Startup and Venture Capital News for Monday, 12 January 2026: Major Investment Rounds in AI, Biotech, and Fintech, Deals Involving Leading Venture Funds, and Key Trends in the Global Market.
The venture market entered 2026 on a high note: following a record influx of capital into startups in 2025 (particularly in the realm of artificial intelligence), the new year shows no signs of slowing down. In the early days of January, multi-billion dollar deals have been announced across various sectors—from AI and biotech to fintech and infrastructure. Below are the key startup and venture capital news for 12 January 2026.
Major Deals of the Week
The first complete work week of 2026 has been marked by a series of substantial funding rounds. Among the most notable deals are the following:
- xAI (generative AI) — raised $20 billion (Series E round). Elon Musk's startup, known for its AI chatbot and connection to the X platform (formerly Twitter), has secured support from a wide array of venture and strategic investors. This unprecedented investment has propelled xAI's total funding to record heights, reportedly elevating the company's valuation to approximately $230 billion.
- DayOne Data Centers (data centre infrastructure) — over $2 billion (Series C round). The Singapore-based startup, which is constructing networks of hyperscale data centres, attracted funds under the leadership of the Coatue hedge fund with participation from Indonesia's sovereign fund. The capital will be channelled towards expanding locations in Europe (particularly in Finland) and the Asia-Pacific region to meet the growing demand for AI-ready infrastructure.
- Parabilis Medicines (biotechnology) — raised $305 million (Series F round). This biotech company from Cambridge (USA), which develops anti-cancer drugs based on a peptide platform, received significant funding to continue its clinical trials. The round was led by leading industry investors, reflecting market confidence in the prospects of oncology therapies.
- Rain (fintech, crypto payments) — raised $250 million (Series C, valuation ~$1.95 billion). The New York-based fintech startup, which is creating infrastructure for stablecoin payments, secured a quarter of a billion dollars under the leadership of Iconiq just months after its previous round. The rapid growth in valuation (increasing 17-fold since March of last year) demonstrates a strong investor interest in technologies bridging traditional finance and digital currencies.
AI Startups Continue to Attract Capital
The artificial intelligence sector remains the engine of the venture market. In 2025, global investments in AI startups shattered records (according to PitchBook, only leading Silicon Valley companies attracted around $150 billion for the year). Now, at the start of 2026, the influx of funds shows no signs of abating. In addition to the mentioned mega-round for xAI, other significant investments have occurred in the AI segment:
- LMArena (AI model evaluation platform, San Francisco) — secured $150 million in new funding. The round was led by Felicis and UC Investments, and the post-investment valuation of the startup reached $1.7 billion (almost three times higher than a year earlier at the seed stage).
- Lyte (AI for robotics, Mountain View) — emerged from "stealth mode" and revealed that it has raised a total of $107 million in funding. The company is developing machine "vision" technologies and environmental understanding for robotics, facilitating robots to navigate safely in physical space.
Biotech and Health: Significant Investments
Following a spike in interest in biotech during the pandemic, healthcare and biotech startups continue to receive substantial backing from venture funds. The first week of the year has already seen several rounds exceeding $100 million for companies developing innovative therapies and medical technologies:
- Soley Therapeutics (neurodegenerative diseases, San Francisco) — $200 million (Series C) to advance a platform for treating neurological and metabolic disorders. Investors have high hopes for the technology for detecting cellular stress, which may underpin efforts to combat severe diseases.
- Diagonal Therapeutics (genetic diseases, Massachusetts) — $125 million (Series B) raised for developing therapies for hereditary conditions using "cluster" antibodies that correct disruptions in cellular signalling.
- EpiBiologics (biopharma, California) — $107 million (Series B) to establish a platform for tissue-specific protein degradation. The round was led by corporate venture divisions of large pharmaceutical companies, reaffirming the industry’s strategic interest in new drug development approaches.
Fintech Sector: Steady Investor Interest
Financial technology startups are demonstrating stable capital attraction at the outset of 2026, although the number of mega "unicorn" deals has been lower than in AI or biotech. The fintech sector is gradually emerging from the downturn of recent years, attracting both growth rounds and strategic investments:
- Besides the sizable round for Rain at $250 million, several fintech startups in the US have raised investments in the range of $10–25 million, indicating a gradual recovery in the sector following a festive slowdown.
- Globally, the fintech market shows signs of recovery: according to Crunchbase, total venture investments in financial technologies reached ~$52 billion in 2025 (a 27% increase compared to the previous year). Although this is still below the records of 2021, the growth signals a return of investor confidence in this sector.
There is also activity in the cryptocurrency market: funding continues to flow into the digital asset infrastructure, and some large crypto companies (such as Ripple) managed to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in 2025, creating a positive backdrop for relevant startups in 2026. Overall, fintech companies are now focusing on achieving sustainable growth and preparing for initial public offerings as the market begins to revive.
Infrastructure and Deep Technologies: Data Centres and Quantum Computing
In addition to software innovations, investors are actively funding companies that create the foundation for future technological breakthroughs—from data centres to quantum computing. The largest infrastructure deal at the beginning of the year has already been mentioned: the data centre project DayOne with its $2 billion investment reflects a high demand for capacities for cloud and AI workloads. In the same vein, various deep technology sectors are developing:
- Photonic (quantum networks, Vancouver) — raised $180 million (first tranche of the round) for commercialising networked quantum computing technology. The startup intends to use the funds to scale its platform and has now secured around $375 million in investments since its inception.
- D-Wave (quantum computing, Canada) — announced its intention to acquire the startup Quantum Circuits (USA) for $550 million (the deal will be partially paid in shares and partially in cash). This consolidation brings together different approaches to quantum technologies and signals the beginning of market consolidation in deep technologies.
Investments in infrastructure also encompass projects in semiconductors, communications, and cybersecurity. Thus, 2026 begins with significant investments not only in applied services but also in fundamental technologies without which these services would be impossible.
Megafunds and Venture Capital Strategies
Despite the high level of deal activity, the venture capital industry itself is undergoing structural changes. In 2025, the amount of capital raised by venture funds from investors (LPs) significantly declined compared to previous years, and the number of new funds has reached a decade low.
Nonetheless, the largest VC firms continue to attract capital at record levels. For example, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has closed new funds totalling over $15 billion, including a growth fund of $6.75 billion, a fund for AI infrastructure at $1.7 billion, and a fund for startups in defence and other strategic sectors at $1.1 billion.
Exits and Upcoming IPOs
A sign of the recovery of the venture ecosystem is the resumption of major exits—both through company sales and preparations for initial public offerings. The beginning of 2026 brings good news in this regard:
- Corporations are once again actively acquiring startups: the company Atlassian has agreed to purchase the creators of the Arc browser (the startup The Browser Company) for approximately $610 million. This deal will enable Atlassian to integrate the innovative browser with AI capabilities for corporate users, thereby expanding its product portfolio.
- CrowdStrike is set to acquire the startup SGNL (cybersecurity) for approximately $740 million. This will be one of the largest acquisitions in the cybersecurity sector in recent times and will strengthen CrowdStrike's position in digital identity protection.
- High-profile IPOs are on the horizon: the communication platform Discord has confidentially filed for a public offering, signalling its readiness to go public in the coming months. As one of the largest "unicorns" in Silicon Valley, its listing will serve as an indicator of market appetite for rapidly growing tech companies.
The resurgence of major exits and the impending IPOs of tech leaders promise to make 2026 a pivotal year for the venture industry, restoring liquidity and investor confidence.
