Innovation

Clorox To Buy Purell Maker GOJO For $2.25 Billion, Expanding Health And Hygiene Push

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

The Clorox Company announced it has agreed to acquire GOJO Industries, the Ohio-based maker of Purell hand sanitizer and other skin health and hygiene products, in a deal valued at $2.25 billion in cash. Clorox said the purchase price includes anticipated tax benefits of about $330 million, implying a net purchase price of $1.92 billion.

Inferact Launches With $150 Million Funding At $800M Valuation To Commercialize vLLM As Inference Demand Surges

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Inferact, a new AI infrastructure startup founded by creators and core maintainers of the open-source vLLM inference engine, has launched with $150 million in seed funding at an $800 million valuation, positioning the company to push performance gains in large language model serving while keeping vLLM’s development in the open. The seed round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures and ZhenFund. Inferact also listed additional backers including The House Fund, Striker Venture Partners, Laude Ventures, Databricks Ventures, GC&H, and the UC Berkeley Chancellor’s Fund.

LiveKit: $100 Million Series C At $1 Billion Valuation Raised To Advance Voice AI Infrastructure Push

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

LiveKit announced it has raised a $100 million Series C round led by Index Ventures, valuing the company at $1 billion, as it doubles down on building infrastructure for real-time, voice-native applications. Alongside Index Ventures, the round included participation from Salesforce Ventures, Hanabi Capital, and existing backers Altimeter and Redpoint Ventures.

One To One Health: $12 Million Minority Growth Investment Raised For Scaling AI-Enabled Primary Care

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

One to One Health has secured a $12 million minority growth investment from Frist Cressey Ventures (FCV) to expand its employer-sponsored primary care footprint and accelerate development of its AI-enabled clinical platform, Intelligent Care Manager. The Chattanooga, Tennessee-based company said the financing is designed to meet rising demand from employers seeking measurable savings and improved health outcomes through higher-engagement, relationship-based primary care.

Cancilico: €2.5 Million Seed Funding Closed To Scale AI-Powered Bone Marrow Diagnostics

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Cancilico, a Dresden-based AI diagnostics startup focused on blood cancers, has raised a €2.5 million Seed round to expand commercialization and pursue regulatory pathways for its bone marrow analysis software, MyeloAID. The financing was led by a syndicate that included High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), TGFS – Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen, GEDAD GmbH (the Ehninger family’s investment vehicle), and ROI Verwaltungsgesellschaft (Roland Oetker).

Optalysys: £23 Million Series A Extension Raised To Commercialize Photonic Chips And Expand In The U.S.

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Optalysys announced it has raised £23 million in a Series A extension round to accelerate the commercialization of its photonic computing technology and support a planned expansion into the United States. The round was led by Northern Gritstone, with participation from imec.xpand, Lingotto Horizon, and the U.K. government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF). The financing is aimed at advancing Optalysys’ proprietary photonic chips and scaling go-to-market efforts as demand intensifies for faster, more energy-efficient computing infrastructure to support AI and cloud workloads.

Capital One To Buy Brex For $5.15 Billion In Cash-And-Stock Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Capital One Financial announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Brex in a stock-and-cash transaction valued at $5.15 billion, a move that would expand Capital One’s footprint in business payments and bring Brex’s AI-driven spend and payments platform under a major U.S. bank.

Flashpoint Reaches First Close For Second Direct Secondary Fund Targeting Up To $100 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Flashpoint announced it has completed a first closing for Flashpoint Direct Secondary Fund II, its second dedicated direct secondaries vehicle aimed at providing shareholder liquidity in later-stage technology companies founded by European and Israeli entrepreneurs.

Resolve M Therapeutics Exits Stealth With Pro-Resolution Drug Discovery Platform Targeting Chronic Inflammation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Resolve M Therapeutics has emerged from stealth with a platform designed to identify, validate, and advance drug targets that activate the body’s natural “pro-resolution” pathways—aiming to restore immune balance in chronic inflammatory and autoimmune disorders without broadly suppressing the immune system.

PURE Property Management And HomeRiver Group Merge And Raise $80 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

PURE Property Management and HomeRiver Group said they have merged and will operate under the name PURE HomeRiver, a combination of the companies that create the nation’s largest third-party single-family rental (SFR) property management firm.

Mendra Launched With $82 Million Series A To Build AI-Enabled Rare Disease Therapeutics Portfolio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Mendra, a newly launched biopharmaceutical company focused on rare diseases, has closed an oversubscribed $82 million Series A to acquire, develop, and commercialize therapies targeting high-unmet-need indications. The financing was co-led by OrbiMed, 8VC, and 5AM Ventures, with participation from Lux Capital and Wing VC.

Crux Capital: $342 Million Fund I Closed And Team Expanded

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Crux Capital has added two new hires and promoted two investment professionals as it scales operations following the September 2025 close of Crux Capital Fund I, L.P., which raised $342 million in capital commitments.

Limble Names Gary Specter As CEO To Lead Next Phase Of Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Limble, a modern maintenance and asset management platform, has named veteran software executive Gary Specter as Chief Executive Officer as the company looks to accelerate expansion and deepen customer value creation.

DealHub.io: $100 Million Growth Round Raised To Scale Agentic Quote-To-Revenue Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

DealHub.io announced it has raised $100 million in a growth funding round led by Riverwood Capital as the company looks to accelerate global expansion and deepen product development for what it calls “Agentic Quote-to-Revenue” in the AI era.

Credit Key: $90 Million Growth Capital Round And Strategic Partnership With Barings

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Credit Key, a B2B payments and financing platform that enables merchants to offer net terms and flexible payment options at checkout, has closed $90 million in new growth capital and formed a strategic partnership with global investment manager Barings.

ScanmarQED Acquires MMM Labs To Build Multi-Engine Marketing Mix Modeling Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

ScanmarQED has acquired MMM Labs, a U.S.-based startup focused on modern marketing mix modeling, as it pushes to deliver what it describes as next-generation, multi-engine MMM capabilities through its PulseQED product suite.

Gore Street Capital Secures First Close For €500 Million EU-Focused Battery Storage Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Gore Street Capital has completed the first close of its new European-focused battery energy storage fund, the GS EU Fund SCSp, backed by cornerstone commitments from the European Investment Fund and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, alongside other institutional investors, strategics, and family offices. The specialist storage manager, whose portfolio totals roughly 1.4 GW of battery assets across three dedicated BESS funds—said it is preparing for an interim close and is targeting a final close by year-end, with a €500 million fundraising goal.

Claroty: $150 Million Series F Raised To Expand CPS Security Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Claroty raised $150 million in a Series F financing led by Golub Growth, an affiliate of Golub Capital, as the cyber-physical systems (CPS) security company pushes to broaden its platform and expand globally. The New York-based company said existing investors also committed up to an additional $50 million in the round.

Merchant Names Clayton Chandler Chief Data Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Merchant has appointed Clayton Chandler as chief data officer, tasking him with leading the firm’s enterprise data and artificial intelligence strategy as it expands its network of partner firms. Based in New York, Merchant said Chandler will focus on strengthening how the firm uses data as a strategic asset across its ecosystem, with an emphasis on practical applications that streamline operations, improve efficiency and generate actionable insights.

Apprentice.io Acquires Ganymede To Unify R&D And Commercial Manufacturing On An AI-Native Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Apprentice.io announced it has acquired Ganymede, an AI-powered cloud platform designed to capture, standardize, and automate lab and process data, in a move aimed at connecting laboratory operations with manufacturing execution inside a single system.

Blue Origin Unveils TeraWave, a 6 Tbps Space-Based Network For Global Connectivity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Blue Origin has introduced TeraWave, a satellite communications network it says will deliver symmetrical connectivity with aggregate capacity reaching up to 6 terabits per second worldwide, targeting enterprise, data center, and government users that require high-reliability links for critical operations.

Base AI Acquires EverAfter AI to Build AI Engagement OS For Customer-Led Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Base AI announced it has acquired EverAfter AI, combining Base’s customer lifecycle marketing capabilities with EverAfter’s customer-facing post-sale experiences to create what the companies call the first “Engagement OS” for B2B customer-led growth.

Smithfield Foods To Acquire Nathan’s Famous For $450 Million, Securing Hot Dog Brand Rights In Perpetuity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Smithfield Foods announced it has agreed to acquire Nathan’s Famous in an all-cash deal valued at approximately $450 million, aiming to secure long-term control of the iconic all-beef hot dog brand and expand growth across retail and foodservice. Under the definitive merger agreement, Smithfield will purchase all outstanding shares of Nathan’s Famous for $102.00 per share in cash.

Jump And Focus Financial Partners Team Up On AI Workflows To Boost Advisor Productivity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Jump, an AI software provider for financial advisors, has struck a strategic partnership with Focus Financial Partners to help Focus-affiliated advisory and business management firms streamline meeting-related work and turn client conversations into structured, actionable data.

Deutsche Börse To Buy Allfunds In €5.3 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Deutsche Börse AG (DBAG) and Allfunds Group plc announced they have agreed terms for a recommended cash-and-share acquisition of Allfunds, with Allfunds shareholders set to receive total consideration of €8.80 per share.

Vestmark and T. Rowe Price Launch “Custom Premier” Personalized Model Portfolio Solution For RIAs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Vestmark and T. Rowe Price have launched Custom Premier, a new model portfolio solution designed to help registered investment advisors deliver personalized, tax-efficient portfolios across ETFs and mutual funds while maintaining operational scale and efficiency.

Epiris Sells Structured Minority Stake In UK Funeral Plans Provider Pure Cremation To Centerbridge

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Epiris announced Epiris Fund III and Pure Cremation CEO Dean Lamble have agreed to sell a structured minority interest in Pure Cremation to Centerbridge Partners, which will invest across both the company’s debt and equity instruments. Financial terms were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to close in the first half of 2026.

Qure.ai Wins Gates Foundation Grant To Develop AI Point-Of-Care Ultrasound For TB And Pneumonia

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Qure.ai has received a multimillion-dollar grant from the Gates Foundation to expand its global health work, including the development of AI-enabled point-of-care ultrasound algorithms to enable earlier detection of tuberculosis (TB) and pneumonia in under-resourced settings.

Sharon AI Lines Up To $500 Million USD.AI Debt Facility For GPU-Financed Compute Expansion Across Australia And Asia-Pacific

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

SharonAI Holdings and its subsidiaries, an Australian AI infrastructure provider listed on the OTC Markets (SHAZ, SHAZW), said USD.AI has approved a debt facility of up to $500 million to support the company’s planned buildout of large-scale GPU compute capacity across Australia and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

RSA Group Secures $135 Million Capital Infusion And Refinances Debt

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

RSA Group, a cybersecurity company comprised of RSA and Outseer, said it has completed a refinancing transaction with a substantial majority of holders of its existing first- and second-lien term loans, alongside a new $135 million capital infusion backed by existing lenders.