Here are three big numbers to watch, as we slog through the dog days of summer:

35%

That's the percentage of U.S. venture capital raised by just 10 companies so far this year.

• Private markets often mirror public markets, on a lag, and that's what we seem to be seeing here.
• Public equities have their Mag 7, and venture capital now seems to have its AI 10. With all the value concentration risk that entails.

5.5%

That's the Q2 private credit default rate for midmarket companies, up from 4.5% in Q1, according to Fitch Ratings.

• Things get even a bit bleaker inside the data, with Fitch reporting a 9.5% default rate for a basket of around 300 companies it rates for the benefit of insurers — the highest mark since Fitch recorded the first such default in 2019.
• This is hardly a crisis level, particularly given lower default rates for larger private credit issuers. But it's worth keeping an eye on, given that private credit would be a top beneficiary of President Trump's effort to encourage 401(k) plans to invest in alternative assets.

Zero

That's the percentage difference between U.S. private equity dollar volume in 2024 and 2025, according to Refinitiv.

• This is despite a 20% increase in overall U.S. M&A, which means that private equity is becoming a smaller piece of the domestic dealmaking pie.
• Globally, private equity volume is up 17% — versus an overall 34% increase.
• Again, the backdrop of Trump's executive order looms large. U.S. private equity activity is strong, but stagnant. Which means that fundraising bumps could be going toward secondaries and continuation funds.

Perplexity yesterday offered to buy the Chrome browser from Google for $34.5 billion.

Why it's the BFD: If nothing else, this is a marketing masterstroke.

• The AI upstart raises its public profile, including awareness of its own nascent Comet browser, by offering to buy something that's not currently for sale.
• It also could serve as a springboard to a much different sort of deal, such as an acquisition of Perplexity by Google or Apple.

Catch up quick: Google may be forced to divest Chrome as a remedy to its antitrust troubles, at which point there could be several bidders with even deeper pockets than Perplexity (including OpenAI).

Behind the scenes: Perplexity code-named this effort Project Solomon, according to documents obtained by Axios.

• The proposed term sheet it sent to Google is nonbinding, and includes a pledge to invest $3 billion over two years to support Chrome.
• Perplexity also says it would "maintain uninterrupted availability and support for existing customers for at least 100 months post-close," and "always allow users to choose their own default settings."

By the numbers: Perplexity most recently was valued by VCs at $18 billion, in an early-summer fundraising round led by Accel, but claims to have requisite financing lined up to buy Chrome for $34.5 billion.

• It did not identify any investors in its letter to Google, but told the WSJ that "several investors including large venture-capital funds had agreed to back the transaction in full."
• Several Perplexity backers tell me that they've not yet spoken to the company about a Chrome deal.

• Cerebras, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AI chipmaker that filed for an IPO last fall, is in talks to raise $1b led by Fidelity, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4oyWrAn

• Titan, a New York-based IT services company, raised $74m led by General Catalyst and announced its acquisition of managed service provider RFA. axios.link/45yr8wO

• Appcharge, an Israeli games distribution and monetization startup, raised $58m in Series B funding. IVP led, joined by Playrix, Creandum, Play Ventures, Glilot Capital Partners, Smilegate Investment, Moneta Ventures, BitKraft Ventures, and Corundum. axios.link/3UuMUMW

• 1Kosmos, an Iselin, N.J.-based passwordless authentication platform, raised $57m in Series B funding. Forgepoint Capital and Oquirrh Ventures led, joined by NextEra Energy Ventures and Gula Tech Adventures. axios.link/45gy03a