October 2025 showcased continued AI momentum with Cerebras' $1.1B Series G at an $8.1B valuation and Uniphore's $260M raise backed by NVIDIA, AMD, and Snowflake, while materials science captured marquee attention as Periodic Labs raised a $300M seed from a16z, DST, Nvidia, and Jeff Bezos. Infrastructure mega-deals dominated headlines with BlackRock pursuing a $38B AES acquisition—potentially one of the largest utility takeovers ever—and Carlyle-Qatar's $6.7B BASF coatings buyout signaling sovereign capital's appetite for industrial assets. Energy transition accelerated with Brookfield's $5B Bloom Energy investment and strong venture activity in wildfire defense (Seneca $60M) and electric mobility (Spiro $100M across Africa). Private equity returned to scale with Francisco Partners' $2.2B Jamf take-private and Advent's $1.3B Heidrick & Struggles acquisition, while the IPO market showed selective strength as Zijin Gold's $3.2B Hong Kong debut surged 68% and IonQ raised $2B for quantum computing expansion. Fintech infrastructure continued attracting capital with Kalshi hitting $5B valuation and Moniepoint crossing unicorn status, while healthcare innovation saw eight major rounds exceeding $40M as therapeutic breakthrough investing intensified.

AI & Machine Learning

• Cerebras Systems raised a $1.1B Series G at an $8.1B valuation led by Fidelity Management & Research and Atreides Management for wafer-scale AI chips (Cerebras).

• Uniphore raised a $260M Series F at a $2.5B pre-money valuation with strategic investments from NVIDIA, AMD, Snowflake, and Databricks for AI workflow automation (CMSWire).

• Sesame raised a $250M Series B led by Sequoia for conversational AI technology and lightweight smart glasses (Techcrunch).

• EvenUp raised a $150M Series E at a $2B valuation led by Bessemer Venture Partners for AI-powered personal injury law solutions (EvenUp).

• Vercel raised a $300M Series F at a $9.3B valuation co-led by Accel and GIC for AI-web services cloud platform (Vercel).

• Eve raised a $103M Series B at a $1B valuation led by Spark Capital for AI-native legal tech (Eve Legal).

• Modal Labs raised an $87M Series B at a $1.1B valuation led by Lux Capital for AI-native cloud platform (Modal).

• UnifyApps raised a $50M Series B at a $250M+ valuation led by WestBridge Capital for enterprise AI automation (UnifyApps).

• Serval raised a $47M Series A led by Redpoint Ventures for AI-powered IT service management automation (Serval).

• Hyro raised a $45M round led by Healthier Capital for AI agents handling healthcare patient interactions (Hyro).

Fintech & Payments

• Kalshi raised a $300M round at a $5B valuation co-led by Sequoia Capital and a16z for predictions marketplace (Kalshi).

• Viamericas raised a $113.6M round led by Old National Bank for remittance and international money transfer services (FinTech Futures).

• Moniepoint raised a $90M Series C extension at a $1B+ post-money valuation with investors including Visa for African financial platform (Bloomberg).

• Anrok raised a $55M Series C led by Spark Capital for AI-powered global sales tax compliance automation (Anrok).

• Hyperlayer raised a $40.1M round led by CDAM for programmable accounts and cash management tools for financial institutions (CityAM).

• Sumble raised a $30M Series A led by Canaan Partners (plus $8.5M seed led by Coatue) for surfacing company context for sales teams (Techcrunch).

HealthTech & Biotech

• Elevara Medicines raised a $70M Series A co-led by Forbion and Sofinnova Partners for immunotherapies for chronic inflammatory diseases (BioSpace).

• Cala Health raised a $50M round co-led by Vertex Growth Fund and Nexus NeuroTech Ventures for noninvasive wearable neuromodulation therapies (Startup Health)

• Expedition Medicines raised a $50M seed led by Flagship Pioneering for generative AI and quantum chemistry drug design (Flagship Pioneering).

• Chemify raised a $50M+ Series B co-led by Wing Venture Capital and Insight Partners for AI and robotics automating molecular design and synthesis (Businesswire).

• Curve Biosciences raised a $40M round led by Luma Group for AI-powered platform detecting and monitoring chronic disease (Businesswire).

• Affinia Therapeutics raised a $40M Series C led by New Enterprise Associates for cardiovascular and neurological disease drug development (Yahoo Finance).

• Lumen Bioscience raised a $30M Series C extension led by WestRiver Group for orally-delivered biologics (GeekWire).

• knownwell raised a $25M round led by CVS Health Ventures for hybrid primary and metabolic care for obesity patients (Businesswire).

Enterprise Software & SaaS

• ConductorOne raised a $79M Series B led by Greycroft with participation from CrowdStrike Falcon Fund for AI-powered identity security (ConductorOne).

• Findem raised a $51M Series C led by SLW for AI tools identifying and managing job candidates (Findem).

• Vibe.co raised a $50M Series B led by Hedosophia for CTV ad-tech (Vibe.Co)

• Starbridge raised a $42M Series A led by Craft Ventures for helping sales teams find public sector contract opportunities (Techcrunch).

• Green Cabbage raised a $40M Series B led by Sageview Capital for procurement intelligence (PRNewswire).

• Scorability raised a $40M round led by Bluestone Equity Partners for college-recruiting platform (CNBC).

• RunBuggy raised a $37M Series B led by Centana Growth Partners for logistics tech platform for automotive transport (RunBuggy).

• Descope raised a $35M seed extension from Notable Capital, Lightspeed, and Dell Technologies Capital for no-code identity and access management (Descope).

Energy & Sustainability

• Spiro raised a $100M round co-led by The Fund for Export Development for electric motorbikes and battery-swapping network across Africa (Techcrunch).

• Seneca raised a $60M round co-led by Caffeinated Capital and Convective Capital for autonomous aerial systems for wildfire detection and suppression (Robot Report).

• Corvus Energy raised a $60M Series E led by 1GT for low-carbon energy storage systems for vessels (ESG News).

• Arbor Energy raised a $55M Series A co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Voyager Ventures for modular zero-emission gas turbines (Businesswire).

• Frontline Wildfire Defense raised a $48M Series A led by Norwest for wildfire defense (Axios).

Consumer & E-Commerce

• Fruitist raised a $150M round led by J.P. Morgan Asset Management for superfruit snack brand (The Tech Buzz).

• ShopMy raised a $70M round at a $1.5B+ valuation led by Avenir for creator commerce infrastructure (PRNewswire).

• Refurbed raised a $58.8M round co-led by Alex Zubillaga and Orilla for refurbished electronics marketplace (VestBee).

• CourtReserve raised a $54M round led by Mainsail Partners for club management software for racquet and paddle sports (Mainsail Partners).

Defense & Security

• HavocAI raised an $85M round from B Capital, In-Q-Tel, and Lockheed Martin for maritime autonomous systems (Fortune).

• Hoverfly Technologies raised a $20M Series B led by Leonardo DRS and Korea Robot Manufacturing for tethered drone systems (Aviation Week Network).

Materials Science & Advanced Tech

• Periodic Labs raised a $300M seed from a16z, DST, Nvidia, Accel, Elad Gil, Jeff Bezos, and others for materials-science automation (Techcrunch).

Technology

• Francisco Partners agreed to take Jamf private for $2.2B (Apple device management and security for organizations) (Jamf).

• Advent International and Corvex Private Equity agreed to take Heidrick & Struggles International private for approximately $1.3B (leadership advisor) (Advent).

• Percheron Capital completed a $1.63B recapitalization of Big Brand Tire & Service with Blue Owl Capital, ICONIQ, and Warburg Pincus (Percheron).

• Spectrum Equity invested $180M in CyberCube (cyber risk modeling and analytics) (Spectrum Equity).

• Motive Partners invested $100M in Electric Mind (Toronto business and technology consulting company) (themiddlemarket).

• EQT Growth invested €50M ($58.6M) in Harvey (AI technology for legal and professional services) (EQT).

Consumer & Retail

• Forward Consumer Partners acquired a majority stake in Justin's (Boulder nut butters and confections company) from Hormel Foods (Food Dive).

• Uncommon Equity acquired HopCat (Grand Rapids casual dining chain) (Businesswire).

Industrial & Manufacturing

• Davis-Standard (Gamut Capital Management) acquired FB Balzanelli (Milan automatic and semi-automatic coilers manufacturer) (Davis-Standard).

• Infinity Engineered Products (Turnspire Capital Partners) acquired Meklas Otomotiv (Bursa air springs manufacturer) (Businesswire).

• GenNx360 Capital Partners agreed to acquire Heartland Business Solutions (Little Chute IT services company) from A&M Capital (Businesswire).

Healthcare & Pharma

• Permira is considering a sale of pharmaceutical company Neuraxpharm at a $3.5B-$4.7B valuation (Bloomberg).

• Warburg Pincus is in advanced talks to acquire a 30% stake in French diagnostics provider Sebia at a $6.4B valuation (Bloomberg).

🏢 Corporates

Energy & Infrastructure

• BlackRock-owned Global Infrastructure Partners is nearing a $38B deal to acquire utility group AES in what may be one of the largest infrastructure takeovers ever (Reuters).

• Carlyle and Qatar's SWF QIA agreed to acquire a majority stake in German chemicals giant BASF's auto coatings business for $6.7B (BASF).

• Brookfield agreed to invest $5B in $25B-listed energy-storage company Bloom Energy (Bloom Energy).

• I Squared Capital is planning a bid for German media group Ströer's core advertising business which could fetch a $4.1B valuation (Bloomberg).

• Brookfield agreed to acquire the remaining 26% stake it doesn't already own in Oaktree for $3B (BAM).

• I Squared Capital is nearing a deal to acquire recycling platform Liberty Tire Recycling from Energy Capital Partners for $1.5B including debt (I Squared).

• UK supply chain infrastructure firm Tritax Big Box agreed to acquire UK logistics assets from Blackstone in a $1.3B cash-and-stock deal (Tritax Big Box).

• Berkshire Hathaway is in talks to buy Occidental Petroleum's petrochemical business OxyChem for $10B (Oxy).

Financial Services

• French lender Credit Agricole discussed a possible tie-up between $22B-Italian lender Banco BPM and Credit Agricole's Italian unit (Reuters).

• Spanish lender Banco Sabadell rejected rival BBVA's $20B takeover offer on valuation concerns (action news).

• Japan's largest lender MUFG is in advanced talks to acquire a 20% stake in Indian shadow lender Shriram Finance for $2.6B (Reuters).

• Goldman Sachs agreed to acquire $7B AUM Industry Ventures in a $965M cash and stock deal (Reuters).

Healthcare & Pharma

• Johnson & Johnson is in talks to acquire $5.5B-listed biotech Protagonist Therapeutics (Reuters).

• Bristol Myers Squibb agreed to acquire biotech Orbital Therapeutics for $1.5B cash (Chemical & Engineering News).

• Veeam agreed to acquire Securiti AI for $1.7B in cash and stock (data resilience and enterprise data management) (Veeam).

Technology & Software

• Heavy machinery giant Caterpillar agreed to acquire Australian mining software firm RPMGlobal for $730M (Caterpillar).

• Meta plans to buy chip startup Rivos (Reuters).

• Coinbase agreed to acquire Echo for roughly $375M (London startup enabling crypto companies to raise capital on blockchain) (Coinbase).

• Dataminr agreed to acquire ThreatConnect for $290M (cyberthreat intelligence and risk quantification) (Dataminr).

Media & Entertainment

• Lottery operator Allwyn and Greece's OPAP agreed to merge in an $18.6B all-stock deal to create one of Europe's biggest gambling firms (Allwyn).

• French media company Canal+ acquired a 94% stake in South Africa's MultiChoice Group at a $3.2B valuation (WSJ).

• $2.3B-listed dating app Grindr is in talks for a management buyout (LATimes).

• Gaming giant Genting made a $1.6B takeover bid to privatize its Malaysian unit Genting Malaysia (GuruFocus).

• An investor group led by real estate mogul Patrick Zalupski agreed to acquire MLB's Tampa Bay Rays from Stu Sternberg for $1.7B (MLB).

• Blackstone is weighing an offer to acquire $2.2B-listed UK storage landlord Big Yellow Group (Reuters).

📈 IPOs, Direct Listings, & SPAC’s

• Zijin Gold International surged 68% in its Hong Kong trading debut after raising $3.2B in the world's biggest IPO since May (Mining.com).

• IonQ raised $2B in a share and warrants sale to Susquehanna-affiliate Heights Capital Management (quantum computing firm) (IonQ).

• Korean electronics conglomerate LG Electronic's India arm is seeking to raise $1.9B at an $8.7B valuation in its India IPO (Yahoo Finance).

• Tokenization firm Securitize is in talks to merge with Cantor Fitzgerald SPAC Cantor Equity Partners III in a $1B+ deal (CNBC).

• Enterprise travel software firm Navan is seeking to raise $960M in an IPO (last valued at $9.2B in 2022) (The Economic Times).

• Data center REIT Fermi raised $682.5M in an IPO priced near the top of a marketed range (Reuters).

• Chinese robot maker AgiBot is planning a Hong Kong IPO at a ~$6B valuation (Reuters).

• Brazilian mobile banking app PicPay is seeking to raise $500M in a US IPO (Yahoo Finance).

• Hong Kong crypto exchange HashKey Group confidentially filed for a Hong Kong IPO which could raise $500M (Bloomberg).

• Flood insurer Neptune raised $368M at a $2.8B valuation in its IPO (The Business Journals).

💰 Debt & Structured Finance

• Kuwait raised $11.25B in its first eurobond sale since 2017 (Medial).

• Morgan Stanley is selling a SRT tied to a $6B portfolio of private market loans (Yahoo Finance).

• SoftBank is in talks for a $5B margin loan backed by chipmaker Arm stock (Reuters).

• Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are working on a $4.7B debt package for Carlyle's $6.7B acquisition of BASF's coatings business (Bloomberg).

• Indonesia's SWF Danantara received sufficient pledges from wealthy tycoons for its plan to issue $3B of 'patriot' bonds (GuruFocus).

• A consortium of banks led by Santander will be forced to hold a portion of the $2.7B debt supporting Thoma Bravo's $1.7B LBO of Verint Systems (LinkedIn).

• Biotech Thermo Fisher Scientific raised $2.5B in its first bond sale since 2023 (Bloomberg).

• Five Point-backed WaterBridge Infrastructure raised $1.4B in senior unsecured notes (Businesswire).

• Spirit Airlines signed a $475M DIP agreement with bond holders (AeroTime).

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