Private Equity 24-Hour Briefing

Last updated: November 6, 2026, 3:40 PM ET

Venture Funding

This week brought another wave of large rounds, with AI, defense and space tech news.crunchbase.com companies leading the biggest raises. October was similarly busy for U.S. startup dealmaking, as General Catalyst news.crunchbase.com topped the list of lead investors. Challengers to dominant players are also drawing attention, with AI chip startups news.crunchbase.com arguing they can erode Nvidia's position by building focused alternatives.

Buyout and Fund Activity

Fundraising continues to strengthen, with private equity fundraising peinsights.substack.com reaching a $27bn milestone this year, led by Advent's $30bn raise. Sagard closed a record peinsights.substack.com emerging manager fund at €520m ($600m). On the deal front, Silver Lake and Saudi Arabia's PIF have held talks peinsights.substack.com on a roughly $25bn take-private of Unity following the EA deal. Ares has also deepened its exposure peinsights.substack.com to Equinox, supplying equity capital alongside its lending role as the company lines up $1bn for growth.

Exits and European Markets

PAI and ICG are preparing to exit StellaGroup peinsights.substack.com, with VELUX owner VKR making an offer for the French shutter maker. In Europe, Sequoia's London exit sifted.eu raises questions about the region's venture ecosystem, while some investors remain skeptical sifted.eu of defence startups pursuing rollup strategies.

Early-Stage Pipeline

Demand is strong for early-stage companies, with a dozen startups sifted.eu from the Onstage W26 cohort drawing significant investor interest.

Coming Up

Silver Lake and PIF's potential Unity take-private peinsights.substack.com remains under discussion, with no deal yet agreed.