is in advanced talks to acquire a significant stake in Goodwin 🇬🇧’s mechanical engineering division for up to £1.1B.
- Franklin Templeton 🇺🇸 acquires a 75% stake in Stoneshield 🇪🇸 for around €600M, valuing the real-assets investment firm at approximately €800M.
- TPG 🇺🇸 acquires an interest in UnitedHealth Group 🇺🇸’s Optum Health WellMed clinics in Florida.
- Chime 🇺🇸 acquires nationally chartered bank Stride Bank 🇺🇸 for $590M.
- Circle Internet Group 🇺🇸 acquires Singaporean B2B cross-border payments platform Tazapay 🇸🇬 for $400M in stock.
- Apple 🇺🇸 acquires Berkeley-based sensor startup Sonera 🇺🇸, which had raised $20M before the deal completed in May 2026.
- Analog Devices 🇺🇸 acquires Alif Semiconductor 🇺🇸 for $1.35B in cash.
- HOF Capital 🇺🇸 acquires Porsche 🇩🇪’s stake in Bugatti Rimac 🇭🇷 for approximately €1B.
- GE Aerospace 🇺🇸 acquires castings manufacturer Consolidated Precision Products 🇺🇸 from Warburg Pincus 🇺🇸 and Berkshire Partners 🇺🇸 for $11.75B.
- EverBank Financial 🇺🇸 will merge with WaFd 🇺🇸 in a $3.9B reverse merger.
- Anthropic 🇺🇸 walked away from its $6B acquisition of real-world AI model startup Decart AI 🇮🇱.
- Blackstone 🇺🇸 explores a $2B sale of medical-grade skincare company ZO Skin Health 🇺🇸.
- L Catterton 🇺🇸 to acquire a controlling stake in fitness competition brand Hyrox 🇩🇪 from Infront Sports & Media 🇨🇭 at a $700M valuation.
- CBRE Investment Management 🇺🇸 acquires Tenet Equity 🇺🇸, Cerberus’s net-lease real estate business, for $1.6B.
- Labcorp 🇺🇸 acquires specialty laboratory provider MLM Medical Labs 🇺🇸.
- Robinhood 🇺🇸 takes minority stakes in Crypto.com’s crypto exchange and prediction markets business 🇸🇬 as part of a partnership.
- Independence Realty Trust 🇺🇸 merges with Centerspace 🇺🇸 in an $8.1B deal including debt, creating a middle-market apartment REIT.
- Uber 🇺🇸 invests $10M in Indian fleet operator Carrum Mobility 🇮🇳 at a $168M post-money valuation.
- Enbridge 🇨🇦 acquires Tallgrass Energy’s crude oil business 🇺🇸 from Blackstone for $2.6B.
- Tamarack Valley Energy 🇨🇦 acquires Headwater Exploration 🇨🇦 in a $2.3B all-stock deal.
- Lionel Messi 🇦🇷 is reportedly set to acquire 100% of Spanish second-division soccer club CD Eldense 🇪🇸, pending approval from Spain’s National Sports Council.
- Centrist Reform Alliance 🇯🇵 effectively disbands after its failed merger with Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan 🇯🇵 and Komeito 🇯🇵. CDP lawmakers will form a new party, while Komeito members return to their original party.
- Vista Land & Landscapes 🇵🇭 is looking to sell assets to meet debt obligations, including a $420M bond due next year.
- MetropolCard 🇹🇷 acquires a 51% stake in online ticket platform Bilet.com 🇹🇷.
🇺🇸 United States
- Sparkle Grooming Co. 🇺🇸 secures $6M in strategic growth financing led by Companion Fund 🇺🇸.
- New Water Capital 🇺🇸 acquires custom foodservice lid manufacturer LidWorks 🇺🇸.
🧳 Private Markets & VC
- 🇬🇧 Bond Voyage. Arini Capital Management 🇬🇧 lost over 8% in its flagship fund this year after a series of risky European credit bets backfired, sending top traders packing. (Financial Times)
- 🇫🇷 SkyNet Worth. Loft Orbital 🇫🇷 partners with Marlan Space 🇦🇪 for a $1B project to launch 50 AI-driven satellites, making France a contender in the global space race. (Libé)
- 🇬🇷 Acropolis Now. Millennium Management 🇺🇸 is setting up shop in Athens, lured by Greece’s new tax regime designed to attract hedge funds and private equity. (Financial Times)
- 🇭🇺 Eurovision. Schroders 🇬🇧 is betting big on Hungary’s bonds, hoping the country’s euro ambitions will bring a convergence windfall reminiscent of the 1990s. (Bloomberg)
- 🇺🇸 Sound Decision. Listen Labs, a voice AI startup, abandoned a $1.5B funding round after Salesforce 🇺🇸 began acquisition talks reportedly valuing the company at $2B. (TechCrunch)
- 🇺🇸 Roku and Order. The DOJ issues a second request for information on Fox’s $22B Roku takeover, hinting that this merger will not get a free pass. (TechCrunch)
- 🇺🇸 Ctrl-Alt-Delete. Jacob Coxon resigns from Anthropic 🇺🇸, warning that the AI industry is racing to build self-improving models that could spiral out of control. (Wall Street Journal)
Fundraising
- Cognition 🇺🇸 (AI): $2B (Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, Founders Fund, General Catalyst, Avenir, Benchmark, Bessemer, Kleiner Perkins, Greylock, Lightspeed, Altimeter, Bond Capital, Meritech, Atreides, Valor, T. Rowe Price, Lux, 8VC, D1, 137 Ventures, DST, Positive Sum, HOF, Soma, BoxGroup, Battery, Ribbit, Swish, Stripes, Definition, Hanabi, Journey, Bain Capital Ventures, Layer Global, A* Capital, Alpha Wave, Alkeon, Diffusion)
- NEXTDC 🇦🇺 (Data centers): A$1.1B ($795.63M)
- Stoke Space 🇺🇸 (Aerospace): $1B (Point72 Ventures, Spark Capital)
- Ramp 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $1B
- Harvey 🇺🇸 (AI): $550M (Diffusion, Lightspeed Venture Partners)
- Uforce 🇬🇧 (Drones): $500M (Valor Equity Partners)
- The Exploration Company 🇪🇺 (Space): $450M (Atomico, EQT Scaleup Europe Fund)
- Celero Communications 🇺🇸 (Semiconductors): $275M (Atreides Management, Valor Equity Partners, CapitalG)
- Encoded Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $275M (GV, ARCH Venture Partners, Braidwell LP, Farallon Capital Management, Illumina Ventures, Invus, Janus Henderson Investors, Matrix Capital Management, Nolan Capital, RTW Investments, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Venrock)
- Covenant 🇺🇸 (Defense): Over $250M (Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, Lux, 8VC, Aleph, Lightspeed)
- Solstice Oncology 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $225M (RA Capital Management, Canaan Partners, Forbion)
- TabaPay 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $155M (FTV Capital)
- Forus 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $150M (Bain Capital Ventures, Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Accel, Redpoint, BoxGroup, Pear VC, Avra, Human Capital, Neo, Vast Ventures, SV Angel)
- Beep 🇺🇸 (Mobility): $130M (Mobileye)
- Kapital 🇲🇽 (Fintech): $125M (Tru Arrow Partners, Fasanara Capital, Cervin Ventures, Niya Partners, Overlook Capital)
- Split Pay 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $125M (Khosla Ventures, Thrive Capital, Max Levchin)
- Clay 🇺🇸 (AI): $115M (Wellington, Sequoia, StepStone, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Perennial, Meritech, DST, CapitalG, BoxGroup, Boldstart, Bloomberg Beta, Evolution)
- Perry Weather 🇺🇸 (Weather tech): $110M (Silversmith Capital Partners, Arthur Ventures)
- Savvy Wealth 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $100M (Halo Fund, Thrive Capital, Industry Ventures, Canvas Prime, Index Ventures, House Fund, Euclidean Capital, Alumni Ventures, Vestigo Ventures)
- TwoStep Therapeutics 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $62.5M (Insight Partners, Medical Excellence Capital, M Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, NFX, 2048 Ventures, Stanford University)
- Poseidon Aerospace 🇺🇸 (Aerospace): $60M (TQ Ventures)
- Bluecore Energy (Nuclear): $50M (Silverton Partners)
- Lightfield 🇺🇸 (CRM): $47M (Andreessen Horowitz, Maverick Capital, Coatue, Audacious, Alumni Ventures, Greylock, Lightspeed Venture Partners)
- Foundation 8 🇺🇸 (Proptech): $44.5M (Hilco Global)
- Wint 🇺🇸 (Proptech): $36M (LIP Ventures, Inven Capital)
- Limetax 🇩🇪 (TaxTech): €36M (Motive Partners, Activant, Heliad, Christian Lindner, Alexander Kudlich, Anton Rummel, Ante Spittler, German banking consortium)
- Implicity 🇫🇷 (Healthcare): €35M (IRIS, Five Arrows)
- Latitude 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $35M (Oak HC/FT, NEA, Coinbase Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, OpenFX, Wilson Sonsini)
- Antioch 🇺🇸 (Robotics): $32M (Greylock Partners)
- Blee 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $27M (Fin Capital, SMBC)
- Neurent Medical 🇮🇪 (Healthcare): €25M (Claret Capital Partners)
- Euno 🇺🇸 (AI): $23M (N47, 10D, Yinon Kostika, Yotam Segev, Ofir Ehrlich, Rotem Weiss, Mark Nelson)
- System 🇺🇸 (Healthcare): $20M (Patron Fund, Will Ventures, Vine, Courtside, Daybreak, SV Angel, RiverPark Ventures)
- Aqua 🇺🇸 (Fintech): $18.8M (Google’s AI Fund, Y Combinator, Arthur Ventures, Alumni Ventures)
- Atira 🇩🇪 (AI): €13M (Accel, UVC Partners)
- fundcraft 🇱🇺 (Fintech): €12M (Riverside Acceleration Capital, CCAP Investments, 3VC, MiddleGame Ventures, Aperture Capital)
- Navion Neurosciences 🇺🇸 (Biotech): $10.8M (Angelini Lumira Biosciences Fund, 3B Future Health Fund, UVA LVG Seed Fund, Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation, VTC Innovation Fund, Navion management)
- Actionable 🇫🇷 (Martech): $10M (Hi Inov, Axeleo Capital)
- ZeroRisk 🇮🇪 (Cybersecurity): $10M (MiddleGame Ventures, Elkstone)
- Harmoni 🇺🇸 (Manufacturing): $10M (Bessemer Venture Partners)
- Ground A 🇩🇪 (Defense): €9.1M (Vsquared Ventures, Quantum Systems, GRIF, Robin Capital, ABACON, Leblon Capital, OVNI Capital, Florian Seibel, Sven Kruck, J14 Capital, Andreas Nauerz, Marlon Braumann, Arx Robotics CEO Stefan Roebel)
- HelmGuard 🇬🇧 (Cybersecurity): $7.3M (Infinity Ventures, Frontline, FinTech Collective, Stage 2 Capital, Entrepreneurs First)
- Bulwark Dynamics 🇺🇸 (Defense): $6.8M (SBI US Gateway Fund LP, Archetype Ventures, NÄ’nÄ’ Ventures, Onomichi Dockyard)
- Strong by Form 🇨🇱 (Deeptech): €5.8M (boisei investments, CMPC Ventures, VX Ventures, Ternel, Savia Ventures, Teampact Ventures, Axel Carbon, FINSA, confidential family offices)
- Overroute 🇺🇸 (Logistics): $5.5M (UP.Partners, EIC Rose Rock, 1834 Ventures, Tulane Ventures)
- MCatalysis 🇬🇧 (Energy): $5M (HL Energy Ventures, Oxford Science Enterprises)
- SCI Semiconductor 🇬🇧 (Cybersecurity): £5M (PXN Ventures, Mercia Ventures, Osney Capital, Black Opal Ventures)
- Onix 🇨🇦 (AI): $5M (Alpha Edison, Garage Capital, Ride Home Fund, Jeremy Zimmer, JS Cournoyer)
- Rebaba 🇸🇪 (Energy): $4.6M (Sistafund, EIT Urban Mobility)
- Jaipur Robotics 🇨🇭 (AI): €4.3M (EquityPitcher Ventures, High-Tech Gründerfonds)
- FRYTE Mobility 🇩🇪 (Mobility): €3.5M (4impact capital, Rethink Ventures, Revent, F-LOG, accilium ventures, angel investors)
- Fusionality 🇨🇭 (Fusion): €3.2M
- Pharosyn 🇬🇧 (Pharma): €2.5M (Moonfire, Entrepreneurs First, Transpose Platform, General Advance)
- Bynario 🇮🇹 (Cybersecurity): €2.1M
- Sci2sci 🇩🇪 (Biopharma): €1.2M (Heliad, IBB Ventures, Robin Capital, Superangels)
Fund Watch
- Cinven 🇬🇧: $2.7B (2nd strategic middle-market fund)
- Axcel 🇩🇰: $2.4B (8th flagship fund)
- a16z 🇺🇸: $1.75B (5th growth fund, expanded to $8.5B)
- Bridgepoint 🇬🇧: $1.4B (private credit continuation vehicle, led by Pantheon Ventures)
- HGP Intelligent Energy 🇺🇸: $1.2B (merger with Meshflow Acquisition, nuclear services firm)
- J.P. Morgan Asset Management 🇺🇸: $1.1B (Net Lease Real Estate Fund II, U.S. net lease real estate)
- Allianz Global Investors (AllianzGI) 🇩🇪: €1B+ (Impact Private Credit strategy, private credit)
- PennantPark Investment Advisers 🇺🇸: $745M (middle-market private credit continuation vehicle, led by Pantheon Ventures)
- Tyree & D’Angelo Partners 🇺🇸: $650M (4th private equity fund)
- Apogem Capital 🇺🇸: $600M (11th private equity fund)
- Claret Capital 🇬🇧: $510M (4th European growth debt fund)
- TrueBridge Capital Partners 🇺🇸: $508M (2nd secondaries fund)
- CapitaLand Investment 🇸🇬: $500M (3rd APAC credit program, currently raising)
- Luma Group 🇺🇸: $410M (LumaBio Fund I, inaugural life sciences venture capital fund)
- Gibson Technical Services 🇺🇸: $400M (merger with NMP Acquisition Corp.)
- British Business Bank 🇬🇧: £150M (Northern Scaleup Fund, growth capital for northern UK university spinouts and businesses)
- Techshop 🇮🇹: €43M (Techshop II, 2nd VC fund for pre-Seed and Seed AI B2B startups, €100M target)
- CloudNC 🇬🇧: $20M (investment capital)
- Gainline Capital Partners 🇺🇸: single-asset continuation vehicle for Core Health & Fitness, led by StepStone
🔔IPO
- Belron 🇧🇪 (Auto Services): exploring an Amsterdam IPO at a valuation above €30B.
- NordAmps 🇸🇪 (Semiconductors): received conditional approval for a Nasdaq First North Growth Market IPO.
- Dormy 🇸🇪 (Retail): targeting a Nasdaq First North Premier listing at a valuation of over SEK 1.05B.
- Andel Holding 🇩🇰 (Energy): plans to sell a 1.6% stake in Ørsted worth $467M.
- Anthropic 🇺🇸 (AI): delaying its IPO to mid-October, targeting a valuation of $2T or more and potentially raising $75B+.
- Amazon 🇺🇸 (Technology): secured rights to buy $4B of Qualcomm stock as part of a $60B AI chip deal.
- Holtec 🇺🇸 (Nuclear): seeking to raise $900M at a $10.2B valuation in an IPO.
- DeepSeek 🇨🇳 (AI): preparing a Shanghai STAR Market IPO by the end of 2026. Deal size and valuation remain undisclosed.
- Longsys 🇨🇳 (Semiconductors): raised $903M in an upsized Hong Kong IPO.
- Circles Group 🇸🇬 (Telecoms): plans to spin off its digital software services platform for several hundred million dollars.
- National Stock Exchange of India 🇮🇳 (Exchange): likely to price its downsized IPO below the marketed range, raising $2.5B at a $46.6B valuation.
- Torrent Gas 🇮🇳 (Energy): filed updated papers for a $418M India IPO.
- Firmus Technologies 🇦🇺 (Data Centers): starting investor meetings for an Australian IPO.
🧳 Debt
- Nexans 🇫🇷: raised €500M in five-year bonds.
- Arixa Capital 🇺🇸: surpassed $9B in loan originations and expanded its homebuilder finance program.
- Bank of America 🇺🇸: launched a $3.3B debt sale with Deutsche Bank 🇩🇪 to fund Platinum Equity’s $2.9B acquisition of Nestlé’s water business.
- Amazon 🇺🇸: hired banks for its debut sterling bond sale.
- Vale 🇧🇷: considering its debut in China’s bond market as early as this year.
- SoftBank 🇯🇵: exploring a $10B-$20B junk-bond sale.
- Reliance Industries 🇮🇳: plans to raise $1.3B its first local FX bond sale since 2021.
- NEOM 🇸🇦: raised $3B in financing from HSBC, Bank of China, Crédit Agricole, JPMorgan, Bank of America, and others.
🇺🇸 United States
- Quiq Capital 🇺🇸: upsized its revolving credit facility to $30M.
- Kurv Industrial 🇺🇸: raised a $67M senior loan from Canyon Partners to refinance a New Jersey industrial property.
❌ Failures
- Ostrich 🇬🇧: the proptech startup shut down after raising $3.98M.
- Alkegen 🇺🇸: the specialty materials manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, planning to eliminate $3.1B in debt.
- LIV Golf 🇸🇦: filed for Chapter 11 after Saudi Arabia’s PIF withdrew funding, as players discuss taking control.
- Senegal 🇸🇳: will seek to reprofile its debt rather than restructure it to qualify for an IMF bailout.
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- McLaren 🇬🇧: the supercar maker will invest £450M in its UK technology centre, creating 1,000 jobs.
🇺🇸 United States
- Dish Wireless 🇺🇸: creditors seek an independent trustee, alleging billions of dollars in assets were transferred before its Chapter 11 filing.
🎯 For a Few More Minutes…
- 🇫🇷 Write Off. Bic 🇫🇷, the maker of iconic pens and lighters, announces a strategic overhaul as its classic products lose ground in a digital and eco-conscious world. (Le Monde)
- 🇫🇷 Like Farming. Hundreds of Facebook pages pump out AI-generated far-right content targeting French users, racking up massive engagement and cash for overseas operators. (Le Monde)
- 🇫🇷 Nap Time. French scientist Emmanuel Mignot and Japan’s Masashi Yanagisawa win the Lasker Award for breakthroughs on narcolepsy, finally waking up sleep research. (Libé)
- 🌍 Space Invaders. Scientists warn that the Kessler syndrome. An unstoppable chain reaction of satellite collisions. Could soon turn Earth’s orbit into a junkyard, threatening everything from GPS to global finance. (France Info)
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