Startups

Humans& Raises $480 Million Seed Funding At $4.48 Billion Valuation For Building Human-Centric AI Collaboration Tools

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Today humans& announced it officially launching, which is a new company founded by leading researchers from Google, Anthropic, xAI, OpenAI, Meta, and other top labs and academic institutions. In an announcement sent to Pulse 2.0, the company said it has raised $480 million in a seed round of funding at a valuation of $4.48 billion. The round was led by SV Angel and co-founder Georges Harik, with participation from NVIDIA, Jeff Bezos, GV (Google Ventures), Emerson Collective, Forerunner, S32, DCVC, Human Capital, Felicis, and CRV, among others. And this financing is one of the largest seed rounds in the AI industry.

Pomelo: $55 Million Series C Raised To Expand Beyond Card Issuing And Build New Payment Rails

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Pomelo, a Latin America-based payments infrastructure company, has raised a $55 million Series C round to accelerate the modernization of payments infrastructure and broaden its product roadmap beyond card issuing. The round was co-led by Kaszek and Insight Partners, with participation from Index Ventures, Adams Street Partners, S32, Endeavor Catalyst, monashees, and TQ Ventures. Founded in 2021, Pomelo said the financing brings its total capital raised to $160 million.

Legato: $7 Million Seed Funding Raised To Bring In-Product Vibe App Creation To Business Users

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Legato, an early-stage startup building “vibe app creation” capabilities that can be embedded directly inside B2B software platforms, has raised a $7 million seed round led by S Capital VC with participation from Cerca Partners.

Ultra: $11 Million Series A Closed To Scale Nicotine-Free Focus Pouches

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Ultra, a nicotine-free functional pouch brand positioning itself as a “clean” alternative for sustained focus, has raised an $11 million Series A round to expand product development, broaden distribution, and grow headcount across the United States, the company said.

Neuropacs: Over $1 Million Seed Round Raised To Advance AI MRI Diagnostics For Neurodegenerative Parkinsonism

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

neuropacs, which is developing AI-driven neurological diagnostic software, announced it has raised more than $1 million in seed financing to expand product development and prepare for broader clinical commercialization.

Pennylane Raises €175 Million To Expand AI And E-Invoicing Push Across Europe

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Pennylane has raised €175 million in a funding round led by TCV, with participation from Blackstone Growth, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, CapitalG, and Meritech Capital, as the company seeks to position itself as a leading “financial operating system” for European businesses. Bloomberg revealed that the funding round was at a $4.25 billion valuation.

Jetson: $50 Million Series A Raised To Scale Home Heat Pump Electrification

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Jetson, a home electrification company focused on replacing gas furnaces with all-electric heat pump systems, announced it has raised $50 million in Series A funding as it expands into additional U.S. markets and builds out a broader product roadmap. The round was led by Eclipse, with participation from 8VC and Activate Capital, as well as existing backers Garage Capital and Active Impact. Jetson said the financing will support expansion into new states and continued development of its vertically integrated model, which combines direct-to-consumer sales, remote assessments, rebate management, and an in-house installation team.

Point Laz: $3 Million Raised To Scale Automated Mine Shaft Inspections

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Point Laz Mining Laser Expertise announced it has closed a $3 million funding round to accelerate production and global deployment of its automated mine shaft inspection technology and related analytics platform. The financing was led by the i4 Capital Fund, with significant participation from Fonds Impulsion, which is managed by Investissement Québec and financed by the Government of Québec.

Elyos AI: $13 Million Series A Raised To Expand AI “Front Office” Agents for Trades Businesses

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 19, 2026

Elyos AI has raised a $13 million Series A round to accelerate development of AI agents built for trades businesses, targeting one of the sector’s most persistent operational problems: missed work and lost revenue when customer inquiries aren’t handled quickly and consistently. The Series A was led by Blackbird, with participation from Y Combinator and Pi Labs.

Dripl: €4 Million Raised To Expand Office Hydration Push And Cut Single-Use Packaging

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 19, 2026

Dripl, a workplace hydration company, has raised €4 million to expand its office drink systems and push toward its goal of eliminating 1 billion single-use packages by 2030, according to a post by co-founder Colin Deblonde.

Dominion Dynamics: C$21 Million Seed Round Closed For Arctic-Focused Defense Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 19, 2026

Dominion Dynamics, a Canadian defense technology startup building interoperable, “attritable” systems for contested environments, has raised a C$21 million (US$15.2 million) seed round led by Georgian, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners and British Columbia Investment Management.

Wed Society: Series B Closed At $11 Million Valuation, Citing 110+ Million Annual Content Views

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 19, 2026

Wed Society announced it has closed a Series B funding round at an $11 million valuation, positioning the Oklahoma City-based wedding planning platform to broaden its national footprint and invest in technology and operations as it targets continued expansion in 2026.

Noveon Magnetics: $215 Million Series C Raised To Expand U.S. Rare Earth Magnet Manufacturing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 19, 2026

Noveon Magnetics, a U.S. manufacturer of sintered rare earth permanent magnets, has closed a $215 million Series C financing round led by One Investment Management (OneIM), including a $200 million investment from OneIM.

Wrisk Adds Allianz As Strategic Investor In Series B Round

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 19, 2026

Wrisk, a London-based digital insurance platform focused on embedded insurance for the automotive sector, said Allianz Holdings plc has joined its Series B financing as a strategic investor, deepening a long-running commercial relationship between the two companies.

Fanvue: $22 Million Series A Raised And $100 Million ARR

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 18, 2026

Fanvue, a London-based creator monetization platform built around AI-powered tools, has raised $22 million in a Series A round as it surpassed a $100 million annualized revenue run rate. The Series A was led by Inner Circle, a community-backed investment firm backed by more than 50 exited founders and operators. Fanvue said additional backers included Moonbug founder René Rechtman, the founders of UK unicorn Marshmallow, and partners from European venture firms.

A47: $2 Million Pre-Seed Funding Raised To Build AI-Native News Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 18, 2026

A47 has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate the development of an AI-native news platform that helps audiences discover, understand, and trust information amid a growing flood of misinformation, fragmented feeds, and engagement-driven noise.

Mal: $230 Million Raised To Launch Digital Bank

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 18, 2026

Mal has closed a $230 million investment round to fund the development and launch of what it describes as the world’s first AI-native Islamic digital bank, headquartered in Abu Dhabi. The concluded financing was led by Abu Dhabi-based asset manager BlueFive Capital.

Akedo: $5 Million Seed Funding Raised To Build AI-Native Multi-Agent Content Creation Engine And Launchpad

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 18, 2026

AKEDO has raised $5 million in seed funding to accelerate development of its AI-native content creation engine and launchpad, a platform the company says is designed to improve game and digital content development efficiency through coordinated multi-agent systems.

Veera: $10 Million Raised To Expand Mobile On-Chain Financial Services Platform In Singapore

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2026

Veera, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency-focused financial services platform, has raised $10 million across pre-seed and seed funding rounds as it invests in product development and expansion of its on-chain financial services offering. The round included backing from Sigma Capital, CMCC Titan Fund, 6th Man Ventures, and Ayon Capital, according to the company. The funding will be used to build out its product roadmap and support growth initiatives tied to its mobile-first platform.

ClickHouse: $400 Million Series D Raised, Langfuse Acquisition, And Native Postgres Service Debuted

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2026

ClickHouse, an open-source database company focused on real-time analytics, data warehousing, observability and AI/ML workloads, has raised $400 million in a Series D financing led by Dragoneer Investment Group as the company pushes deeper into AI infrastructure and application monitoring.

Cytotheryx: $60 Million Series A Closed To Advance Cell Therapy Platform For Liver Disease

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2026

Ouroboros Family Founders Fund I has agreed to lead a $60 million Series A financing for Cytotheryx, a Mayo Clinic spinout developing a preclinical cell therapy platform to treat liver disease, with the deal unveiled during the 2026 Biotech Showcase in San Francisco. The company said the raise will fund the advancement of multiple programs toward the clinic, expand manufacturing infrastructure and GMP capacity, and support regulatory planning, alongside separate debt financing intended to grow its real estate footprint and enable additional manufacturing buildout.

Fleetzero: $43 Million Series A Raised To Scale Electric And Hybrid Propulsion Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2026

Fleetzero, a marine technology company developing hybrid and electric propulsion systems for commercial vessels, has raised a $43 million Series A round led by Obvious Ventures, with participation from Maersk Growth, 8090 Industries, and existing backers including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Y Combinator, Benson Capital, Shorewind, and others. The company also announced the opening of a new manufacturing and research-and-development facility in Houston, Texas, intended to serve as its headquarters and production hub.

PolyML Announces Strategic Investment From Martinrea International

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

PolyML announced it has secured a strategic minority investment from Martinrea International Inc., a global automotive supplier, alongside a multi-year services and collaboration agreement to deploy PolyML’s machine-learning technology across automotive manufacturing operations.

Merge Labs: $252 Million Raised For Targeting High-Bandwidth And Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interfaces

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Merge Labs, a newly launched research lab, announced it is pursuing a long-term mission to bridge biological and artificial intelligence in order to “maximize human ability, agency, and experience.” The group describes its focus as developing fundamentally new brain-computer interface (BCI) approaches that interact with the brain at high bandwidth, integrate with advanced AI, and ultimately be safe and accessible for broad use. The company has raised $252 million in a seed round from OpenAI, Bain Capital, Gabe Newell, and several others.

Mangrove Lithium: Up To $85 Million Raised For Refining Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Canada Growth Fund and Mangrove Water Technologies, operating as Mangrove Lithium, announced they have closed an up to US$85 million structured financing package designed to accelerate the commercialization of the company’s lithium refining technology in Canada and international markets. The transaction pairs up to US$65 million expected from Canada Growth Fund (CGF) with additional participation from existing backers, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and BMW i Ventures, as Mangrove Lithium moves from technology validation toward scaled deployment.

Transition Metal Solutions: $6 Million Seed Funding Raised To Reinvent Bio-Based Copper Recovery

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Transition Metal Solutions has closed an oversubscribed $6 million seed round to commercialize a bio-enabled approach aimed at boosting copper recovery from existing mines and waste streams, as copper demand continues to climb faster than new supply can be brought online.

OTTO SPORT AI: $16.5 Million Seed Funding Raised To Build AI-Powered Operating System For Youth Sports

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

OTTO SPORT AI has raised $16.5 million in seed funding to accelerate development of its youth sports technology platform and expand its AI “Athlete Intelligence” Lab, as the company targets a market where organizers and families still contend with legacy software and manual workflows despite booming participation and spending.

HOLYWATER Raises $22 Million to Turn Microdramas Into Mainstream Entertainment In The U.S.

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

HOLYWATER, an entertainment technology company behind the vertical-series app My Drama and a suite of AI-enabled content products, has closed a $22 million financing round as it pushes to build what it describes as a mobile-first “Netflix” for vertical video in the U.S. and other Western markets.

Coxwave: $5 Million Pre-Series A Closed To Expand AI Reliability And Governance Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Coxwave, the company behind Coxwave Align, announced it has closed $5 million in Pre-Series A funding to accelerate development of reliability and governance capabilities for AI systems as enterprises push more agentic tools into high-stakes workflows.

Cyb3r Operations Raises £4 Million Seed Round

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Cyb3r Operations said it has raised £4 million in seed funding in a round led by Octopus Ventures, with follow-on investment from Pi Labs, as the company looks to accelerate product development and expand its team.