Here’s what’s happened in Ozy Media cofounder Carlos Watson’s trial so far (2024)

The celebrities were among the crowded cast of A-listers who interviewed (or were interviewed by) Watson as his digital media company—which included newsletters, podcasts, and even an “Ozy Fest” event—appeared to be on the rise.

Today, there are no celebrities on-hand or VC backers writing big checks. And interviews about Watson and Ozy Media are taking place on the witness stand in a Brooklyn courtroom. Ozy itself has ceased operations (first in 2021, then again in 2023) and Watson is on trial facing criminal charges that include “conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.”

We’ve been getting updates from the trial, and there’s been a steady drip of notable developments that I suspect are of interest to Term Sheet readers.

The biggest involves Google CEO Sundar Pichai, who testified last week that, contrary to Watson’s alleged claims to an investor, Google never offered to buy Ozy for $600 million. Though Pichai said Google at one point had considered hiring Watson and investing $25 million in Ozy, Pichai’s testimony made clear that any talk of a big-deal-buyout was just a tall tale. (Watson’s lawyer denies that Watson ever told an investor of a $600 million Google deal).

Then there are the former Ozy executives who have so far testified against Watson, including Ozy cofounder Samir Rao. It’s a story that’s now been retold several times across media outlets, but Rao said it under oath earlier this month—Rao told the courtroom that he impersonated YouTube executive Alex Piper to Goldman Sachs at Watson’s urging.

Rao and Watson even attempted to use voice-altering software in the process, according to Rao’s testimony. It wasn’t persuasive.

“The voice that was coming out had kind of an altered quality when a voice was modified or something,” Rao reportedly said on the stand.

Suzee Han, Ozy’s ex-chief of staff, testified that she lied to investors at Watson’s behest, over and over, as Ozy’s financial situation became increasingly dire. (In 2023, Han and Rao both pled guilty to their own Ozy-related charges.) At one point, she spoke about a 2019 pitch deck that showed the company’s profit at negative $2 million—a figure that she now says was a gross understatement.

“It was more than negative $10 million,” she reportedly told the court.

This trial is still very much in progress, and more will undoubtedly come to light. It’s also vital to note that Watson pled not guilty to all charges and that his lawyers have argued that it was Rao, as COO, who was responsible for misrepresentations to investors.

For my part, I’m pretty stuck on this point about the pitch deck. Ozy had major backers, including Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective, Axel Springer, GSV Capital, Milwaukee Bucks owner Marc Lasry, and Ron Conway. How many pitch decks have out-and-out lies? Do investors catch them? Could I?

And, more saliently, it drives home something broader about the private markets: This is a game often viewed as being about who you know—but it’s ultimately about who you can trust.

See you tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.

VENTURE DEALS

- Huntress, a Columbia, Md.-based cybersecurity company, raised $150 million in Series D funding from Kleiner Perkins, Meritech Capital, and existing investor Sapphire Ventures.

- FINBOURNE, a London, U.K.-based provider of investment management and data management solutions for financial services companies, raised £55 million ($69.9 million) in Series B funding from Highland Europe and AVP.

- Finaloop, a New York City and Tel Aviv, Israel-based e-commerce accounting platform, raised $35 million in Series A funding. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Vesey Ventures, Commerce Ventures, and existing investors Accel and Aleph.

- Princeton NuEnergy, a Princeton, N.J.-based lithium-ion battery recycler, raised $30 million in Series A funding from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, Helium-3 Ventures, and others.

- Tinybird, a Madrid, Spain and New York City-based real-time data platform for data and engineering teams, raised $30 million in Series B funding. Balderton Capital led the round and was joined by CRV and Singular Ventures.

- Autify, a San Francisco-based AI-powered automation testing platform, raised $13 million in Series B funding. Globis Capital Partners and LG Technology Ventures led the round and was joined by existing investors WiL, Salesforce Ventures, Archetype Ventures, and Uncorrelated Ventures.

- Hona, a Lehi, Utah-based developer of client engagement software for law firms, raised $9.5 million in Series A funding. Costanoa Ventures led the round and was joined by Ludlow Ventures, Soma Capital, and Y Combinator.

- Maxim AI, a San Francisco-based evaluation and observability platform for AI applications, raised $3 million in funding. Elevation Capital led the round and was joined by angel investors.

- Proofs, a San Francisco and Warsaw, Poland-based developer of AI agents designed to accelerate the proof-of-concept phase in software sales, raised $2.6 billion in pre-seed funding. Earlybird Digital East Fund led the round and was joined by Expeditions Fund, Step Function Ventures, RTP Global, and angel investors.

- Prosperr.io, a Bengaluru, India-based AI-powered tax management platform for those in the U.S., raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding. Gokul Rajaram led the round and was joined by angel investors.

PRIVATE EQUITY

- Searchlight Capital Partners and Ares Management invested £500 million ($635 million) into RSK, a Cheshire, U.K.-based group of environment, engineering, and technical services businesses.

- Impact Property Solutions, a portfolio company of Blue Sage Capital, acquired OneSource Flooring and Interiors, a Phoenix, Ariz.-based provider of flooring products and installation services. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Thermal Technology Distribution Solutions, backed by Gryphon Investors, acquired Thermal Devices, a Mt. Airy, Md.-based distributor of industrial electric heaters and related products to manufacturers. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- TowerBrook Capital Partners acquired a majority stake in LiftWerx Holdings, an Ontario, Canada-based provider of operations and maintenance services to the onshore wind industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.

IPOS

- LandBridge, a Houston, Texas-based acquirer of oil land, plans to raise up to $319 million in an offering of 14.5 million shares priced between $19 and $22 on the New York Stock Exchange. The company posted $102 million in revenue for the year ending March 31, 2024. Five Point Energy backs the company.

- ​​WEBTOON Entertainment, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based online cartoon platform, plans to raise up to $315 million in an offering of 15 million shares priced between $18 and $21 on the Nasdaq. The company posted $1.3 billion in revenue for the year ending March 31, 2024. NAVER and LY Corporation back the company.

- Tamboran Resources, a Barangaroo, Australia-based natural gas exploration and production company developing the natural gas resources within the Northern Territory of Australia, plans to raise up to $175.5 million in an offering of 6.5 million shares priced between $24 and $27 on the New York Stock Exchange. Sheffield Holdings, Nuveen, Morgan Stanley Australia, The Baupost Group, and Helmerich & Payne International Holdings back the company.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

- Refactor Capital, a Burlingame, Calif.-based venture capital firm, raised $50 million for its fourth fund focused on startups in the bio, climate, and hard tech sectors.

PEOPLE

- Coatue, a New York City-based private equity firm, hired Spencer Peterson as a general partner. Formerly, he was with Bedrock.

- Grishin Robotics, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based venture capital firm, promoted Elias Can to principal.