Yale University is considering unloading a sizeable portion of its private equity holdings in what could be one of the largest secondary offerings by an academic endowment.

The $41.4 billion endowment has hired Evercore to solicit bids for a package of buyout and venture capital commitments, according to people familiar with the matter. While Yale hasn’t set a hard target, Secondaries Investor reports the portfolio is expected to approach $6 billion in net asset value, putting it on par with—or larger than—2023’s record-setting University of Pennsylvania transaction.

Yale pioneered the endowment model that emphasized illiquid alternatives but, alongside other peers, is facing funding pressures following the Trump administration's halt to federal research grants.

Endowments are up against the same exit slowdown and sluggish distributions as everyone else, which has lengthened cash-return cycles and forced institutions to fund scholarships, labs, and capital projects out of public markets holdings or fresh debt.

Trump has also threatened to revoke endowment tax-exempt status—initially singling out Harvard—which would make donor fundraising more challenging and risk future funding gaps.

Other universities are taking similar action on liquidity measures: Harvard is lining up $750 million of taxable bonds, Brown tapped a $300 million term loan this month, and Princeton is weighing a $320 million bond sale.

“We want the option value of cash, we want the liquidity,” Northwestern University chief investment officer Amy Falls told a Bloomberg conference in March, explaining her own decision to trim private-equity exposure. "If something happens and we have to take money out of the endowment, we can.”

Yale's decision may also have more fundamental motivations.

The endowment posted a 5.7 percent return for the June 2024 fiscal year, lagging many of its peers. The endowment no longer discloses precise asset class weights, but estimates are that roughly a third of the university's total assets are allocated to private equity and venture.

A $6 billion sale would, therefore, translate into around 40 percent of private holdings, suggesting a larger strategic shift rather than temporary pruning.

A spokesperson said Yale “remains committed to private equity and continues to make new commitments,” adding that any transaction would be driven by “long-term portfolio construction.”

The spokesperson declined to provide specifics on timing or size, but initial bids are expected to be due in early summer.

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• Affiliated Managers Group (NYSE: AMG) agreed to acquire a minority stake in Verition Fund Management, a multi-strategy investment firm with $12.6 billion in assets under management.

• Wise Road Capital is weighing a sale of UTAC, a Singapore-based semiconductor assembly and testing company that could fetch around $3 billion, per Bloomberg.

• Stone Point Capital is in advanced talks to acquire a $2 billion stake in Ultimus Fund Solutions, a Cincinnati-based fund administration services provider, from GTCR, per WSJ.

• KKR offered to acquire Biotage, a Swedish life sciences company, for $1.2 billion, representing a 60 percent premium on the company's last closing share price.

• KKR and I Squared Capital are among bidders for PAL Cooling Holding, an Abu Dhabi district cooling business owned by Multiply Group, in a deal potentially worth around $1 billion, per Reuters.

• Carlyle Group is in talks to serve as a white knight buyer for Makino Milling Machine, which received an unsolicited $1.6 billion takeover bid from Nidec, per Reuters.

• TZP Group and GCP Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in Superscapes, a Texas-based commercial landscaping services provider, from Crux Capital.

• Littlejohn Capital acquired 3P Processing, a Wichita-based provider of metal finishing services for aerospace, from Spell Capital Partners.

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• J.C. Flowers & Co. agreed to acquire Admiral Group's (LSE: ADM) US motor insurance operations, including Elephant Insurance, for a cash consideration approximately equal to the business's net asset value.

• Investindustrial agreed to acquire DCC Healthcare, a nutritional supplements manufacturer and medical products distributor, from DCC plc (LSE: DCC) for £1.05 billion.

• MidOcean Partners agreed to acquire GSTV, a video advertising network across 29,000 fuel retailers, from Rockbridge Growth Equity for around $550 million, with the seller retaining a minority stake.

• Serent Capital invested in PlotBox, a provider of cemetery, crematory, and funeral home management software.

• SitelogIQ, an AEA Investors portfolio company, acquired Path Company, a provider of energy services to municipal and higher education markets in the Southeastern U.S.

• Cumming Group, a portfolio company of New Mountain Capital and Tailwind Capital, merged with World Wide Professional Services, a Phoenix-based semiconductor advisory firm with 230 staff members.

• SePRO Corporation, a portfolio company of Stanley Capital Partners and Goldman Sachs Alternatives, acquired Green Eyes, a lab technology company specializing in field-based water nutrient analysis.

• Azureon, a portfolio company of O2 Investment Partners, acquired Northern Pool & Spa, a Maine-based pool maintenance and construction company.

• Superior Concrete Products, a portfolio company of MAG Capital Partners, acquired AFTEC, a Salt Lake City-based provider of precast concrete wall-forming systems.

• ONDEX Automation, a Shore Capital Partners portfolio company, acquired NeoMatrix, a factory automation system integrator.

• Integrated Diagnostic Services, a platform sponsored by HCAP Partners, acquired First Choice Mobile Radiology, a provider of mobile imaging services in Southern California.

• Waud Capital Partners acquired MedTec Healthcare, an Illinois-based provider of in-home care and adult day services.

• Marlin Equity Partners acquired a majority stake in Didomi, a French provider of data privacy and consent management software, which concurrently acquired server-side tagging platform Addingwell.

• Stone Ridge Holdings Group acquired Wincoram Asset Management, a capital solutions provider to physical and financial energy markets.

• Argand Partners acquired Capezio, a Totowa, N.J.-based dancewear brand that manufactures technical footwear and apparel, from the Terlizzi and Giacoio family who owned it for nearly 140 years.

• Creator Partners and Servco agreed to acquire Reverb, an online marketplace for musical instruments and equipment, from Etsy (Nasdaq: ETSY).

• Autodoc, an Apollo-owned German auto parts marketplace, is preparing for a potential 2025 IPO.

• Coral Tree Partners invested in Innovative Artists, a Santa Monica-based talent agency.

• TPG (Nasdaq: TPG) and Temasek acquired minority stakes in Cliffwater, a Marina del Rey-based alternative investment adviser and fund manager, joining existing investor TA Associates.

• Tecum Capital invested in Marcy Laboratories, a Glendale Heights, Illinois-based contract manufacturer for fragrance brands.

• Argand Partners completed a dividend recapitalization for its portfolio company Sigma Engineered Solutions, a Gardner, N.C.-based provider of precision metal components.

• 2ndWave Software, a PSG portfolio company, agreed to acquire JAMS, a workload automation and job scheduling software provider, from TA Associates.

• VitalSource, a Francisco Partners-owned e-textbook provider, acquired RedShelf, a Chicago-based digital course materials distributor for higher education.

• Fixated, backed by Eldridge Industries, acquired creator economy talent agencies CAMP Talent and Moondust Management.

• UPS (NYSE: UPS) agreed to acquire Andlauer Healthcare Group (TSX: AND), a Canadian healthcare logistics and cold chain transportation provider, for CAD $2.2 billion in cash.

• MPE Partners invested in Intermatic, a Spring Grove, Illinois-based manufacturer of electrical and mechanical controls.

• Truelink Capital invested in Channel Factory, a Beverly Hills-based adtech company specializing in brand suitability and contextual targeting.

• Security 101, a portfolio company of Gemspring Capital, acquired Integrated Systems & Services, a New Jersey-based security systems integrator.

• Azuria Water Solutions, a St. Louis-based water infrastructure firm owned by New Mountain Capital, acquired TSW Utility Solutions, AM-Liner East, and C.K. Masonry Company, three specialized water infrastructure service providers.

• Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) has short-listed Royal Golden Eagle, Asia Pulp & Paper, and Suzano as final bidders for its international tissue business in a deal that could fetch around $4 billion, with binding offers due next month, per Reuters.

• UBS Group and General Atlantic are in advanced talks to form a private credit partnership, per Bloomberg.

• Logisteed, a Japanese logistics company owned by KKR, has selected Morgan Stanley to lead its planned Tokyo IPO, per Bloomberg.

• Bpifrance acquired a minority stake in Septeo, a French legal tech software provider, joining existing investor Hg.

Tech, Vertical SaaS, & Misc. Enterprise

• Chainguard, a software supply chain security platform, raised $356 million in Series D funding at a $3.5 billion valuation co-led by Kleiner Perkins and IVP, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Datadog Ventures, Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital, Amplify, Redpoint Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Mantis VC.

• Supabase, a Postgres database platform, raised $200 million in Series D funding led by Accel, with participation from Coatue, Y Combinator, Craft Ventures, and Felicis.

• Manychat, a conversational AI and automation platform for businesses, raised $140 million in Series B funding led by Summit Partners.

• Endor Labs, a security platform for AI-generated code and software supply chains, raised $93 million in Series B funding led by DFJ Growth, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Coatue, Dell Technologies Capital, Section 32, and Citi Ventures.

• Noxtua (formerly Xayn), a German legal AI platform, raised $92.2 million in Series B funding led by C.H. Beck, with participation from Northern Data Group, CMS, Dentons, Global Brain, and KDDI Open Innovation Fund.

• Instrumentl, a grant management platform for nonprofits and universities, raised $55 million in growth funding from Summit Partners.

• Sentra, a data security platform, raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Key1 Capital, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Zeev Ventures, Standard Investments, and Munich Re Ventures.

• Ocient, a Chicago-based data analytics software company, raised $42.1 million in Series B extension funding from Allstate Strategic Ventures, Blue Bear Capital, Solidigm, Massive, Zelkova, and Northwestern Mutual, bringing its total funding to $159.4 million.

• Cynomi, a virtual CISO platform for managed service providers, raised $37 million in Series B funding co-led by Insight Partners and Entrée Capital, with participation from Canaan, Flint Capital, and S16VC.

• Emmi AI, an Austrian startup using AI to accelerate physics simulations, raised €15 million in seed funding led by Speedinvest, with participation from 3VC, Serena, and PUSH Ventures.

• Ravenna, an enterprise service management platform for Slack, raised $15 million in pre-seed and seed funding co-led by Madrona and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Founders Co-op.

• Scamnetic, a Tampa-based scam detection platform, raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Roo Capital, with participation from 1st and Main Growth Partners, SaaS Ventures, and Riptide Ventures.

• Reco, a Miami-based SaaS security platform, raised $25 million in Series A extension funding from Insight Partners, Zeev Ventures, boldstart ventures, Angular Ventures, and Redseed, bringing its total funding to $55 million.

• Deep Infra, a Palo Alto-based cloud platform for AI model deployment, raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Felicis, with participation from Georges Harik.

• Miggo Security, a cybersecurity application detection and response platform, raised $17 million in Series A funding led by SYN Ventures, with participation from existing investor YL Ventures.

• Lace AI, a revenue intelligence platform for home service companies, raised $14 million in seed funding led by Bek Ventures, with participation from Horizon VC and Launchub.

• Neurolabs, a company providing image recognition services for CPG brands, raised $7.8 million in Series A funding led by Nauta Capital, with participation from LAUNCHub, Lunar Ventures, and Techstart.

• Cakewalk, a British AI agent developer for identity governance, raised $7.5 million in seed funding led by Kindred Capital and Vertex Ventures US, with participation from Fly Ventures and Seedcamp.

• Adaptive, a platform that lets non-coders create software using AI, raised $7 million in seed funding led by Pebblebed, with participation from Conviction Partners, Anti Fund, Radical Ventures, and Roblox founder David Baszucki.

• Amplifier Security, an Atlanta-based user security platform, raised $5.6 million in seed funding led by TechOperators, with participation from Cota Capital and WestWave Capital.

• HelloSky, a talent intelligence platform for executive search, raised $5.5 million in seed funding from Caldwell Partners, Karmel Capital, True Capital Partners, and Hunt Scanlon Ventures.

• Brandlight, an Israeli AI platform for optimizing brand visibility in AI-driven search results, raised $5.75 million in pre-seed funding co-led by Cardumen Capital and G20 Ventures.

• Respondology, a social media comment moderation platform, raised $5 million in Series A extension funding led by Iron Gate Capital, with participation from SJF Ventures, Zelkova Ventures, Boulder Heavy Industries, and RLB Holdings.

Fintech

• Altruist, a platform for investment advisors offering integrated custody and portfolio management, raised $152 million in Series F funding led by GIC, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Geodesic Capital, Baillie Gifford, ICONIQ Growth, and Carson Family Office, at a $1.9 billion valuation.

• Alpaca, a stock-trading API platform, raised $52 million in Series C funding led by Derayah Financial, with participation from 850 Management, National Investments Company Kuwait, Unbound, and Portage Ventures.

• Symbiotic, a protocol for cross-chain asset staking, raised $29 million in Series A funding led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Coinbase Ventures.

• Alternative Payments, a B2B payments and checkout infrastructure provider, raised $22 million in funding co-led by MissionOG and Third Prime.

• Froda, a Swedish SME lending platform, raised €20 million in Series B funding led by Incore Invest, with participation from existing investors.

• Salsa, a New York-based payroll infrastructure provider, raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Altos Ventures, with participation from Greycroft, SemperVirens, Definition, and Better Tomorrow Ventures.

• Arch Labs, a startup developing smart contract functionality for the Bitcoin blockchain, raised $13 million in Series A funding at a $200 million valuation led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Multicoin Capital.

• BitradeX, a London-based digital asset trading platform, raised £12 million in Series A funding led by Bain Capital.

• Hokodo, a digital trade credit provider for B2B transactions, raised €10 million in new funding co-led by Korelya Capital and Opera Tech Ventures, with participation from Mundi Ventures and Notion Capital.

• Bloom Credit, a credit data infrastructure platform, raised $10.5 million in Series A funding led by Crosslink Capital, with participation from Allegis Capital, CT Innovations and Commerce Ventures.

• ROH, a payments management platform for the hospitality industry, raised $9.2 million in Series A funding led by Highgate Technology Ventures and Acrew Capital, with participation from 1Sharpe Ventures, Founders Fund, Moore Specialty Credit, Correlation Ventures, SilverCircle, Cleo Capital, and GMO VenturePartners.

• Tally, a blockchain governance platform for token management and staking, raised $8 million in Series A funding co-led by AppWorks, Blockchain Capital, and 1kx, with participation from CyberFund, Placeholder, BitGo, and Bloccelerate.

• Cloud Capital, a UK and US-based platform for cloud infrastructure cost management, raised $5.4 million in seed funding led by Backed Ventures and Middlegame Ventures, with participation from DFF Ventures.

Healthcare

• Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-computer interface startup, is planning to raise $500 million in Series C funding at a pre-money valuation of $8.5 billion.

• Biolinq, a company developing wearable biosensors for glucose monitoring, raised $100 million in Series C funding led by Alpha Wave Ventures, with participation from RiverVest Venture Partners, AXA IM Alts, LifeSci Venture Partners, M Ventures, Hikma Ventures, Aphelion Capital, Taisho Pharmaceutical, and Features Capital.

• Granite Bio, an immunology company developing antibodies for inflammatory, autoimmune and fibrotic diseases, raised $70 million in Series B funding led by Forbion and Sanofi Ventures, with participation from Versant Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund.

• Grove Biopharma, a Chicago-based biotech developing synthetic biologics that target disease-causing proteins, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by DCVC Bio, with participation from Eli Lilly, InVivium Capital, Walder Ventures, Gradiant Corporation, Mansueto Investments, and Portal Innovations.

• Healthee, an AI platform for health benefits management, raised $50 million in Series B funding led by Key1 Capital, with participation from Fin Capital, Glilot Capital Partners, and Group11.

• Superpower, a health tech platform for biomarker testing and personalized healthcare, raised $30 million in Series A funding led by Forerunner Ventures, with participation from Day One Ventures, Susa Ventures, Long Journey Ventures, Family Fund, Opal Ventures, Valia Ventures, Visible Ventures, and Winklevoss Capital.

• Overture Life, an IVF automation startup for egg freezing and embryo handling, raised $20.6 million in strategic funding led by Overwater Ventures, with participation from GV and Khosla Ventures.

• Synthetic Design Lab, a San Francisco-based company developing antibody-drug conjugates for cancer treatment, raised $20 million in seed funding co-led by Playground Global and Godfrey Capital.

• Ascertain, a healthcare AI company providing case management solutions, raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Deerfield Management, with participation from Northwell Health.

• PhotoPharmics, a company developing light therapy for Parkinson's disease, raised $6 million in Series B extension funding led by Kickstart Fund.

Industrials, Greentech, & Other

• Electra, a Virginia-based developer of hybrid-electric short takeoff and landing aircraft, raised $115 million in Series B funding led by Prysm Capital, with participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, Honeywell, Safran, Statkraft Ventures, and Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation.

• Exowatt, a Miami-based company developing modular solar storage for data centers, raised $70 million in Series A funding led by Felicis Ventures, with $35 million in equity and $35 million in debt from HSBC Innovation Banking, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, 8090 Industries, Starwood Capital, Thrive Capital, MCJ Collective, MVP Ventures, GOAT VC, StepStone Group, and Atomic.

• Omnidian, a solar performance monitoring and guarantee platform, raised $33 million in Series B funding led by Activate Capital, with participation from Liberty Mutual Insurance, WIND Ventures, City Light Capital, IA Capital, Evergy Ventures, Avista Development, Congruent Ventures, Centrica, National Grid Partners, Energy Foundry and Blue Bear Capital.

• Northwood Space, a developer of phased array antennas for satellite communications, raised $30 million in Series A funding co-led by Alpine Space Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Also Capital, Founders Fund, StepStone Group, BoxGroup, Humba Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures, and Banter Capital.

• Irrigreen, an Edina, Minnesota-based smart irrigation systems developer, raised $19 million in Series A funding led by Natural Ventures, with participation from Burnt Island Ventures, Ulu Ventures, MFV Partners, Tamiami, and Sum Ventures.

• mirSense, a Paris-based developer of laser-based gas sensors, raised €7 million in Series A funding led by Safran Corporate Ventures, with participation from Supernova Invest, Polytechnique Ventures, and Crédit Agricole Alpes Développement.

• OnePlanet, a solar panel recycling startup that recovers critical materials from used solar panels, raised $7 million in seed funding led by Khasma Capital.

• CSignum, an underwater IoT communications company, raised £6 million in Series A funding led by Archangels, Par Equity, and Scottish Enterprise, with participation from British Business Investment, Raptor Group, Deep Future, and SeaAhead's Blue Angel Network.

• ChEmpower, a Portland-based company developing abrasive-free chip manufacturing technology, raised $18.7 million in Series A funding co-led by M Ventures and Rhapsody Venture Partners, with participation from Intel Capital, Pangaea Ventures, Foothill Ventures, In-Q-Tel, and TEL Venture Capital.

• OKAPI:Orbits, a German space traffic management startup, raised €13 million in seed funding led by Ventech, with participation from Matterwave Ventures and Amadeus APEX Technology Fund.

• Isembard, a London-based company operating automated factories for precision parts manufacturing, raised $9 million in seed funding led by Notion Capital, with participation from 201 Ventures, Basis Capital, Forward Fund, Material Ventures, Neverlift Ventures, and NP-Hard Ventures.

• LLR Partners raised $2.45 billion for its seventh middle market private equity fund.

• Five Arrows raised €2 billion for its sixth secondaries fund focused on middle market GP-led investments, doubling its previous fund size.

• Keppel Ltd. raised $1.5 billion across three vehicles: a data center fund, an education asset fund, and an urban renewal strategy.

• Venture Guides raised $262.5 million for its second fund focused on early-stage infrastructure software companies.

• Navis Capital Partners raised $230 million for a continuation fund led by TPG NewQuest to support K-12 education assets from its eighth fund.

• CIV raised $200 million for its debut fund focused on early-stage manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure startups.

• KOMPAS VC raised €150 million for its second fund focused on early-stage industrial technology investments.

• TDK Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Japan's TDK Corp., raised $150 million for its third fund focused on early-stage deeptech startups.

• RockawayX launched a $125 million early-stage crypto venture fund.

• Fluent Ventures, a San Francisco-based firm, raised $40 million for its debut fund focused on early-stage technology startups in fintech, health, and e-commerce sectors.

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