Technology Private Placement and M&A Transactions Review Week Ending January 11, 2026

xAI: The company raised $20 billion of Series E venture funding in a deal led by Valor Equity Partners on January 6, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $210 billion. Fidelity, Cisco Investments, Nvidia, Coatue Management, Korea Investment Partners, Human Capital, MGX, Mangusta Capital, Qatar Investment Authority, BFA Global Investors, StepStone Group, Baron Capital and JP Morgan Chase also participated in the round. The company is a developer of large language models and AI systems.

LMArena: The company raised $150 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Felicis and UC Investments on January 6, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $1.5 billion. The House Fund, Kleiner Perkins, Laude Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, LDV Partners, Lightspeed Venture Partners and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of an AI interaction and feedback platform designed to shape AI through collective feedback from a global community.

Articul8 AI: The company raised $70 million of Series B venture funding in a deal led by Adara Ventures on January 7, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $500.8 million. NXC, Dragon Global, TMRW (Aditya Birla Digital Fashion Ventures) and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of a crowdsourced AI model evaluation platform that uses anonymous pairwise comparisons and human preference voting for public leaderboards.

GovDash: The company raised $25.4 million of venture funding from undisclosed investors on January 5, 2026. The company is a developer of an AI-powered platform designed to assist government contractors with capture, proposal development, and contract management.

Array Labs: The company raised $20 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Catapult Ventures (Los Altos) on January 5, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $72.5 million. Clearance Venture Partners, Aera VC, Maiora Ventures, Kompas VC, Animal Capital, Cultivation Capital, ACVC Partners, Y Combinator, Washington Harbour and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of a remote sensing technology designed to create a real-time, high-resolution three-dimensional model of the Earth.

Looki: The company raised an estimated $20 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Ant Group on January 5, 2026. Bai Brands, Resonance Venture Capital, Alpha Commune, Zhongguancun Development Venture Capital Fund, Dragonball Capital and Walden International Shanghai also participated in the round. The company is a developer of AI-powered consumer electronics and intelligent hardware systems for smart home applications.

Spangle.ai: The company raised $15 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by NewRoad Capital Partners on January 8, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $85 million. Madrona Venture Group, Streamlined Ventures, DNX Ventures and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of an agentic artificial intelligence-based platform designed to optimize shopping experiences.

Mesa Quantum: The company raised $11.2 million of venture funding from undisclosed investors on January 5, 2026. The company is a developer of photonic quantum computing hardware utilizing light-based quantum processors for computational acceleration.

vitrealab: The company raised $11 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Euroinvest Group and LIFTT on January 6, 2026. Constructor Capital, Moveon Technologies, aws Gründungsfonds, xista science ventures, Gateway Ventures, Hermann Hauser Investment and PhotonVentures also participated in the round. The company is a developer of laser-powered photonic integrated circuits enabling augmented reality displays with compact form factors.

Presto: The company raised $10 million of venture funding in a deal led by Metropolitan Partners Group on January 8, 2026. REMUS Capital, Link Ventures, Mati Staniszewski and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of AI-powered restaurant automation systems for drive-thru voice ordering and kitchen operations.

Diamond Kinetics: The company raised $9.6 million of venture funding from undisclosed investors on January 7, 2026. The company is a developer of motion tracking and analysis software designed to improve baseball swing mechanics and performance improvement.

Clipto.AI: The company raised an estimated $9.5 million Pre Series A venture funding from EnvisionX Capital, Palm Drive Capital and Hongshan Capital Group on January 5, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $240 million. GL Ventures, 522 Ventures, Hans Tung, Lu Zhang and other undisclsoed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of AI-powered digital asset management platforms for media organization, transcription, and content cataloging.

Sibros: The company raised $9 million of venture funding from Niterra and Pegasus Tech Ventures on January 6, 2026. The company is a developer of over-the-air vehicle software update platforms providing full software management, analytics, and remote diagnostics.

Azimuth AI: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding in a deal led by Jetha Global on January 5, 2026. AUM Ventures, Moneta Ventures and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of AI-optimized semiconductor chips for edge computing and machine learning inference.

Cliq: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding in a deal led by Artesian on January 5, 2026. The company is a developer of social discovery applications connecting users with like-minded individuals based on interests and preferences.

Compose: The company raised venture funding on January 5, 2026. The The company is a developer of collaborative creative workspace software for storytelling, content creation, and narrative development.

HowToRobot: The company raised an undisclosed amount of Series A venture funding from Holman and Humanoid Global Holdings on January 7, 2026. The company is an operator of a digital robotics marketplace helping companies adopt automation and increase deployment success rates.

Nanos: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Constructor Capital and Finexity on January 7, 2026. The company is a developer of an AI marketing software designed for publishers and media experts.

XConn Technologies / Marvell Technology: The company reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Marvell Technology for $540 million on January 6, 2026. The company is a developer of a semiconductor interconnect designed to support computing and AI data center infrastructure.

Nativo / Life360: The company was acquired by Life360 for $120 million on January 6, 2026. The company is a developer of an advertising platform for branded content distribution.

Convogo / OpenAI: The company reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by OpenAI for an undisclosed amount on January 8, 2026. The company is a developer of an AI-powered coaching platform for multiplying manager and leadership effectiveness through scalable coaching.

Digital Voices / PMG: The company was acquired by PMG for an undisclosed amount on January 6, 2026. The company is an operator of an influencer marketing platform designed to streamline brand collaborations with content creators.

Direqt / Roboggan Industries: The company was acquired by Roboggan Industries for an undisclosed amount on January 9, 2026. The company is a developer of a chatbot publishing platform for audience engagement and revenue generation through conversational interfaces.

Dread Central Media / Be Afraid Media: The company, a subsidiary of Epic Pictures Group, was acquired by Be Afraid Media for an undisclosed amount on January 6, 2026. The company is an operator of a digital entertainment media outlet platform designed for horror genre enthusiasts and industry professionals.

Lights Out Sports / Applied Real Intelligence: The company was acquired by Applied Real Intelligence for an undisclosed amount on January 8, 2026. The company is an operator of an online broadcasting platform catering to the sports industry.

Magic 96.7 FM / Community Media Group: The Magic 96.7 FM of Four Seasons Media, was acquired by Community Media Group on January 8, 2026. The company is an operator of a radio broadcasting station in Peterborough, Canada.

Mirror Mirror / Ykone: The company was acquired by Ykone, a subsidiary of Bindawood, for an undisclosed amount on January 7, 2026. The company is an operator of a creative production agency for branded content and advertising campaigns.

Observe / Snowflake: The company reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Snowflake for an undisclosed amount on January 8, 2026. The company is a developer of an enterprise observability platform transforming business data into actionable operational intelligence and monitoring.

Osmos / Microsoft: The company was acquired by Microsoft for an undisclosed amount on January 5, 2026. The company is a developer of an AI-powered automation and data exchange platform designed to make cross-company data collaboration simple and secure.

Pathr.ai / Standard AI: The company was acquired by Standard AI for an undisclosed amount on January 9, 2026. The company is a developer of an AI-powered spatial intelligence platform designed to help brick-and-mortar operators and businesses.

Scrimmage / Xtremepush: The company was acquired by Xtremepush for an undisclosed amount on January 6, 2026. The company is an operator of a sports betting outlet intended to offer users to view pre-game and live odds for all major U.S sportsbooks.

Structurely / CapStone Holdings: The company was acquired by CapStone Holdings, a subsidiary of Edenred Pay, for an undisclosed amount on January 6, 2026. The company is a developer of a real estate conversational artificial intelligence chatbot designed to facilitate sales and marketing for online leads.

TechnoMile / Capitol Meridian Partners: The company was acquired by Capitol Meridian Partners through an LBO on January 5, 2026 for an undisclosed amount. The company is a developer of technology and business productivity software intended to enable organizations to harness cloud technology, digital automation and machine learning.

The Overlap / Global Media Group Services: The company was acquired by Global Media Group Services for an undisclosed amount on January 6, 2026. The company is a provider of sports media content and broadcasting services for global sports commentary audiences.

Vidterra / NexTech Solutions: The company was acquired by NexTech Solutions, via its financial sponsor Clairvest Group, through an LBO on January 7, 2026 for an undisclosed amount. The company is a developer of advanced video technology for content delivery and audience engagement optimization.