Venture Capital

Sparkli: $5 Million Pre-Seed Funding Raised For A Multimodal AI-Native Learning Engine For Children

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Sparkli, a Zurich-based AI startup founded by former Google Area 120, Search, and YouTube team members, has raised a $5 million pre-seed round to build a multimodal AI native learning engine for children ages 5 to 12.

Helin: €10 Million Closed To Scale Industrial Edge Intelligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Helin has secured a €10 million growth investment led by Amsterdam-based venture firm FORWARD.one as it looks to scale its industrial edge intelligence platform and expand internationally. The Rijswijk-based company, which provides edge computing and analytics technology for asset-heavy industries, said the round follows the securing of a loan from Rabobank and will be used to grow sales capacity and further develop its platform.

Balance Homes Relaunches With $30 Million Backing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Balance Homes has relaunched with a $30 million investment led by Falco Group, positioning its flexible co-ownership model as an alternative way for homeowners to access equity and stay in their homes amid rising affordability pressures.

Agileday: €6.4 Million Series A Raised To Modernize Professional Services Operations With AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Agileday, a Finnish technology company building a people-centric operating platform for professional services firms, has raised a €6.4 million Series A round to support international expansion and further develop its AI-driven product.

StepStone And Blue Moon Complete $250 Million Continuation Vehicle To Hold Senior Housing Portfolio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

StepStone Real Estate, the real estate arm of StepStone Group, and Blue Moon Capital Partners said they have completed a $250 million continuation vehicle to operate a portfolio of five Class A, stabilized senior housing communities originally developed or redeveloped by Blue Moon.

Baseten: $300 Million At $5 Billion Valuation Raised As Inference Becomes Core AI Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Baseten, an AI inference company focused on running modern models in production, has raised $300 million in new financing at a $5 billion valuation. IVP, CapitalG, and NVIDIA anchored the round, as demand accelerates for high-performance infrastructure that can reliably deploy and operate AI models at scale.

Juspay: $50 Million Series D Follow-On At $1.2 Billion Valuation Raised For Payments Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Juspay announced it has secured a $50 million Series D follow-on investment from WestBridge Capital to support global expansion, with the deal structured as a mix of primary and secondary capital that values the company at $1.2 billion.

TIC Holding Schweiz Takes Stake in Vibro-Consult To Expand Swiss Testing And Calibration Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

TIC Holding Schweiz AG has acquired a stake in Vibro-Consult AG, adding a Swiss market leader in vibration and machinery diagnostics to its growing platform of accredited testing, inspection, and calibration services.

Aqua Pennsylvania Awarded Nearly $17 Million In PENNVEST Funding For PFAS Treatment Projects

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Aqua Pennsylvania announced it has secured $16.9 million in financing through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) to support the installation of five PFAS treatment systems serving nine community well sites across Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery counties.

Artie: $12 Million Series A Raised To Bring Real-Time Data Streaming To AI Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Artie, a fully managed real-time data streaming platform, has raised a $12 million Series A to help companies move from batch-based data movement to streaming-first infrastructure as AI systems shift from dashboards into live, decision-making production environments. The round was led by Dalton Caldwell at Standard Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, Pathlight Ventures, and a group of angel investors, including Arash Ferdowsi, Benn Stancil, Chris Best, Charles Hearn, and Lenny Rachitsky.

Audax Strategic Capital Invests In Strickland Brothers To Fuel M&A Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Audax Strategic Capital (ASC) has made a structured equity investment in Strickland Brothers, a Princeton Equity Group-backed quick-lube and automotive maintenance platform, with proceeds earmarked to help fund actionable M&A opportunities as the business continues its national expansion. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Cubby: $63 Million Series A Raised To Expand AI-Native Self-Storage Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Cubby has raised a $63 million Series A minority investment to accelerate the growth of its property management platform for self-storage operators, the company said. The round was led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with existing investors also participating.

Yuki: $6 Million Seed Funding Raised To Build An AI ‘Control Layer’ For Data Spend

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Yuki, a data cost optimization startup, has emerged from stealth with a $6 million seed round, targeting a growing pain point for enterprises facing rising data and AI infrastructure bills. The financing was led by Hyperwise Ventures, with participation from VelocitX, Tal Ventures, Fresh.fund, and Yakir Daniel, the founder of Spot.io (which was acquired by NetApp and is now part of Flexera).

Healthier Capital: $220 Million Debut Fund Closed To Back Early-Stage Health-Tech Companies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Healthier Capital has closed a $220 million oversubscribed inaugural venture fund, raising capital from universities, endowments, family offices, healthcare organizations, and other investors as it looks to back early-stage companies operating at the intersection of healthcare and technology.

Black Bay Partners Closes Third Fund At $425 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Black Bay Partners has completed the final closing of its third private equity vehicle, Black Bay III, L.P., reaching the fund’s hard cap of $425 million in capital commitments, the firm said Thursday.

GIGR (Playad): $5.4 Million Pre-Seed Secured To Build Multi-Agent AI Marketing Workflows

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

San Francisco-based startup GIGR (dba Playad) has raised $5.4 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate development of AI marketing agents designed to help teams create, test, and improve advertising creative with less manual work and less guesswork.

ZBD: $40 Million Series C Raised To Expand Lightning-Powered Payments And Rewards Inside Video Games

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

ZBD, a payments company focused on enabling real-money transactions inside games and consumer apps, said it has secured $40 million in Series C financing commitments led by Blockstream Capital Partners (BCP). The company positions itself as a fully licensed, vertically integrated payments provider built specifically for gaming, using the Bitcoin Lightning Network to support embedded payments and rewards at scale.

ABZ Innovation: $8.2 Million Closed To Scale Heavy-Duty Agricultural And Industrial Drones

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

ABZ Innovation, a Europe-based maker of heavy-duty agricultural and industrial drones, has raised $8.2 million in a funding round led by Vsquared Ventures, with participation from Day One Capital and Assembly Ventures. The company said the new capital will be used to expand manufacturing capacity, accelerate product development, and support commercial growth in key international markets, including continued traction in the United States.

Octarine Bio: €5 Million Raised To Scale Precision-Fermented Natural Pigments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Octarine Bio has secured €5 million in new funding, bringing its total Series A financing to €12.8 million, including earlier pre-Series A capital, as the Danish biotech pushes to scale a new platform for sustainable, bio-based pigments.

Mia Labs: $20 Million Series A Closed To Expand AI ‘Super Employee’ For Auto Dealership Communications

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Mia Labs, the company behind an AI-powered conversational platform designed specifically for automotive dealerships, has raised a $20 million Series A round to accelerate product development, expand its team, and scale deployments across the U.S. The financing brings the company’s total capital raised to $29 million.

Waldo: $225 Million Debut Fund Closed To Back Founder-Led Software And Tech-Enabled Services Companies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Waldo, a New York-based investment firm, said it has closed its $225 million inaugural vehicle, Waldo I, to invest in proven, early-growth stage software and tech-enabled services companies. The firm said it is targeting entrepreneurs building enduring businesses with strong fundamentals and real-world traction, aiming to support companies on a path to scale without relying on public markets to define their outcomes.

Klir: $17.5 Million Series B And Credit Facility Closed To Scale Operational Data Hub for Water Utilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Klir has closed $17.5 million in growth financing, combining a $10 million Series B equity round with a $7.5 million credit facility from Innovation Banking at CIBC, as the company scales its operational platform for water utilities across North America and beyond.

Mews: $300 Million Series D At $2.5 Billion Valuation Raised To Push AI-Native Hotel Operations

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Mews, a hospitality operating system provider, has raised $300 million in a Series D funding round led by EQT Growth, with new participation from Atomico and HarbourVest Partners and continued backing from Kinnevik, Battery Ventures, and Tiger Global. The investment values Mews at $2.5 billion and will be used to accelerate product development focused on AI-driven automation, as well as expand payments and fintech capabilities and support international growth across North America, Europe, and additional markets.

Cyclic Materials: $75 Million Series C Raised To Scale Rare Earth Recycling

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Cyclic Materials has closed an oversubscribed $75 million Series C equity round as it scales rare-earth recycling operations across the U.S. and Europe and expands its Canada-based research and development footprint The financing was led by accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, with participation from the Canada Growth Fund and continued support from existing shareholders.

DealHub: $100 Million Raised To Build An Agentic Quote-To-Revenue Platform For Enterprise Monetization

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

DealHub has raised $100 million in a growth funding round led by Riverwood Capital as it pushes to reposition CPQ as the core “agentic” control plane for enterprise monetization, expanding beyond quoting into a unified quote-to-revenue platform that spans pricing and packaging through contracting, billing, and revenue recognition.

Pinegrove Opportunity Partners: $2.2 Billion Raised For Inaugural Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 23, 2026

Pinegrove Opportunity Partners, a venture and growth secondaries specialist, announced it has closed its first fund with $2.2 billion in capital commitments, topping its $2 billion target and ending the raise oversubscribed.

BCI Names Jon Salon Global Head Of Private Equity, Succeeding Jim Pittman

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI) has appointed Jon Salon as Executive Vice President and Global Head of Private Equity, effective February 2, 2026. Salon will lead BCI Private Equity’s C$36 billion-plus program and succeeds Jim Pittman, who has led the platform since 2016 and is departing BCI at the end of January.

Cambio: $18 Million Closed To Bring Agentic AI To Commercial Real Estate Capital Planning And Compliance

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Cambio, an AI-native commercial real estate operations platform, has launched publicly after raising $18 million in Series A funding to help landlords and investors turn sprawling building data into faster, investment-grade decisions on retrofits, capital planning, and regulatory compliance. The round was led by Maverick Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Adverb Ventures, Peterson Ventures, and angel investors that include executives from Procore, OpenAI, Anthropic, Vanta, Vercel, ServiceNow, Notion, and Amplitude.

Superstate Raises $82.5 Million Series B To Expand Onchain Equity Issuance

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Superstate announced it has closed an $82.5 million Series B financing as the company expands from tokenized Treasury products into infrastructure that enables SEC-registered public companies to issue and manage tokenized shares directly on public blockchains.

Railway: $100 Million Series B Closed To Unburden Builders and Scale AI-Native Cloud Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 22, 2026

Railway, a cloud platform designed to help developers deploy applications faster with less operational overhead, has raised $100 million in Series B funding as it looks to scale infrastructure built for an AI-accelerated era of software development. The round was led by TQ Ventures, with participation from FPV Ventures, Redpoint, and Unusual Ventures. Railway said the capital will support its efforts to “make infrastructure invisible,” expand global capacity, grow headcount, and build new developer- and AI-oriented tooling.