Private Equity 24-Hour Briefing
×Last updated: November 3, 2026, 4:40 AM ET
Venture & AI Funding
Creandum sifted.eu raised $750m for its largest-ever fund, betting on the AI boom and backing companies such as Lovable. Trajectory raised $45M techcrunch.com to make AI model training accessible to nontechnical experts, and the one-year-old startup is now valued at $300 million. Europe's deep-tech scene is also drawing capital, with Hypersonica securing €100m sifted.eu from Lightspeed and General Catalyst as missile defence demand rises. Meanwhile, a mapping of 74 European photonics startups sifted.eu shows light-based technology emerging as a power source for AI data centers.
Venture Concentration
Record venture funding in 2026 is increasingly concentrated in a small number of massive AI rounds, according to Crunchbase News news.crunchbase.com, even as total dollars hit new highs. The gap between headline totals and the number of checks written underscores how narrowly capital is flowing.
Large Buyouts & Infrastructure
Stonepeak has completed its acquisition of a 65% controlling stake peinsights.substack.com in Castrol from bp, a deal that values the lubricants business at $8bn, with bp banking $6bn. Stonepeak also closed its purchase of Estia Health peinsights.substack.com as Bain exits the Australian aged care operator. Blackstone Credit & Insurance has led a $3.1bn investor group into Mitsubishi's LNG Canada stake peinsights.substack.com alongside four Canadian institutional investors.
Fund Launches & Continuation Vehicles
Apollo has launched European Credit Company peinsights.substack.com, a standalone lending platform with $11.5bn of capacity. AE Industrial Partners closed an $850m continuation vehicle peinsights.substack.com for its Blue Raven asset, led by Lexington. Lazard completed its acquisition of Campbell Lutyens peinsights.substack.com and merged it into the newly formed Lazard CL.
Aviation & Nature Finance
I Squared Capital and ADIA are backing Avolon's new aircraft leasing platform peinsights.substack.com with a $1.4bn seed portfolio. Separately, Eurazeo has been appointed to manage a $40m nature investment fund peinsights.substack.com backed by Bank of America and King Charles' Sustainable Markets Initiative.
Deal Dealmaking Ahead
Apollo takes a minority stake peinsights.substack.com in Mubadala Capital, one of several notable moves in this week's private equity roundup. The Tech Crunch Founder Summit takes place November 4 in Boston techcrunch.com, focused on founders building outside Silicon Valley.
Coming Up
The Tech Crunch Founder Summit happens November 4 techcrunch.com in Boston.