🏖️ Publishing note: I'll be vacationing for the next two weeks (first Sicily, then the couch), so Kia Kokalitcheva will write these morning missives. Please send news, tips, kudos, complaints and book recommendations to kia@axios.com.

Tariq Trotter is best known as Black Thought, lead MC of hip hop group and "The Tonight Show" house band The Roots. Now he hopes to also become known as a successful venture capitalist.

Driving the news: Trotter tells Axios that he's become a general partner with Impellent Ventures, a firm that seeks to back Rust Belt startups that could benefit from capital connections and mentorship from East Coast tech hubs like New York and Boston.

• His job title is notable, because it suggests that he'll be much more than a celebrity prop for LP meetings or conferences. That said, Trotter also acknowledges that one thing he brings to Impellent is "the cool factor."

Backstory: Trotter says he was asked a few years ago by Boston tech entrepreneur Philip Beauregard to speak at a Harvard Innovation Labs event, where he also became friendly with Android and Google Ventures co-founder Rich Miner. He began making angel investments, both as an individual and with other members of The Roots, but the idea of a more formal role intrigued him.

• Beauregard also was making the move from angel to full-timer — first considering his own fund and then becoming the second GP on Impellent. Several months later, Trotter, too, is on board.
• "I didn't want to do anything that felt contrived," says Trotter, who's already made several trips to upstate New York for Impellent business. "It had to come to be in an organic way."

The big picture: Trotter obviously wants to help Impellent make profitable investments, but he also hopes to make the VC space less intimidating for other musical artists and people from marginalized or underrepresented communities.

• "My brand is kind of like a bridge, and then people also look to my lyrical content for historical and political commentary, which helps inform them," Trotter says. "When people see me out on the street, they don't feel I'm the sort of celebrity that [is] far removed from them, on another planet with nothing in common ... There's a blue collar rock star thing about The Roots that's approachable and understandable, and I think any company or brand aligned with that will appear more so as well."

Monolith, a Lincoln, Neb.-based "green hydrogen" producer, raised more than $300 million in minority equity funding co-led by TPG Rise Climate and Decarbonization Partners (joint venture of BlackRock and Temasek).

Why it's the BFD: This is the latest in a series of big bets on green hydrogen, which could become key to energy transition for hard-to-decarbonize heavy industries.

• Amazon earlier this week disclosed an investment in Germany's Sunfire, and last week participated in a $198 million Series B round for California-based Electric Hydrogen.

Other investors include NextEra Energy Resources, SK, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America and insider Azimuth Capital Management. Monolith continues to be majority owned by an investor group of Azimuth, Warburg Pincus and Cornell Capital.

The bottom line: "Many companies use machines to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, eliminating the carbon emissions associated with hydrogen production. That process will remain expensive and inefficient until the industry matures, analysts say. Monolith aims to avoid those challenges. Instead of splitting water, its plant in Hallam, Neb., runs on renewable electricity to heat natural gas and turn it into hydrogen and carbon black, a material that goes into everyday products like rubber and paints." — Amrith Ramkumar, WSJ 

🌎 Terra CO2, a Golden, Colo.-based developer of a low-carbon alternative for cement production, raised a $46m Series A funding. Breakthrough Energy Ventures and LENx co-led, and were joined by Creative Ventures and Rio Tinto. www.terraco2.com

⚡ Nyolbolt, a British maker of ultrafast battery chargers, raised £50m in Series B funding led by H.C. Starck Tungsten Powders at a £300m valuation, per Axios Pro. http://axios.link/vK6h

• Apiture, a maker of front-end software for smaller banks, raised $29m led by Live Oak Ventures, as first reported by Axios Pro. http://axios.link/BMYL

• Okendo, a customer review platform for ecommerce brands, raised $26m in Series A funding. Base10 Partners led, and was joined by Craft Ventures and Index Ventures. www.okendo.io

• UnCaged Studios, a web3 gaming studio, raised $24m in Series A funding from Griffin Gaming Partners, Vgames, Maverick Ventures Israel, Drive by DraftKings and 6th Man Ventures. http://axios.link/sapB

• Hang, an NFT-powered provider of loyalty and membership software for brands, raised $16m in Series A funding. Paradigm led, and was joined by Tiger Global, K Thirty Five Ventures, Mr. Beast’s Night Ventures, Green Bay Ventures, Shrug Capital, Good Friends, K5 Global and Impatient Ventures. http://axios.link/aQTs

🚑 Nucleus Genomics, a New York-based DTC genetic testing startup, raised $14m. Seven Seven Six led, and was joined by Shrug Capital and Founders Fund. www.mynucleus.com

• Hero, a French B2B payments startup, raised €12.4m from Paua Ventures, Embedded/Capital and Rapyd Ventures. http://axios.link/pZx9

• Medusa, a Danish e-commerce platform for Javascript developers, raised $8m in seed funding co-led by LocalGlobe and Dawn Capital. www.medusajs.com

• Super Mojo, a New York-based NFT financing platform, raised $6m in seed funding co-led by BH Digital, DRW VC, Intersection Growth Partners and Neuberger Berman.

• Pebble, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based personalized investment startup, raised $5m in seed funding from Jump Capital, NextView Ventures and Cendana Capital. www.pebble.finance

• ZKX, a crypto derivatives trading protocol, raised $4.5m in seed funding from StarkWare, Alameda Research, Huobi, Amber Group and Crypto.com. http://axios.link/g4fr

• Xage, a Palo Alto-based zero trust cybersecurity startup, raised $2m in Series B extension funding from Chevron Technology Ventures. www.xage.com

• Stripe cut the 409a value of its stock price by 29%, as first reported by the WSJ. Reminder that 409a prices are internal marks, typically much lower than VC round valuations. http://axios.link/O6uN

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• Aterian Investment Partners bought a control stake in Stein Fibers, an Albany, N.Y.-based maker of fiber products for markets like bedding, furniture and medical. http://axios.link/URa4

• Axcel agreed to buy Swedish pet food maker Voff from Systematic Growth. www.voff.pet

⚡ E Source, a Boulder, Colo.-based portfolio company of Align Capital Partners, bought Distributed Energy Financial Group, a utility customer research and advisory firm. www.esource.com

• KKR agreed to invest £867m for a 25% stake in British water utility Northumbrian Water Group, which will remain controlled by Li Ka-shing’s CK Group. http://axios.link/8AA0

• Tailwind Capital invested in Onix Networking, a Lakewood, Ohio-based Google Cloud partner. www.onixnet.com

• Upland Software (Nasdaq: UPLD), an Austin, Texas-based provider of work management software, secured a $115m convertible preferred stock investment from HGGC. It's HGGC's first-ever PIPE deal. http://axios.link/1Ghh

• AMTD Digital, a Singapore-based digital financial services provider being spun out of AMTD, raised $125m in its IPO. The company, being spun out of AMTD (SES: HKB), priced at $7.80 (middle of range), and will list on the NYSE (HKD). http://axios.link/DuqD

⚡ Actis hired Citigroup to find a buyer for South Africa’s BTE Renewables, which could fetch nearly $1b, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/ECmx

🚑 Apax Partners is considering a sale process for Candela Medical, a Marlborough, Mass.-based maker of medical devices for aesthetic procedures, per Bloomberg. Candela recently postponed a $250m IPO, and reportedly could fetch more than $1b. http://axios.link/Eyi9

🚑 Linden Capital Partners is exploring the sale of Mt. Laurel, N.J.-based addiction treatment provider Pinnacle Treatment Centers, per Axios Pro. http://axios.link/nQiQ

• SK Capital Partners is seeking a buyer for Geon Performance Solutions, a Westlake Ohio-based polymers maker that could fetch around $2b, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/CCtI

• Aston Martin (LSE: AML), the British automaker, agreed to sell 23.3m shares to Saudi Public Investment Fund for a total of £653m. http://axios.link/WRDJ

• Elliott Management has amassed more than a 9% stake in Pinterest (NYSE: PINS), per the WSJ. http://axios.link/iXTZ

• MGM International (NYSE: MGM) approached casino operator Genting Singapore (SES: G13) about a takeover, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/LjwS

🚑 Molina Healthcare (NYSE: MOH) will pay around $150m to acquire My Choice Wisconsin, a Wisconsin-focused Medicaid managed care organization. www.mychoicewi.org

• Nintendo (Tokyo: 7974) agreed to buy CG animation company Dynamo Pictures. http://axios.link/8HAn

• Royal Bank of Canada (TSX: RBC) is considering a sale process for its European custody business, which could fetch more than €1b, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/fz6E

• Scopia Capital Management is calling on Verra Mobility (Nasdaq: VRRM), a Mesa, Ariz.-based smart transportation tech company with a $2.4b market cap, to consider a sale. Activist investor Scopia holds a 5.3% stake in Verra. http://axios.link/s3aN

• New Age Capital, a seed firm focused on startups led by Black and Latinx founders, raised $25m for its debut fund.

• The firm was co-founded by Ivan Alo (Brooklyn) and LaDante McMillon (Dallas), who first met as Boston College undergrads. They later tried to launch a fintech startup, but felt “disconnected” from and “unwelcomed” by VCs. Eventually the pair became scouts for Lightspeed.
• Over 65% of the fund's commitments come from institutional investors, which is fairly unusual for a first-time effort. LPs include BC, Lightspeed, Villanova, Wellington Management, University of Chicago and Bank of America.

🌎 Collaborative Fund raised $200m for its first climate-focused VC fund. www.collaborativefund.com

• Nova Infrastructure, a PE firm focused on midmarket North American infrastructure, raised $565m for a new fund. www.novainfrastructure.com

🚑 Revelstoke Capital Partners raised $376m for a single-asset fund to support the growth of Rarebreed Veterinary Partners, an operator of veterinary practices. Concurrently, Rarebreed bought Revelstoke portfolio company Vet's Best Friend. www.rarebreedvet.com

🚑 Section 32, the health tech VC firm led by Bill Maris, is raising $500m for its fifth fund, per an SEC filing.

🌎 Systemiq Capital, a London-based climate tech VC firm, held a $70m first close on its $130m-targeted second fund. http://axios.link/Onca

• Vektor Partners, a London-based VC firm focused on sustainable mobility startups, raised €125m for its debut fund. http://axios.link/CHgm

• Marty Chavez, former Goldman Sachs CFO and current partner with Sixth Street, joined the board of Alphabet (Nasdaq: GOOGL). http://axios.link/BKfG

• Tim Henn left Portfolio Advisors to join JPMorgan to focus on PE secondaries, per Secondaries Investor. http://axios.link/jOMb

• David Marchick, a former Carlyle exec who most recently was COO of U.S. Development Finance Corp., was named dean of American University’s Kogod School of Business. http://axios.link/x6iP

⚡ Andreas Nauen, former CEO of Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy, joined Connecticut-based energy and climate PE firm Sandbrook Capital as an operating partner, per Bloomberg. http://axios.link/HnwY

• Julia Wittlin left BlackRock to join RedBird Capital Partners as a partner. http://axios.link/NnyN

The Fed's rate-hiking campaign has sent the dollar's value to 20-year highs.

• It's a surge that could become another headwind for the U.S. economy, although beneficial to U.S.-denominated private equity funds that invest internationally. Go deeper.

Fidelity Stock Plan Services can provide equity compensation and management solutions that keep your momentum going — past IPO into life as a public company.

Why it’s important: Together, you can create equity comp solutions that support your company’s journey all the way.

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