๐ค Nine Grand Club
The bottom shelf holds less than you think.
Also available:๐ซ๐ท รdition franรงaise
Good morning!
The world’s assets reached almost $1.8 quadrillion last year, and household net worth hit a record $570T after a $40T annual gain. The economy underneath produces roughly $120T a year. Almost nothing was built to justify the difference. Prices simply rose on things that already existed: the same houses, the same office blocks, the same shares in the same firms, marked up 7.3% against an average of 5.9% since 2000. American equities now sit at $75.1T against a $31.9T economy, about 236% where the post-1970 average is nearer 165%. Wealth of this variety has the agreeable property of requiring no work whatsoever.
Every dollar of investment since 2000 generated two dollars of debt, an unusual definition of thrift. The top 1% holds at least 20% of national wealth across major economies and 35% in America, an average of $16.5M a household, while the bottom half of Americans hold $9,000 apiece, less in purchasing power than their Chinese equivalents. Compiling that tally fell to McKinsey’s research arm, which places two decades of paper gains under the scrutiny of the consultancy that billed the boards inflating them. The forensic instinct is commendable. The fingerprints are familiar.
Real capital formation is happening in precisely one place, and it is being financed like a leveraged buyout. AI-related debt issuance is tracking toward $570B this year, with $236B priced by the end of May, four times last year’s pace. Meta committed $27B to its Hyperion campus without recognising a dollar of it, keeping 20% of the joint venture, handing 80% to Blue Owl and collecting a $3B distribution for the trouble. Order books that covered hyperscaler bonds nearly five times over in February had thinned below two by July. Credit where it is due: this is the first serious capital formation in a generation, and nobody pouring concrete in rural Louisiana can be accused of repricing what already exists. The concrete will last a century. The kit inside it is depreciated over six years by its owners and over three by Michael Burry, who prices the gap at $176B of overstated profit through 2028.
The polite scenarios for rebalancing run through faster growth or higher inflation. Growth is the version nobody has managed to manufacture. Inflation is the version already being administered, above target long enough that the target now functions as a devotional object. The third possibility is a fall in share prices, waved through on the grounds that equities net to zero worldwide. They do. Pension entitlements do not. The household sitting on $9,000 owns none of the paper, collected none of the revaluation, and will still meet the adjustment through rents, prices and payrolls. A balance sheet that nets to zero across the planet has never once netted to zero across a street.
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๐๏ธ Top Story
- ๐ช๐บ Bund Alone. French military officials warn that Germanyโs rapid defense buildup is leaving Paris behind, with Berlin charting its own course in Europe. (Le Figaro)
- ๐บ๐ฆ Capital Move. Volodymyr Zelensky has dismissed Olga Stefanishyna as Ukraine’s ambassador to the US after two years, citing a personal resignation in the midst of a wider diplomatic reshuffle. (Le Monde)
- ๐บ๐ฆ Condom-nation. A missile attack on a Kyiv warehouse obliterated Ukraineโs 2027 HIV prevention stockpile, putting 16,000 new infections on the table if aid falls short. (New York Times)
- ๐จ๐ด Power Struggle. President Petro accuses his successor of electoral fraud and predicts Colombia may spiral into civil conflict over the disputed transition. (Le Figaro)
- ๐ป๐ช Aftershocks. Venezuelaโs official death toll from the June double earthquake has risen to 6,125, with nearly 1,400 still missing and thousands left homeless as authorities scramble to provide shelter. (Le Figaro)
- ๐จ๐บ Power Play. Following another total blackout, Cuban authorities scramble to reconnect the grid, blaming US sanctions for turning outages into routine. (Ouest-France)
- ๐ฐ๐ต Remote Control. The US and allies accuse North Korea of deploying undercover IT specialists abroad to earn cash and steal data, while Pyongyang calls it a smear campaign. (Le Figaro)
- ๐ฒ๐ฒ House Arrested Development. Myanmarโs junta releases rare photos of Aung San Suu Kyi meeting the Red Cross, ending years of total silence about her condition just ahead of a diplomatic visit. (Spiegel)
- ๐ฎ๐ฑ Trust but Verify. Netanyahu’s office warns Washington that Israel doubts the Hamas disarmament deal, demanding guarantees that go far beyond promises on paper. (France Info)
- ๐ฎ๐ท Spy Hard. Iran executed two men accused of spying for Israel, continuing a surge in hangings for alleged espionage since the war began in February. (Spiegel)
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐ฌ๐ง Candidate Error. Joshua Bonehill-Paine, previously convicted for harassing a Jewish MP and known for neo-Nazi activism, will stand for the Tories in Somerset. The local party appears unbothered by his past. (The Guardian)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Exit Strategy. A UK judge orders the Home Office to return an alleged trafficking victim sent to France under the โone in one outโ asylum scheme, putting the policy on trial. (The Guardian)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Timing Is Everything. Farage’s confession about early Reform UK talks casts a long shadow over his ยฃ5M windfall and past denials of political involvement. (The Guardian)
- ๐ฌ๐ง Trip Advisor. Richard Tice is under investigation by the standards watchdog after failing to mention his pro-Israel sponsored visit while speaking on related issues in Parliament. (Bbc)
- ๐ซ๐ท Border Farce. Reform UK vows to deploy the Navy to return migrants to France, but French officials call the idea illegal and unworkable. (Bbc)
๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐บ๐ธ Green Alert. Two people in Michigan have died after contracting cyclospora from contaminated iceberg lettuce, making this the deadliest outbreak on record. (New York Times)
- ๐บ๐ธ Censure and Sensibility. The House Ethics Committee found โsubstantial reasonโ to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards (R., N.C.) for inappropriate behavior toward two young staffers, citing violations of harassment policy. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐บ๐ธ Fine Print Club. Blancheโs paperwork rescinds Trumpโs IRS fund and narrows audit shields, yet opponents say the legal language leaves plenty of room for maneuvering. (New York Times)
๐๏ธ Economy
- ๐ฉ๐ช Rate Expectations. German inflation (HICP) jumps to 2.8% in July, overshooting last month and keeping the ECBโs optimism firmly on ice. (Boursier)
- ๐ช๐บ Flat Lining. Eurostat reports eurozone unemployment unchanged at 6.3% in June, as the labor market delivers exactly zero surprises for analysts. (Boursier)
- ๐บ๐ธ Suit Yourself. Twenty-five Democratic-led states are suing the Trump administration over new tariffs on imports from 60 countries, calling the move arbitrary and costly for American families. (Die Zeit)
- ๐บ๐ธ Growth Pains. GDP grew just 1.5% in Q2, missing the 2.1% forecast, while consumer spending outpaced expectations with a 3.2% jump. (Boursier)
- ๐บ๐ธ Divide and Tax. Californiaโs Democratic Party barely unites behind Proposition 40, a billionaire tax, as unions and activists feud over the best way to hit the wealthy. (New York Times)
- ๐ฆ๐บ Rock Bottom. Iron ore hits its lowest price since May 2023, threatening the profitability of higher-cost suppliers across Australia. (Bloomberg)
๐ฌ๐ง United Kingdom
- ๐ฌ๐ง Loan Rangers. New research finds UK SMEs forgo ยฃ54B in potential revenue as confusion and mistrust in external finance hold back investment and expansion. (Startupsmagazine)
๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐บ๐ธ Loan and Order. The Education Department must erase $11B in student debt for 170,000 borrowers defrauded by for-profit schools, after losing its bid for more review time in court. (New York Times)
๐ข Real Estate
- ๐บ๐ธ Kid Estate. A group of Indiana University undergrads manages a $12M real estate fund, proving you do not need gray hair to chase yield. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐ฆ๐บ Home Alone. Australiaโs housing market is seeing its sharpest price drops since 2022 as rising rates and fading investor demand chill the market further. (Bloomberg)
๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐บ๐ธ Freeze Frame. Mayor Zohran Mamdaniโs rent freeze in New York puts $506M in mortgage bonds tied to rent-stabilized apartments under even more pressure, leaving investors out in the cold. (Bloomberg)
- ๐บ๐ธ Ship Happens. Anduril Industries is in talks to invest hundreds of millions in Baltimoreโs Sparrows Point to build and test military drone boats, reviving a storied shipyard for the autonomous era. (Wall Street Journal)
๐ On-chain
- ๐บ๐ธ Inside Job. FBI agent Patrick Yaroch confessed to taking $1M in cryptocurrency from a suspectโs digital accounts, proving crime sometimes wears a badge. (Wall Street Journal)
- ๐จ๐ฆ Cold Comfort. Hackers exploited a coding flaw in Coinkiteโs ๐จ๐ฆ Coldcard wallets to steal $110M in Bitcoin, shattering the myth of offline security. (France Info)
- ๐จ๐ฆ Guess Who’s Rich. Coinkite ๐จ๐ฆ revealed that a vulnerability in its Coldcard wallets let hackers predict private keys and swipe $1.9B in bitcoin without touching a device. (Cc)
๐ฑ Listed Markets
- ๐ฉ๐ช Cease and Rally. Germany’s DAX surged to a new all-time high as de-escalation in the Gulf and tech optimism fueled investor appetite on Monday. (Die Zeit)
- ๐ณ๐ฑ Peak Performance. ASML ๐ณ๐ฑ still leads in chip printing, but China’s advances signal the era of effortless dominance is running out of road. (Financial Times)
- ๐จ๐ญ Swiss Missed. UBS ๐จ๐ญ is fined $125M by the US Treasury for missing money laundering red flags again, making compliance look more like a suggestion. (Financial Times)
- ๐บ๐ธ Independence Dayta. Palantirโs revenue outlook jumped after a surge in demand for its AI tools, with clients eager to keep their data out of competitorsโ hands. (Financial Times)
- ๐บ๐ธ Ghost Protocol. Snap ๐บ๐ธ surprised analysts with a 19% revenue jump and a bullish forecast, lifting its shares 8% and briefly haunting its doubters. (Cnbc)
- ๐บ๐ธ Crude Awakening. President Trump slammed ExxonMobil ๐บ๐ธ and Chevron ๐บ๐ธ for raking in record profits during the Iran conflict and demanded they lower consumer prices. (Cnbc)
- ๐บ๐ธ Bit of a Stretch. IBM and Algorithmiq claim their quantum computer solved a physics problem no classical supercomputer could match for 8 months, calling it ยซย quantum advantageย ยป and inviting the world to prove them wrong. (Italian)
- ๐ฐ๐ท Leverage Lost. After regulators imposed tighter rules, South Korean investors abandoned leveraged ETFs, sending trading activity into a nosedive overnight. (Bloomberg)
๐บ๐ธ United States
- ๐จ๐ญ Pill Bill. Sandoz ๐จ๐ญ agrees to pay $478.5M to resolve US antitrust claims over generic drug pricing, turning legal headaches into a very expensive prescription. (Wall Street Journal)
๐๏ธ Big Deals (M&A)
- BP ๐ฌ๐ง sells North Sea business ๐ฌ๐ง for $2.7B.
- Sainsbury’s ๐ฌ๐ง offloads Argos ๐ฌ๐ง for $160M, one decade after acquiring it for $1.8B.
- Wild Bio ๐ฌ๐ง acquires F1 Seed ๐ฌ๐ง, a wheat breeding business. Acquisition largely financed by its $60m Series A.
- AstraZeneca ๐ฌ๐ง acquires Bristol Myers Squibb ๐บ๐ธ in talks for a deal valuing the combined company at $400B.
- International Workspace Group ๐ฌ๐ง acquires Wojo ๐ซ๐ท, Accor’s coworking activity, making it a 100% IWG subsidiary and adding 186 workspaces.
- Visionedgeone ๐ฌ๐ง acquires Publibike ๐จ๐ญ with a majority stake. Markus Bacher remains CEO and minority shareholder, investor commits at least five years, Publibike operates ~10,500 bikes/e-bikes in ~120 towns across ten cantons.
- Curium ๐ซ๐ท acquires Lantheus Holdings ๐บ๐ธ for an initial $6.7B, $102.50 a share. Curium is controlled by investment firm CapVest Partners.
- TotalEnergies ๐ซ๐ท acquires Shell ๐ฌ๐ง’s onshore renewables in Europe, including 500 MW of solar and wind in operation or under construction and 3.5 GW of projects across Italy, the Netherlands, the UK and Spain.
- BMPS ๐ฎ๐น explores takeover of Banco BPM ๐ฎ๐น after Banco BPM ๐ฎ๐น abandoned ‘merger of equals’ talks with BMPS ๐ฎ๐น having helped fend off a $40B bid from Intesa Sanpaolo ๐ฎ๐น.
- Prysmian ๐ฎ๐น acquires Aktore ๐บ๐ธ for $95 per share in cash, implying an enterprise value of about $3.8B (โฌ3.3B). Maker of electrical, security and infrastructure products.
- NXP Semiconductors ๐ณ๐ฑ is in talks to buy Ambarella ๐บ๐ธ for $3.8B.
- Lovable ๐ธ๐ช acquires Nalvin ๐ธ๐ช in an acquiโhire of the AI-agent startup’s team.
- Lumina Crown ๐จ๐ฟ takes a 14% stake in Pirelli ๐ฎ๐น for $1.1B.
- CSG ๐จ๐ฟ acquires a stake in Pirelli ๐ฎ๐น for CZK24B. Becomes the third-largest shareholder.
- BoldMind Capital Partners ๐ท๐ด acquires Pall-Ex Romรขnia ๐ท๐ด for โฌ25M in a leveraged buyout supported by financing from Banca Transilvania. Seller was Delamode ltd ๐ฌ๐ง.
- FIFA ๐จ๐ญ scraps plans to sell a 20% stake in FIFA Forward Enterprise ๐จ๐ญ, a new $20B commercial vehicle, amid backlash.
- KKR ๐บ๐ธ nears a $4.3B takeover of Integer Holdings ๐บ๐ธ, a medical device outsourcing company.
- Ashland Forest ๐บ๐ธ and Amanda Staveley ๐ฌ๐ง take a 25% stake in West Ham United ๐ฌ๐ง from Vanessa Gold ๐ฌ๐ง for $200M.
- Bank of America ๐บ๐ธ acquires MDSec Consulting Limited ๐ฌ๐ง, a Cheshire-based information security consultancy providing penetration testing, red teaming and threat research, ~65 specialised professionals. Deal expected to complete Q4 2026.
- Ripple ๐บ๐ธ invests in Licuido ๐ฌ๐ง to scale operations and support development of digital capital markets infrastructure on the XRP Ledger (XRPL).
- Visa ๐บ๐ธ acquires BioCatch ๐ฎ๐ฑ for $2.4B in cash, a fraud-defense platform sold by funds advised by Permira and other shareholders.
- KKR ๐บ๐ธ acquires a 50% stake in TotalEnergies ๐ซ๐ท’s European onshore solar and wind portfolio for โฌ1.8B ($2.08B), a 1.2 GW portfolio operating across Germany, Spain, France and Poland.
- Couche-Tard ๐จ๐ฆ acquires ลปabka Group ๐ต๐ฑ for $8.7B. Parent of Circle K buys Polish retailer from CVC, Partners Group, and management.
- Brookfield ๐จ๐ฆ explores a $5B sale of NorthRiver ๐จ๐ฆ, a Canadian pipeline operator.
- BOX ๐จ๐ฆ merges with MEMX ๐บ๐ธ at a $2.3B valuation, with TMX investing $800M in cash and holding a 59% interest.
- Huaxin Building Materials ๐จ๐ณ acquires Holcim Group ๐จ๐ญ’s Philippines business for $810M.
- Mei Zhi Ming ๐จ๐ณ acquires a 22% stake in Haichang Ocean Park ๐จ๐ณ from former controlling shareholder Sunriver Starrysea Tourism.
- The Government of India ๐ฎ๐ณ sells up to a 6.5% stake in Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) ๐ฎ๐ณ for up to $3.3B, priced at 382 rupees per share at a 10% discount.
- BillDesk ๐ฎ๐ณ acquires Worldline ๐ซ๐ท’s payment activities in India for โฌ60M equity (EV โฌ37M), payments sector, with a long-term technology and software agreement.
- Ergรผn Holding ๐น๐ท acquires Otosende ๐น๐ท. Plans to strengthen the platform’s tech infrastructure, expand its service network and integrate Ergรผn’s customer base.
- Enlila ๐น๐ท acquires 50.1% of Crescenta Biosciences ๐บ๐ธ for $24M, a biotech deal targeting obesity, ageโrelated and chronic disease therapies.
๐บ๐ธ United States
- InfraRed Capital Partners ๐ฌ๐ง acquires a majority stake in Rail Modal Group ๐บ๐ธ, a U.S. inland intermodal rail terminal and export logistics platform. Founder Greg Oberting remains invested and will continue to lead the business.
- McNally Capital ๐บ๐ธ makes a majority investment in TENICA ๐บ๐ธ, a national security, intelligence, cyber, and space mission solutions provider. McNally partnered with Nio Advisors.
๐งณ Private Markets & VC
- ๐ฌ๐ง Silicon Ceiling. London-based Olix, led by 25-year-old James Dacombe, just hit a $3.3B valuation after a $312M funding round, proving there is no age limit on disrupting Nvidiaโs AI dominance. (Financial Times)
- ๐จ๐ฟ Fortune Teller. EP Group ๐จ๐ฟ lands at No. 179 on the Fortune Global 500, making Daniel Kลetรญnskรฝ the first Czech boss to break into the business big leagues. (Cc)
- ๐ช๐บ Fine Print. Anthropic and OpenAI face fresh scrutiny as the gains authority to demand model access and impose fines up to โฌ15M or 3% of turnover. (Cnbc)
- ๐ช๐บ Access Denied. The European Commission claims Temu ๐จ๐ณ refused to fully cooperate during a December search in Dublin, escalating its probe into possible unfair Chinese state support. (Startupcafe)
- ๐บ๐ธ Proof of Concept. OpenAI claims its unreleased Astra AI has solved 10 legendary unsolved math problems, publishing computer-verified proofs and daring mathematicians to check their work. (Webrazzi)
- ๐บ๐ธ Margin Call Me Maybe. Leopold Aschenbrennerโs AI hedge fund, Situational Awareness, lost $35B in weeks after a brutal July, surviving with just $10B and a Wall Street lesson he will not soon forget. (Boursier)
Fundraising
- Valar Atomics ๐บ๐ธ (Nuclear): $1B (Sequoia, Apandion Capital, Atreides Management, Conviction, Dream Ventures, HOF Capital, Point72, Riot Ventures, Snowpoint Ventures, Valor Equity Partners)
- Base Power ๐บ๐ธ (Energy): $1B (Ribbit, Addition, Valor Equity Partners, JPMorgan Chase Strategic Investment Group, Altimeter, D1 Capital Partners, Sands Capital, Coatue, Layer Global, Energy Impact Partners, Thrive Capital, a16z, Lightspeed, Trust Ventures, CapitalG)
- K2 Space ๐บ๐ธ (Aerospace): $500M (Kleiner Perkins, ICONIQ, CapitalG, Lightspeed, Altimeter, Spark Capital, Sands Capital, ARK Invest, T. Rowe Price Associates)
- Olix ๐ฌ๐ง (Semiconductors): $312M (Fundomo, Arm, Hudson River Trading, Reed Hastings, UK Sovereign AI fund)
- Mariana Minerals ๐บ๐ธ (Mining): $310M (Khosla Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Greenoaks, Halo Fund, Pax Ventures, StepStone Group, BHP Ventures, Washington Harbour Partners, Greycroft, General Innovation Capital Partners, Mitsubishi Corporation, In-Q-Tel, Earthshot Ventures)
- Xsight Labs ๐ฎ๐ฑ (Semiconductor): $300M (Fidelity)
- Horizon3 ๐บ๐ธ (Cybersecurity): $250M (NightDragon, NEA)
- Spur ๐บ๐ธ (Cybersecurity): $200M (Insight Partners)
- Simile ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $200M (Greenoaks, Index Ventures, Hanabi, Bain Capital Ventures, A, Factory, Definition, CVS Health Ventures)
- CAIS ๐บ๐ธ (Fintech): $170M (Vista Equity Partners, AllianceBernstein L.P., funds managed by Blue Owl Capital, Carlyle, Fortress Investment Group, Golub Capital, Lord Abbett, Royal Bank of Canada)
- Eliyan ๐บ๐ธ (Semiconductors): $145M (Seligman Ventures, Cisco Systems, Lumentum)
- ChipAgents ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $134M (Bessemer Venture Partners)
- Zenity ๐บ๐ธ (AI security): $125M (Norwest, Qumra Capital, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Hitachi Ventures, LG Technology Ventures, Vertex Ventures, Third Point Ventures, DTCP, Intel Capital)
- Onyx ๐บ๐ธ (Cybersecurity): $113M (Bessemer Venture Partners, Cyberstarts, TCV, Conviction, FirstMark, Vintage, QuantumLight, G Squared)
- Zepto ๐ฎ๐ณ (Rapid-commerce): $100M (Nexus Venture Partners, General Catalyst, others)
- groundcover ๐บ๐ธ (Observability): $100M (One Peak, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, Zeev Ventures, Angular Ventures, Heavybit, Jibe)
- Freehand ๐บ๐ธ (Supply chain): $75M (Battery Ventures, NewRoad Capital Partners, PSP Growth, Nexus Venture Partners)
- SHINE Technologies ๐บ๐ธ (Fusion): $70M (Baillie Gifford, Fidelity)
- Fish Audio ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $52M (Coreline Ventures, Capital Today, 359 Capital, Parable, Play Time, Alphalist Partners, Bayhouse Ventures, Carya Venture Partners, HF0)
- inforcer ๐ฌ๐ง (Cybersecurity): $50M (Insight Partners, Meritech Capital, Dawn Capital)
- Drivalia ๐ฎ๐น (Mobility): โฌ48M (European Investment Bank)
- DataBahn ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $40M (Insight Partners)
- CoreMap ๐บ๐ธ (Medtech): $37M (Medtronic)
- Dash Bio ๐บ๐ธ (Biotech): $30M (Oak HC/FT, Freestyle Capital, Swift Ventures)
- Revoy (Mobility): $27M (Standard Capital)
- Greyparrot ๐ฌ๐ง (Waste): $27M (Omar Mir)
- Agon ๐ฌ๐ง (Defense AI): ยฃ22.5m
- Dili ๐บ๐ธ (AI compliance): $21,7M (Khosla Ventures, Allianz, Rebel Fund, Brick and Mortar Ventures, Garry Tan)
- Keiron ๐ณ๐ฑ (DeepTech): โฌ20.7M (Invest-NL, DeepTechXL, Waves Capital, Ramphastos Investments, ATUM Ventures, Cottonwood Technology Fund, TNO Ventures)
- Bloom Security ๐บ๐ธ (Cybersecurity): $20M
- Terminal Technologies ๐จ๐ฆ (Telematics): $20M (Battery Ventures, Intact Private Capital, Penske Corp., Y Combinator, Wayfinder Ventures)
- Aiforia ๐ซ๐ฎ (Healthcare): โฌ20M (European Investment Bank)
- Balance Theory ๐บ๐ธ (Cybersecurity): $19M (SYN Ventures, DataTribe, TEDCO)
- Milo ๐ช๐ธ (Animation): โฌ18.8M (Planeta Junior, Amuse Animation, SETT)
- AI Infrastructure Capital AG ๐จ๐ญ (AI infrastructure): โฌ16M (Valyou investment foundation)
- Nuclear Turbines ๐ฌ๐ง (Nuclear): ยฃ15M (IQ Capital, Rhapsody Venture Partners, Zero Carbon Capital, Empirical Ventures, BAE Systems)
- Qureight ๐ฌ๐ง (Medtech): ยฃ15M
- Tasklet ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $13M (Union Square Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Jeff Dean, Patrick Collison, John Collison, Oleka Capital)
- Smallest.ai ๐บ๐ธ (Voice AI): $13M (Seligman Ventures, Sierra Ventures, 3one4 Capital)
- Axis Robotics ๐บ๐ธ (Robotics): $12M (Hack VC)
- UNIT AI ๐บ๐ธ (Warehouse automation): $12M (Prologis Ventures, Dynamo Ventures, Ground Up Ventures, eGateway Capital, Recursive Ventures, Think + Ventures, ZEP Fund, Crosscourt)
- PadelCity ๐ฉ๐ช (Sports): โฌ12M (Compagnie des Alpes, Joshua Kimmich, Tommy Haas, Mats Hummels, Holger Hรผbner, Leon Szeli, Bernhard Schadeberg, Donata Hopfen)
- Ellis ๐บ๐ธ (Fintech): $11M (First Round Capital)
- Modus ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $10M (Insight Partners)
- Pangram ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $9M (Menlo Ventures, Haystack, ScOp, Script Capital, Cadenza)
- Ahead Health ๐จ๐ญ (HealthTech): โฌ8.7M (3VC, RTP Global)
- Intropy ๐ฌ๐ง (Supply chain): ยฃ8.17m
- Intelligence ๐บ๐ธ (AI): $7.9M (Index Ventures, Conviction (Sarah Guo, Mike Vernal), A*, Valkyrie)
- Pstryk ๐ต๐ฑ (Energy): โฌ7M (Future Energy Ventures, Axpo, Montis, existing investors)
- Perceptron ๐ฌ๐ง (AI): $6.5M (Sigma Capital, Selini Capital, QCP Capital, P2 Ventures, CoinDCX Ventures, Momentum6, DeFi Capital, Walrus Foundation, Aethir, Colosseum, GuruDev Capital, Tempo Finance, NewTribe Capital, Digital Consensus Fund, CodeCraft Capital)
- FAST Metals ๐บ๐ธ (Mining): $4.3M (New Climate Ventures, Azolla Ventures, Humba Ventures, Astor Swiss, Rio Tinto, Founders Factory)
- Social Investment Scotland ๐ฌ๐ง (Impact finance): ยฃ3.5m (British Business Bank)
- 5U AI ๐ฉ๐ช (FreightTech): $3.2M (Emerge Capital, Inari, angel investors)
- Aflabox ๐ฎ๐น (Agritech): โฌ1.35M (FoodSeed, Eatable Adventures, Farming Future, CDP Venture Capital SGR, ToSeed & Partners)
- Bugsense Diagnostics ๐ฉ๐ช (Medtech): โฌ1.23M (EXIST-Forschungstransfer, Bundesministerium fรผr Wirtschaft und Energie)
- Sigvi ๐ฑ๐น (Mobility): โฌ1.2M (Superhero Capital, Vladas Laลกas)
- Apolownia ๐ซ๐ท (Conservation): โฌ1M (LITA, Bpifrance, business angels, individual investors)
- TaskHer ๐ฌ๐ง (Home services): ยฃ650k
- Mimir ๐ณ๐ด (AI): $600K
- Kinematic Trees ๐ฌ๐ง (Robotics): ยฃ585K (Haatch SEIS Fund, D2N2 Early-Stage Angel Investment Fund, British Business Bank Syndicate Fund)
Fund Watch
- KKR ๐บ๐ธ: $19.2B (Global Infrastructure Investors V, Core+ infrastructure fund)
- Korea Investment Corporation ๐ฐ๐ท: $14B (capital injection to SWF for AI, data centers, infrastructure)
- Ares ๐บ๐ธ: $13B (private credit funds, $13B equity commitments in Q2)
- Manulife | Comvest Credit Partners ๐จ๐ฆ: $5.4B (CCP VII, flagship North American middle-market direct lending fund)
- Index Ventures ๐ฌ๐ง: $3.5B (closed new funds: $400M seed, $900M venture, $700M growth. Multi-stage VC)
- Highland Europe ๐ฌ๐ง: โฌ1.1B (Fund VI, growth-stage tech fund for European scaleups)
- Space-Eyes ๐บ๐ธ: $640M (SPAC merger with McKinley Acquisition Corp. Trump family-backed defense tech)
- Cynosure Partners ๐บ๐ธ: $270M (CV for RIA rollup Savant Wealth Management, led by Hamilton Lane)
- Savano Capital Partners ๐บ๐ธ: $250M (4th fund, VC secondaries)
- British Business Bank ๐ฌ๐ง: ยฃ55.6M (commitment to Highland Europe Technology Growth Fund VI, โฌ1.1B growth equity fund)
- Nuggit ๐ฌ๐ง: ยฃ5M (Creator Support Fund, growth fund for UK YouTubers)
๐IPO
- Westinghouse ๐บ๐ธ (Nuclear): filed confidentially for an IPO after being acquired for $8B in 2023 by Brookfield and Cameco.
- Apnimed ๐บ๐ธ (Biotech): raised $192M in an upsized IPO priced at a $1B market cap, shares jumped 56%.
- Seven & i Holdings ๐ฏ๐ต (Retail): raising $1.8B in a private share placement from SoftBank, PayPay and SMFG.
- Shein ๐ญ๐ฐ (Fashion): may offer cash and extra Class B shares to late-stage investors to reset costs for an expected ~$40B Hong Kong IPO valuation.
- Dhoot Transmission ๐ฎ๐ณ (Automotive): Bain Capital-owned Dhoot Transmission is seeking to raise $325M an India IPO.
๐งณ Debt
- iwoca ๐ฌ๐ง: secured a ยฃ250M debt facility.
- Nexus Data Centers ๐บ๐ธ: in advanced talks to raise $15B for a Texas campus tied to Anthropic, with Google offering guarantees and chips.
- Function ๐บ๐ธ: raised $450M in growth financing from General Catalyst.
- Bolivia ๐ง๐ด: agreed a new $1.9B financing program with the IMF.
๐บ๐ธ United States
- NYC office project near Grand Central ๐บ๐ธ: landed a $1.2B loan.
โ Failures
- Aston Martin ๐ฌ๐ง: creditors threaten legal action over a contentious ยฃ550mn HPS financing tied to the planned sale of branding rights.
- Boston Scientific ๐บ๐ธ: after approving a $700โ800M global restructuring that includes headcount reductions, the medtech plans layoffs at its Irish sites employing over 7,000.
- Hughes Network Systems ๐บ๐ธ: filed for Chapter 11 seeking relief for a $1.5B debt that matured Aug. 1.
- Radiant World ๐ฎ๐ณ: major iron-ore supplier cut off by Glencore, Vitol and Cargill over suspected fake invoices, while creditors Intesa Sanpaolo and Jefferies review their exposure.
๐ฏ For a Few More Minutesโฆ
- ๐ซ๐ท Eye Share. The Be My Eyes app lets sighted volunteers assist blind and visually impaired people by video call, with a voice-activated version coming soon for even easier access. (Ouest-France)
- ๐ธ๐ช Deal or No Deal. Harry Stebbings says his quick dismissal of Neko Healthโs pitch turned into a $500M regret, now immortalized on LinkedIn. (Breakit)
- ๐ต๐ญ Shock Value. Meralco ๐ต๐ญ is set to return $156M to its customers, showing that sometimes the real jolt comes from the bill, not the power line. (Bloomberg)