Venture Capital

GTCR Partners With Gary Swidler To Launch Ascent Sports Group Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

GTCR has partnered with consumer technology executive Gary Swidler to launch Ascent Sports Group, a new platform aimed at consolidating and modernizing the fragmented technology ecosystem that supports youth and amateur sports.

Bluestone Equity Partners Invests In Selkirk Sport To Fuel Product Innovation and Global Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Bluestone Equity Partners has made a strategic investment in Selkirk Sport, positioning the pickleball equipment and sportswear brand to accelerate product development, expand across omnichannel retail, and pursue targeted growth in Asia. The transaction represents Selkirk’s first external investment and marks Bluestone’s ninth deal from its inaugural $300 million fund, which closed in a single close in the first quarter of 2023.

Fortune Brands Extends $1.25 Billion Revolving Credit Facility, Pushing Maturity to 2031

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Fortune Brands Innovations announced it has extended its existing revolving credit agreement, reinforcing its liquidity position and maintaining access to flexible capital for general corporate purposes. The company announced that it executed the extension on January 16, 2026.

Comtech Wins $5+ Million Follow-On Space Components Award For Civil Lunar Exploration Program

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Comtech Telecommunications has received a follow-on space components contract worth more than $5 million to support a major U.S. civil space exploration program, the company said Tuesday. The award calls for Comtech to provide advanced electronic components and component engineering services to a leading aerospace and defense prime contractor involved in next-generation human space exploration, with the work aimed at enabling technologies for missions that will explore new areas of the lunar surface.

Divert Lands New Wittington-Led Funding To Scale Food Waste-To-Energy Infrastructure Across North America

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Divert secured new funding led by Wittington Investments, Limited to accelerate the buildout of infrastructure aimed at reducing wasted food across North America, as the company scales its “Prevent, Provide, Power” model across major retail and manufacturing customers.

Blackstone Closes Majority Investment In NetBrain As Bernadette Nixon Takes Over As CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Blackstone Growth has closed its previously announced majority investment in NetBrain Technologies, with the AI NetOps platform provider saying the funding will accelerate global expansion and advance its AI-powered network automation capabilities.

Juniper Biomedical Wins Phase 3 NIH SPARC Neuromod Prize And Adds Frank Fischer to Board

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Juniper Biomedical has won Phase 3 of the NIH SPARC Neuromod Prize, earning a $1.6 million cash award that the company said will support ongoing product development and clinical trials for its lead therapy targeting mixed urinary incontinence (MUI).

Allianz Global Investors Raises $690 Million First Close For Emerging Markets Credit Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Allianz Global Investors has raised a $690 million first close for its Allianz Credit Emerging Markets (ACE) fund, a vehicle aimed at mobilizing institutional capital to support the low-carbon economic transition across Africa, Latin America and Asia, according to a LinkedIn post by British International Investment (BII) Investment Director Michael Sanni.

Exciva: €51 Million Series B Closed To Advance Alzheimer’s Agitation Therapy Into Phase 2

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

EQT Life Sciences announced it co-led a €51 million Series B financing in Exciva, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for behavioral symptoms associated with Alzheimer’s disease, with proceeds earmarked to move the company’s lead program into a Phase 2 study.

Orbem: €55.5M Series B Raised To Scale MRI-Powered AI Across Food and Healthcare

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Orbem has secured €55.5 million in Series B funding to advance its goal of building a healthier and more sustainable future. The round was led by Innovation Industries and joined by Supernova Invest, with continued support from existing investors General Catalyst, 83NORTH, The Venture Collective (TVC) Collective, and Possible Ventures.

QIA And Goldman Sachs Expand Partnership With $25 Billion Investment Target And Doha Asset Management Hub Plan

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Goldman Sachs Asset Management have signed a memorandum of understanding to expand their strategic partnership, with QIA targeting up to $25 billion in combined commitments across Goldman Sachs–managed funds and co-investment opportunities.

Crescent: $3.2 Billion Private Credit Continuation Vehicle Closed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Crescent Capital Group and Pantheon said they have closed Crescent Credit Solutions VII CV (CCS VII CV), a $3.2 billion private credit continuation vehicle formed to acquire a diversified portfolio of performing sponsor-backed loans, securities, and other equity interests from Crescent Mezzanine Partners VII, a 2016-vintage fund.

XBuild: $19 Million Series A Raised And AI-Based Residential Roofing Estimate Product Launched

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

XBuild, an AI estimating platform built for construction contractors, has raised $19 million in a Series A round led by N47, with participation from Rackhouse Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. The company said it will use the new capital to expand beyond roofing into additional construction estimating categories, including concrete, landscaping, painting, windows and doors, glass and glazing, insulation, HVAC, and plumbing.

Atlas Invest: $25 Million Raised To Expand AI-Driven Commercial Real Estate Private Credit Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Atlas Invest has raised $25 million in funding led by BlackRock as it looks to scale its technology-enabled approach to commercial real estate bridge lending and broaden access to institutional-style real estate debt opportunities. The New York-based lender said the raise will support expanded origination and management of senior, real estate-backed loans while strengthening underwriting, monitoring, and servicing capabilities across its portfolio.

Bansk Closes Continuation Fund To Extend Partnership With Arcadia Consumer Healthcare

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Bansk Group announced it has closed a continuation fund transaction to expand and extend its ownership partnership with Arcadia Consumer Healthcare, a fast-growing platform in over-the-counter medicines and premium vitamins and nutritional supplements.

Ivo: $55 Million Series B Closed To Scale Contract Intelligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Ivo has raised $55 million in Series B financing to scale its contract-intelligence platform, the company said in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.

Ethernovia: Over $90 Million Series B Raised To Scale Leading-Edge Autonomy And Physical AI Networking Chips

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Silicon Valley semiconductor startup Ethernovia has raised over $90 million in a Series B financing round to accelerate the development and production of its Ethernet-based packet processor platform, aimed at real-time “physical AI” workloads across vehicles, robots, and industrial intelligent machines.

Unbox Robotics: $28 Million Series B Closed For Supply Chain Robotics

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Unbox Robotics has raised $28 million (INR 243 crore) in a Series B funding round led by ICICI Venture and Redstart Labs (Infoedge), with co-investment from F-Prime, 3one4 Capital, Navam Capital, Force Ventures, and other existing backers. The round included a mix of primary and secondary capital, and the company said the transaction also created meaningful employee liquidity through its ESOP program.

Emergent Lands $70 Million Series B As ARR Hits $50 Million In 7 Months

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Emergent, an AI-driven software creation platform that helps users build full-stack web and mobile applications, has raised $70 million in Series B funding led by Khosla Ventures and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the company said Tuesday.

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.

Arcano Partners Closes €850 Million Secondary Fund V As Demand Grows for Mid-Market Secondaries

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Arcano Partners has held the final close of Arcano Secondary Fund V, FCR (ASF V), raising €850 million—about $1 billion—well above its initial €500 million target. The fund, launched in 2024, drew backing from a mix of institutional and private investors across Europe and the Americas, reflecting continued appetite for secondaries strategies as investors seek liquidity and managers look to extend ownership of assets.

Horizon Capital Invests In 124 MW Notus Energy Wind Project In Odesa

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Horizon Capital announced it has completed an initial closing for its reconstruction-focused Horizon Capital Catalyst Fund and signed its first transaction: a partnership with Germany-based Notus Energy to finance a 124-megawatt wind power project in Ukraine’s Odesa region.

Heitman Closes $2.62 Billion For Value-Add Fund VI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Heitman has completed the final close of Heitman Value Partners Fund VI (HVP VI), securing $2 billion in fund commitments and an additional $620 million in co-investment capital. The close surpassed the fund’s $1.75 billion target and reached its hard cap, making HVP VI the largest closed-end fundraise in Heitman’s history.

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.

Radial Power: $355 Million Goldman Sachs Financing Raised For 214 MW Distributed Solar Portfolio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

Radial Power, an affiliate of energyRe, and Lotus Infrastructure Partners have closed a $355 million tax equity and debt financing with Goldman Sachs to fund a nationwide distributed solar portfolio totaling roughly 214 megawatts across 106 projects.

SageSure And GeoVera Nova Close $200 Million Meritage Re Catastrophe Bond in Debut Issuance

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

SageSure and GeoVera Nova have closed a $200 million catastrophe bond, marking the first issuance from Meritage Re Ltd., a newly established Bermuda special purpose vehicle. The Meritage Re Ltd. Series 2026-1 transaction drew strong investor demand, enabling the deal to price “significantly tighter” than initial guidance and securing U.S. named storm coverage below preliminary pricing levels.

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.

G Square Takes Majority Stake In Serres To Back Global Expansion Of Sustainable Surgical Fluid Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 20, 2026

G Square has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Serres, a Finland-based MedTech company focused on surgical fluid management and suction solutions, as the European healthcare private equity firm looks to accelerate the business’s international growth and sustainability-driven product strategy.