Venture Capital

Strickland Brothers Secures $360 Million Committed Financing To Fund Acquisitions And Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Strickland Brothers, one of the largest independent quick-lube operators in the U.S., said it has closed a new $360 million committed financing package from Golub Capital and Audax Strategic Capital to support acquisition activity and accelerate national growth.

UAE Rain Enhancement Research Program Names Sixth-Cycle Grant Awardees

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP), managed by the National Center of Meteorology (NCM), has selected three projects for its sixth cycle of research grants, awarding each recipient up to $1.5 million over three years, with annual funding capped at $550,000.

OneRyan Global Takes Controlling Stake in Mr Gatti’s Pizza

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Mr Gatti’s Pizza announced that Dallas-based OneRyan Global LLC, the family office of businessman and philanthropist G. Brint Ryan, has acquired a controlling interest in the Texas-born pizza and family entertainment brand. Financial terms were not disclosed.

University Of Arkansas GORP Seeks Applicants For Spring 2026 Outdoor Recreation Startup Cohort

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

The University of Arkansas’ Greenhouse Outdoor Recreation Project (GORP), the school’s flagship business incubator for outdoor recreation startups, is accepting applications for its spring 2026 cohort as the program returns with new multi-year funding.

AiStrike: $7 Million Seed Funding Raised To Scale AI-Native And Preemptive Cyber Defense Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

AiStrike has raised $7 million in seed funding to expand an AI-native platform designed to help security teams move from reactive alert handling to what the company calls “preemptive” cyber defense. The round was led by Blumberg Capital, with participation from Runtime Ventures, Oregon Venture Fund, and strategic angel investors.

Nexxa.ai: $9 Million Seed Funding Closed To Scale AI Agents For Heavy Industry Workflows

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Nexxa.ai has raised a $9 million seed round to scale specialized AI agents designed for heavy-industry workflows, as the company looks to expand deployments across rail, construction, manufacturing, and other critical infrastructure sectors.

AheadComputing Raises Additional $30 Million Seed2 Round To Reimagine CPU Architecture

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

AheadComputing, a Portland, Oregon-based IP design house developing high-performance RISC-V CPU cores, has raised an additional $30 million in a Seed2 financing round, bringing total funding to $53 million. The round was co-led by Eclipse, Toyota Ventures, and Cambium, with participation from Corner, Trousdale Ventures, EPIQ, MESH, and Stata.

American Express Global Business Travel Cuts Borrowing Costs And Upsizes Term Loan To $1.486 Billion Through 2031

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

American Express Global Business Travel Group announced it has refinanced and expanded its senior secured first lien term loan facility, lowering borrowing costs while adding incremental liquidity to support growth investments and integration efforts.

Benepass: $40 Million Series B Closed To Expand Benefits Platform for Employers Facing Rising Healthcare Costs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Benepass has raised $40 million in Series B funding to expand its benefits capital management platform as employers look for new ways to rein in rising healthcare costs without simply shifting more expense onto employees. The round was led by Centana Growth Partners, with participation from FoW Partners and existing backers Portage Ventures and Threshold Ventures.

Renterra: $9 Million Series A Raised To Scale AI-Driven Equipment Rental Software

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Renterra has raised $9 million in a Series A round to accelerate growth of its equipment rental software platform and expand its use of practical AI tools for rental operators.

Claim Health: $4.4 Million Seed Funding Raised To Automate Post-Acute Revenue Operations With AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Claim Health, a Y Combinator-backed startup building AI-native revenue operations infrastructure for post-acute care, has raised a $4.4 million seed round led by Maverick Ventures, with participation from Peak XV, Y Combinator, and DHVP. The financing also included checks from C-suite executives at large post-acute care providers, which the company said reflect growing demand for modernized revenue workflows in home health, hospice, and personal care settings.

Zèya Global Raises $2.45 Million Strategic Growth Round For P2P Barter Marketplace App

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Zèya Global, a Miami-based peer-to-peer barter marketplace app built around swipe-based item exchanges, has closed a $2.45 million strategic growth round led by Storage Innovations LLC.

Duetti: $200 Million Secured To Scale Independent Music Catalog Acquisitions And Expand Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Duetti, a music-tech and financial services company focused on helping independent creators monetize and manage their music rights, has secured $200 million in new capital to accelerate catalog acquisitions and expand its technology and services globally.

One To One Health Partners With Frist Cressey On $12 Million Investment To Scale AI-Enabled Primary Care

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

One to One Health announced it has raised a $12 million minority growth investment from Frist Cressey Ventures to expand its employer-sponsored primary care model and accelerate development of its AI-enabled clinical platform, Intelligent Care Manager.

GSK Awards $2 Million In COiMMUNITY Grants To Help Close Vaccination Gaps And Pledges $3 Million for 2026

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

GSK announced it has awarded $2 million in grants to 16 state, regional, and national nonprofit organizations through its COiMMUNITY Initiative, as the biopharma company seeks to support local efforts to improve vaccine education, communication, and immunization uptake across the United States.

GoNetspeed Expands Manchester Fiber Network With $1.6 Million Investment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

GoNetspeed is investing more than $1.6 million to expand its 100% fiber-optic internet network in Manchester, Connecticut, a buildout the company said will extend multi-gigabit service access to more than 5,000 additional homes and businesses.

Lovell Minnick Closes Continuation Vehicle For SRS Acquiom In Carlyle AlpInvest-Led Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Lovell Minnick Partners has closed a single-asset continuation vehicle for SRS Acquiom in a transaction led by Carlyle AlpInvest, extending Lovell Minnick’s ownership partnership with the M&A and loan transaction services provider first established through a majority investment in 2018.

Blueprint Equity Closes Oversubscribed $333 Million Fund III In Single Close

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Blueprint Equity has raised a $333 million third fund, Blueprint Equity III, in a single close that the firm said was oversubscribed and completed in 12 days, pushing the San Diego-based growth equity manager past $600 million in assets under management.

True Wind Capital Backs Ultimate Knowledge Institute In Growth Investment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

True Wind Capital has made a growth investment in Ultimate Knowledge Institute, a cybersecurity workforce readiness provider, as the private equity firm looks to back expansion of UKi’s competency-driven training and readiness platform across government and commercial customers.

PraxisPro: $6 Million Seed Funding Raised To Transform Life Sciences With AI for Commercial Intelligence

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

PraxisPro, a data intelligence company focused on improving how life sciences organizations generate and govern commercial insights, has raised a $6 million oversubscribed seed round led by AlleyCorp. Flybridge, South Loop Ventures, Zeal Capital Partners, True Ventures, Techstars, Alumni Ventures, and Daring Ventures also participated in the financing.

OpenEvidence: $250 Million Series D At $12 Billion Valuation Raised To Expand AI ‘Medical Superintelligence’ Platform for Doctors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

OpenEvidence, an AI-powered medical search platform used by clinicians, said it has raised $250 million in a Series D financing that values the company at $12 billion, positioning it as the highest-valued healthcare AI company. Thrive Capital and DST Global co-led the financing. This round brings the total funding raised over the past 12 months to roughly $700 million. And it listed a broad roster of prior investors, including Sequoia, Google Ventures, Nvidia, Kleiner Perkins, Blackstone, Henry Kravis, Coatue, Thrive Capital, Conviction, ICONIQ, Greycroft, Breyer Capital, BOND, Craft Ventures, Goanna, Meritech, Alkeon, and Mayo Clinic, among others.

GreenFirst Secures $30 Million Federal Softwood Lumber Program Term Loan To Bolster Liquidity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

GreenFirst Forest Products has secured a new $30 million term loan under the Canadian government’s Softwood Lumber Program, bolstering liquidity as the company navigates volatility in the North American lumber market.

Engineering Resource Group Raises Strategic Investment From Godspeed Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Engineering Resource Group, a mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering consulting and design firm based in Mississippi, has received a strategic investment from private equity firm Godspeed Capital Management LP. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Furl: $10 Million Seed Round Closed To Bring Agentic AI To Security Remediation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Furl, a security remediation startup focused on automating the execution of vulnerability and configuration fixes, has raised a $10 million seed round led by Ten Eleven Ventures. The financing also included participation from Rapid7 CEO Corey Thomas and the Open Opportunity Fund.

Sage Geosystems: Over $97 Million Series B Closed To Launch First Commercial Pressure Geothermal Power Facility

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Sage Geosystems has raised over $97 million in a Series B round co-led by Ormat Technologies and Carbon Direct Capital to advance its Pressure Geothermal power generation and energy storage platform and support development of what it says will be the world’s first commercial Pressure Geothermal power generation facility. The round included new investors SiteGround Capital and The UC Berkeley Foundation’s Climate Solutions Fund, alongside existing backers Exa, Nabors, alfa8, Arch Meredith, Abilene Partners, Cubit Capital, and Ignis H2 Energy.

Zarminali Pediatrics Raises $110 Million Series A To Transform Pediatric Care

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Zarminali Pediatrics, an outpatient pediatric provider focused on integrated primary and specialty care, has raised a $110 million in Series A funding to scale its clinic network and expand its proprietary technology platform. The round was led by Healthier Capital, with participation from existing investor General Catalyst and new investor K2 HealthVentures.

British Business Bank Commits £25 Million To Kraken Technologies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

The British Business Bank has committed to invest £25 million in Kraken Technologies as part of Kraken’s $1 billion demerger from Octopus Energy Group, in a deal done in partnership with Octopus Group and facilitated by Octopus Ventures.

Cosmos: $15 Million Series A Closed As It Expands Social Discovery And Attribution Features

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Cosmos, a visual bookmarking and discovery app built for saving and organizing images, has raised a $15 million Series A financing round co-led by Shine Capital and Matrix as the startup rolls out a redesigned product aimed at making saving faster, discovery more social, and image credit more durable across the web. The round included participation from prior backers GV and Accel, as well as Plug and Play and Squarespace founder and CEO Anthony Casalena, according to McCune. Shine’s Ethan Daly has joined Cosmos’ board.

ErVimmune: €17 Million Series A First Close To Advance Off-The-Shelf Cancer Vaccine Into The Clinic

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

ErVimmune, a Lyon, France-based biotechnology company developing next-generation therapeutic cancer vaccines targeting “unconventional” tumor antigens derived from human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), has raised €17 million ($19.8 million) in the first closing of its Series A financing. The round included participation from existing shareholder Seventure Partners and new investor SPRIM Global Investments, and is expected to be supplemented by additional non-dilutive funding support tied to Bpifrance and the France 2030 program.

BrightInsight: $13 Million Closed To Expand AI-Enabled Medication Adherence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

BrightInsight has raised $13 million in funding to accelerate the development of its AI-enabled medication persistence and adherence solutions and scale patient support programs globally. The San Jose-based digital health company said the round included both existing and new backers: Eclipse, General Catalyst, Insight Partners, Mayo Clinic, and New Leaf Venture Partners.