CrunchBase : The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: AI Megadeals Dominate Again

The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: AI Megadeals Dominate Again

This week’s largest fundraising recipient was frontier AI lab Recursive Intelligence, and agentic AI, AI-compute, and AI-native startups filled up much of the rest of the Top 10 list. Other areas that attracted sizable funding include biotech, nuclear power, and security.

1. Ricursive Intelligence, $300M, AI: Ricursive Intelligence, a frontier AI lab, announced that it has raised $300 million in a Series A round of funding at a $4 billion valuation. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the latest round, which comes just two months after the Palo Alto, California-based company’s launch.

2. Cellares, $257M, biotech: Cellares, a startup focused on the automated, large-scale manufacturing of cell therapies, said it secured $257 million in a Series D financing led by BlackRock and Eclipse. Founded in 2019, South San Francisco, California-based Cellares has raised $612 million to date.

3 (tied). Upwind Security, $250M, cloud security: Cloud security unicorn Upwind Security closed on $250 million in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The round brings total investment for the San Francisco-headquartered company to over $430 million.

3 (tied). Decagon, $250M, AI agents: San Francisco-based Decagon, a developer of AI tools for customer service, raised for $250 million in new funding. Coatue and Index Ventures led the round, which tripled Decagon’s valuation to $4.5 billion in under six months.

5. PaleBlueDot AI, $150M, AI compute: PaleBlueDot AI, an AI compute platform founded in 2024, announced that it completed a $150 million Series B financing, valuing the company at over $1 billion. B Capital led the financing for the Palo Alto, California-based company.

6. Standard Nuclear, $140M, nuclear power: Oak Ridge, Tennessee-based Standard Nuclear, a provider of advanced nuclear fuel, raised $140 million in a Series A round led by Decisive Point and joined by a long list of new and existing investors. The company said it will use the financing to expand annual production to more than two metric tons by mid-2026.

7. Northwood Space, $100M, space tech: Northwood Space, a startup focused on improving ground infrastructure for space missions, landed $100 million in Series B funding. Washington Harbour Partners and Andreessen Horowitz led the financing for the Southern California-based company, which was founded in 2023.

8 (tied). Rogo, $75M, agentic AI: Rogo, developer of an agentic AI system for financial workflows, raised $75 million in a Series C financing led by Sequoia Capital. The New York-based startup is also opening its first international office in London, with plans to expand into Europe.

8 (tied). Mesh, $75M, crypto payments: San Francisco-based crypto payments network Mesh picked up $75 million in Series C funding led by Dragonfly Capital. Its platform enables consumers to make payments with a range of cryptocurrencies, with merchants receiving instant settlement in their preferred stablecoin.

10 (tied). Gyde, $60M, health insurance: Austin-based Gyde, an AI-native insurance brokerage platform, launched with $60 million in initial funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.

10 (tied). Breakthru Medicine, $60M, biotech: Breakthru Medicine, a startup focused on therapies for cancer patients, emerged from stealth with $60 million in Series A financing.

FT : UK to reconsider joining EU defence fund

UK to reconsider joining EU defence fund
Ministers and officials meet on Monday to discuss ‘reset’ of relations, including closer security and trade ties

Sir Keir Starmer has declared he will reconsider joining an EU rearmament scheme, in spite of talks breaking down last year when France was among the nations demanding an “onerous” entry fee.

Britain decided to stay out of the first round of the original €140bn defence fund last November when the EU insisted on a UK entry fee running to around €2bn.

But Starmer said he would look again at taking Britain into any second round of the so-called Security Action for Europe fund (SAFE) if it was in the national interest. The scheme involves the EU using its balance sheet to back cheap loans to member states for defence projects.

Speaking during a visit to China and Japan, he said: “Europe, including the UK, needs to do more on security and defence. That’s an argument I’ve been making for many months now with European leaders.

“I do think on spend, capability and co-operation we need to do more together,” he added. “I’ve made the argument and that should require us to look at schemes like SAFE and others to see whether there is a way in which we can work more closely together.”

If Britain were to join a future round of SAFE, it would allow its defence companies to supply up to 50 per cent of a collaborative project with other European countries — the current limit for non-participants is 35 per cent — and to lead projects.

Some Brussels officials expect tentative discussions about the idea to arise when UK and EU ministers and officials meet on Monday to discuss the “reset” of relations, including closer trade ties.

A European Commission spokesman refused to “speculate” on whether there would be a second round of SAFE and British officials said they would consider other ways of deepening UK-EU defence co-operation.

The FT reported last November that Brussels had put a €2bn price tag on the UK taking part in the loan guarantee scheme, while Britain offered about £200mn, creating a significant gap.

French defence minister Catherine Vautrin told the FT last month that although France appreciated how Starmer had strengthened defence co-operation, particularly the so-called “coalition of the willing” to back Ukraine, the French position remained unchanged.

“They chose to leave Europe with Brexit, and so I spoke with John [Healey, the British defence minister], who was telling me that the conditions are very onerous. I said, ‘Yes, but John, you’re not in the EU anymore, are you?’” said Vautrin.

“It’s a trade-off between the two. At one point they made a choice, and unfortunately that choice has consequences.”

The French position has confounded allies, who say it undercuts efforts for Europe to wean itself off US weapons by boosting its own industry as quickly as possible, a strategic imperative that Paris has pushed.

Germany and Italy were among countries frustrated by the French stance towards British participation. The UK has a strong defence sector and having access to SAFE would likely create export opportunities, while France is the world’s second-biggest arms exporter after the US. 

Senior ministers from both sides, including EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and UK business secretary Peter Kyle, will meet in London on Monday for the annual Partnership Council to manage post-Brexit relations.

Top of the agenda will be turbocharging the EU-UK “reset” that was agreed at a summit in London in May 2025 to improve trade relations, including removing border checks of food and plant products and relinking the EU and UK carbon-pricing schemes.

But significant gaps remain over the “Youth Experience Scheme” for 18-30 year-olds which Brussels has repeatedly warned is a must-have component of any deal.

UK business leaders were told at a meeting with UK officials last week that gaps remained both over the overall size of any scheme and the range of activities eligible, according to two people present.

EU member states are also continuing to insist on a return to “home” level tuition fees for European students coming to study in the UK, which the UK government has repeatedly ruled out and UK universities say is not affordable. 

EU and UK officials said the UK side was pushing for a second “reset” summit as early as May, at which Starmer says he hopes to map out new areas for future co-operation.

But two EU officials familiar with discussions said that this timetable looked “optimistic” given the remaining gaps between the two sides.

FT : Europe’s gas storage falls to lowest level since 2022

Europe’s gas storage falls to lowest level since 2022
Harsh winter and policy changes push prices to 10-month high

The EU’s gas storage levels have fallen to their lowest for this time of year since before the 2022 energy crisis, as the continent entered winter with lower-than-normal stockpiles and cold weather accelerates withdrawals.

Supply concerns have driven prices to their biggest monthly gain in more than two years, with the TTF benchmark gas price rising to as much as €42.60 per megawatt hour this week, a ten-month high.

Prices have also been affected by severe winter storms in the US, which have disrupted domestic gas markets and lifted European prices, as the continent has become increasingly reliant on seaborne US LNG following a sharp reduction in pipeline supplies from Russia.

The EU is missing roughly 130 full-sized cargoes’ worth of gas compared with the level a year ago, with 490 terawatt-hours of storage as of January 29, according to industry body Gas Infrastructure Europe. This has left gas in storage tanks at 43 per cent of capacity, the lowest seasonal level since 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a severe energy supply crisis across the bloc.


European storage was drawn down more quickly than usual during the month to mid-January, a move that was especially pronounced in countries such as Germany, where government policy meant less gas was stored than in previous years, said Natasha Fielding, gas analyst at Argus.

Germany entered the winter with roughly 20 per cent less gas in storage than at the peak level of the previous year, a result of both market conditions and policy changes. 

In recent years, prices for some forward gas contracts have inverted, with summer prices trading above winter contracts. This was driven by government mandates requiring more gas to be stored in readiness for winter, which pushed up summer prices and, paradoxically, made it harder for traders to build inventories economically, said Fielding.

Last summer, however, both Germany and the EU eased storage targets in an attempt to cool the market and encourage more flexible storage behaviour. 

These decisions were based on a more “relaxed” view of market conditions including a potential oversupply, with countries such as the US and Canada likely to increase production, said Olympe Mattei d’Ornano, global LNG analyst at BloombergNEF. 

Even in an extreme scenario, such as conditions similar to the severe cold wave in Europe in 2018, the north-west European bloc would still retain 11 per cent of its storage by the end of March, a level not low enough to trigger blackouts, said Mattei d’Ornano.

Gas prices are likely to fall as the heating season ends and new capacity comes online, she added.

Investor positioning has shifted alongside the tightening storage picture. Data from Argus shows that hedge funds had moved to a net long position on the Intercontinental Exchange by mid-January, indicating rising expectations of higher prices, reversing their net short positions a week earlier. Many hedge funds, which typically take shorter-term positions, had previously been betting on falling prices since October.

FT : Capgemini to sell unit linked to US immigration tracking

Capgemini to sell unit linked to US immigration tracking
French ministers have criticised IT group for lack of oversight of skip-tracing services

Capgemini will sell a US subsidiary that has come under fire for its contracts with the US immigration enforcement agency that involved the French IT services group in the tracking and deportation of individuals.

The company said the divestment of the Capgemini Government Solutions (CGS) business would begin immediately, though it did not refer directly to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement contract.

“Capgemini determined that the customary legal restrictions imposed for contracting with federal government entities carrying out classified activities in the US did not allow the Group to exercise appropriate control over certain aspects of the operations of this subsidiary,” it said on Sunday.

French ministers have criticised the group for its lack of oversight over the contracts for so-called skip-tracing services — used to locate people for legal processes on behalf of ICE using data analysis and private investigators. 

The company has said previously that the US unit operates autonomously in order to meet US requirements to handle sensitive government contracts.

Capgemini said CGS represented 0.4 per cent of global estimated revenues for 2025, and less than 2 per cent of its turnover in the US. 

The scrutiny of external contractors to ICE follows the backlash against the US immigration agency after its officers shot and killed two US citizens in Minnesota, sparking sustained and widespread protests.


ICE violence and brutal tactics in enforcing the Trump administration’s policies of large-scale deportation have attracted international government attention. Italy last week sought to quell tensions over the inclusion of ICE agents as part of the security for the US Winter Olympics delegation by clarifying that agents would be confined to the US consulate in Milan.

Capgemini has signed $12.2mn in contracts for skip tracing under the Trump administration on top of earlier work worth $2.5mn in data support. ICE has said it plans to spend up to $281mn through vendors as it seeks to investigate 1.5mn addresses. 

Capgemini said earlier this week that its most recent contract with ICE signed in December was “not currently being executed” and that it became aware of it “through public sources”. French finance minister Roland Lescure criticised the group for not having sufficient oversight of its subsidiaries.

Most US federal contracts, including ones with ICE, are publicly available online through the government’s Federal Procurement Data System.

A solicitation document published in November by ICE said vendors would be asked to “verify alien address information” and “confirm the new location of aliens” using both digital tools and “in-person surveillance”. 

The Trump administration gave ICE an extra $75bn last year to pursue aggressive deportation quotas, creating lucrative opportunities for the agency’s contractors.

>>> Barron’s weekend Summary

Cover:
-OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is engaged in various ventures, including verifying humans on the blockchain, advising a public company competing with Salesforce for marketing tech tools, promoting a Dan Ives-branded AI-focused ETF, and supporting a clothing line. Meanwhile, Dan Ives, global head of tech research at Wedbush Securities, has become a prominent Wall Street analyst due to his optimistic views and media presence, but his extracurricular roles at Eightco Holdings and Zeta Global, along with his involvement in Wedbush's AI fund, raise concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Ives' s support for AI and crypto on Capitol Hill, while also covering these sectors for Wedbush, may compromise his objectivity, highlighting the importance of transparency in analyst disclosures as required by Finra regulations.

Interview:
-CoreWeave, led by CEO Michael Intrator, distinguishes itself as a non-traditional tech firm focused on providing cloud-computing resources for AI giants like OpenAI and Meta. Intrator, who comes from a commodities and finance background, emphasizes the technical expertise within CoreWeave, which operates large data centers, including a significant 450,000-square-foot site in Plano, Texas, primarily utilizing Nvidia's GPUs. In financing these capital-intensive operations, CoreWeave employs innovative debt market strategies, a departure from the typical Silicon Valley reliance on equity financing. Intrator critiques this conventional approach as inefficient, arguing that debt is crucial for the sustainable development of infrastructure and that the debt markets demand accountability—highlighted by CoreWeave's substantial financial obligations, with $10.3B in long-term debt and $310M in interest expenses reported in their recent quarter. This perspective reflects a broader understanding of balancing financial strategy with technological advancement.

Tech Trader:
-Microsoft unveiled its earnings report, focusing investor attention on its artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives. The company is promoting an AI assistant, Copilot, available as a $30 upgrade for its Microsoft 365 productivity suite, which has about 450 million users. According to CFO Amy Hood, only 15 million users (3%) have subscribed to Copilot thus far, and its sales have not significantly impacted the top line revenue growth of the Microsoft 365 commercial cloud unit, which was up 14%—consistent with previous growth rates. This raises concerns as the AI monetization strategy does not appear to be thriving, and the use of Microsoft's Azure cloud resources for Copilot may be detracting from more profitable services. Consequently, investors reacted negatively, leading to a 10% drop in Microsoft's stock on Thursday, the largest single-day decline since March 2020, despite the company's earnings and revenue surpassing Wall Street expectations.

The Trader:
-The health insurance sector, particularly UnitedHealth Group (UNH), is facing significant challenges, evidenced by a 17% drop in share prices. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a 0.09% increase in Medical Advantage insurance premiums for 2027, substantially lower than the expected 5%, which could severely impact future earnings. UnitedHealth's recent fourth-quarter results showed revenue of $113.2 billion, falling short of the $113.8 billion forecast, alongside a disappointing guidance for 2026 sales at $439 billion compared to Wall Street's $453 billion. Revenue projections from its Optum unit are also down, expected at $257.5 billion, $18.5 billion below expectations, as the company emphasizes Optum Insight. Additionally, UnitedHealth anticipates a drop of over 1 million Medicare Advantage members due to a strategic right-sizing aimed at cost reduction. Its medical cost ratio has risen for three consecutive years, squeezing profit margins, and the Department of Justice is investigating its government funding requests, complicating the situation further.
-Pharmaceutical stocks have surged, with the State Street SPDR S&P Pharmaceuticals ETF rising 32% in six months and nearing its 2015 high. The sector's growth is attributed to a renewed interest in healthcare, with the State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF increasing 15%. Investment in artificial intelligence by healthcare companies is expected to enhance profit margins. Positive sentiment from the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference regarding FDA approvals for new drug candidates has further boosted market confidence, with notable gains among companies like Merck (27%), Gilead Sciences (24%), and Regeneron (38%). However, the rising valuations may pose risks; any earnings shortfalls or drug pipeline setbacks could lead to stock declines, despite the potential for sustained earnings growth as forecasted by analysts.

Features:
-Credit card issuers, including Visa and American Express, reported strong consumer spending in the last quarter of 2025, with Visa's U.S. payments volume up 7% and American Express noting a 10% increase in retail spending. Visa's CFO highlighted robust holiday spending consistent across income levels, while American Express indicated a 15% rise in luxury retail due to its wealthier clientele. Despite concerns about consumer affordability, these trends suggest that Americans participated actively in holiday shopping. Analysts anticipate further spending growth in the new year, bolstered by potential tax cuts and projected increases in refunds, which could add around $100B in consumer spending this year.
-Kevin Warsh has been selected by President Donald Trump to lead the Federal Reserve, a choice influenced by Warsh’s extensive background, including his previous role as a Fed governor. At 55, Warsh advocates for a "regime change" at the Fed, proposing a shift from the current Chair Jerome Powell’s “data-driven” approach to one that prioritizes government spending and money circulation as key determinants of inflation. Warsh criticizes the Powell Fed for being overly focused on outdated economic data, claiming it has failed and lost market confidence. Following his nomination, the initial response from financial markets was mild, indicating a general expectation for a short-term easing of interest rates. Warsh's potential nomination is seen by some investors as a stabilizing factor amidst Trump’s unpredictable policies, as evidenced by gold prices dropping and the dollar strengthening, implying a market belief in future interest rate hikes. This nomination may reassure skeptics of Trump's influence over the Fed while remaining attentive to inflation concerns.

Europe:
-President Trump’s comments regarding Greenland have intensified discussions in Europe about digital sovereignty, prompting European allies to consider reducing their reliance on American technology companies. This shift in focus has expanded from being primarily a concern of civil society and tech regulators to involving national security agencies, highlighting heightened fears of potential exploitation by the US government. France has announced plans to replace American videoconferencing tools with domestic alternatives as a precaution. Europe's path toward digital sovereignty will depend on distinguishing between areas of achievable independence and those that remain unrealistic, while also being motivated by national and economic security concerns in light of the broader implications of US technology dependence.

Emerging Markets:
-Wall Street strategists predict that emerging markets will continue to outperform in 2023, following a strong performance last year. The iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF has risen by 7.2% this year, compared to a 1% increase in the S&P 500. JP Morgan's Mislav Matejka highlighted several factors sustaining this optimism, such as expected interest rate cuts by many emerging market central banks, a weakening dollar, potential economic improvement in China, and favorable investments in artificial intelligence within emerging markets. Additionally, Goldman Sachs anticipates a 17% total return for MSCI Emerging Markets, supported by 19% earnings growth. Although valuations have increased, they remain lower than those in developed markets, creating favorable conditions for investors. Most investors are still underexposed to these markets.

Commodities:
-Gold and copper reached record highs, up 23% and 10% respectively in January 2026, with gold achieving its longest winning streak since March 2025. Silver also saw a significant increase, closing well above $100 after a 60% rise year to date. Julian Emanuel from Evercore ISI believes that the 2020 commodity supercycle is reinforced by chronic supply underinvestment and increasing policy-driven demand. Discussions with Jeff Currie highlight a positive outlook for commodities, especially metals, despite a temporary dip from 2023 to 2024. Supply challenges stem from investments diverted to tech and AI, alongside historical low returns and environmental constraints. Conversely, global demand drivers extend beyond AI, as countries prioritize energy security and self-sufficient supply chains amid deglobalization trends.

Streetwise:
-Wall Street refers to the term "debasement trade" in relation to the sharp increase in gold prices, which have surged from $3,400 to over $5,600 per troy ounce within months. Jack Hough suggests that despite this rise, we have not yet experienced monetary debasement, which is distinct from inflation. While inflation denotes a gradual price increase, debasement signifies a loss of credibility in a monetary system—illustrated by historical instances like Zimbabwe and Argentina. Hough emphasizes that debasement can begin with excessive government spending leading to chronic deficits and high inflation relative to interest rates, resulting in decreased investor confidence in government bonds and a preference for alternative currencies. This clear differentiation highlights the importance of understanding economic terms and their implications for monetary value stability.