Technology Private Placement and M&A Transactions Review Week Ending February 1, 2026

Waabi: The company raised an estimated $750 million of Series C venture funding in a deal led by Khosla Ventures and G2 Venture Partners on January 28, 2026. Uber, Volvo Group Venture Capital, Export Development Canada, NVentures, Business Development Bank of Canada, TELUS Global Ventures, Linse Capital, Incharge Capital Partners, Radical Ventures, GC1 Ventures, BMO Global Asset Management, Porsche Automobil Holding, HarbourVest Partners, BlackRock and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of a generative artificial intelligence-powered autonomous trucking platform designed to enable driverless commercial freight delivery and ride-hailing.

Ricursive Intelligence: The company raised $300 million of Series A venture funding and debt in a deal led by Lightspeed Venture Partners on January 26, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $3.7 billion. NVentures (Santa Clara), Felicis, Radical Ventures, Sequoia Capital, 49 Palms Ventures, DST Global and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of an AI-driven semiconductor design platform designed to accelerate and scale next-generation AI compute.

PaleBlueDot.AI: The company raised $150 million through a combination of debt, and Series B venture funding in a deal led by B Capital Group on January 28, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $900 million. The company is a developer of an AI cloud marketplace platform designed to connect GPU resource suppliers and customers for scalable AI infrastructure.

Vention: The company raised $110 million of Series D venture funding from Investissement Quebec, Desjardins Capital and nVentures on January 27, 2026. Fidelity Investments Canada and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of a cloud-based digital manufacturing platform designed for deploying industrial automation systems.

RobCo: The company raised $100 million of Series C venture funding in a deal led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Lingotto on January 29, 2026. Sequoia Capital, Kindred Capital, Greenfield Partners, Leitmotif and The Friedkin Group also participated in the round. The company is a developer of AI-powered modular robots designed for industrial production.

Clubs Poker: The company raised $51.5 million of venture funding from undisclosed investors on January 29, 2026. The company is a developer of an online gaming platform used to host private and social poker games.

Eliyan: The company raised $50 million of venture funding from Intel Capital, Samsung Catalyst Fund and Arm on January 28, 2026. Coherent, Advanced Micro Devices, Meta Platforms and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of chiplet interconnect technology used in high-performance and artificial intelligence semiconductor systems.

Zocks: The company raised $45 million in Series B venture funding in a deal led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and QED Investors on January 26, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $221 million. Motive Partners, Entrée Capital, 14Peaks Capital, Illuminate Financial Management, Expanse Venture Partners, and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of AI software used to automate administrative and documentation tasks for financial advisors.

flora and fauna flowershop: The company raised $41.5 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Redpoint Ventures on January 27, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $231 million. Menlo Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Long Journey Ventures, Justin Kan, Gabe Whaley, Guillermo Rauch, Emery Wells, Mike Volpi, Gorkem Yurtseven, Burkay Gur, Cyan Banister, Matthew Hartman and Batuhan Taskaya also participated in the round. The company is a developer of AI software used to automate creative production and digital design workflows.

OpenArt: The company closed on $30 million of an undisclosed targeted amount of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Canaan Partners on January 30, 2026. DCM Ventures, Basis Set Ventures and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of an AI platform used to generate and edit digital artwork and visual content.

Northslope Technologies: The company raised $22 million of Series A venture funding in a deal led by Friends & Family Capital and Goldcrest Capital on January 29, 2026. Fifth Down Capital, Leblon Capital, and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of AI software platforms for workflow automation within professional services firms.

Lightyear: The company raised $16 million of Series B-7 venture funding from undisclosed investors on January 29, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $319 million. The company is a developer of a cloud platform used to procure telecom and IT infrastructure services and manage vendor contracts.

The Realest: The company raised $12.5 million of venture funding in a deal led by EnOne Ventures on January 28, 2026. The PGA of America, Interlock Capital, Entrepreneur Ventures, KB Partners, BAM Ventures, Alumni Ventures and Elysian Park Ventures also participated in the round. The company is a developer of a platform for authentication and verification of entertainment memorabilia items.

Ares Materials: The company raised $12 million in Series B venture funding in a deal led by Black Diamond Ventures on January 26, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at $68 million. L’ATTITUDE Ventures, Moneta Ventures, Hunt Companies, and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of AI and robotics systems used in materials science research and optical thiol-based polymer development.

Dragonfly AI: The company raised GBP 5.7 million of venture funding in a deal led by 24Haymarket on January 28, 2026, putting the company’s pre-money valuation at GBP 9.78 million. Guinness Ventures, Foresight Ventures VCT and other undisclosed investors also participated in the round. The company is a developer of visual analytics software used to model and predict human attention patterns in digital content.

BrandPal: The company raised an undisclosed amount of Series A venture funding from Honey Stone VC in approximately February 2026 The company is a developer of AI software used to automate marketing campaign creation, content generation, and workflow management for brands.

Final Aim: The company raised an undisclosed amount of pre-series A venture funding from Satoshi Nagashima on January 30, 2026. The company is a developer of software systems for AI-enabled product design and manufacturing workflows.

Kore.ai: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding in a deal led by AB Private Credit Investors on January 27, 2026. Vistara Growth, Beedie Capital and Sweetwater Private Equity also participated in the round. The company is a developer of an optimization platform designed to help organizations design, develop, test, and manage chatbots for internal or customer-facing business scenarios.

ListenOwl: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Saka Ventures in February 2026. The company is a developer of AI software used for audio generation, voice synthesis, and immersive sound production.

Rebel Audio: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from InvestTN in February 2026. The company is a developer of software tools used for podcast production and social media audio content creation.

Soundskrit: The company raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from Primax Electronics on January 27, 2026. The company is a developer of bio-inspired microphone hardware used for audio capture in consumer electronics.

Chronosphere / Palo Alto Networks: The company was acquired by Palo Alto Networks for $3.4 billion on January 29, 2026. The company is a developer of a cloud-native monitoring tool designed to eliminate the cognitive load of monitoring infrastructure and tracking data locality.

NFL Media / ESPN Sports Media: The company, a subsidiary of the National Football League, was acquired by ESPN Sports Media, a subsidiary of Disney General Entertainment Content, for approximately $3 billion on January 31, 2026. The company is a developer of sports media, broadcasting, and streaming platforms for professional football content.

Soho House / Multiple Investors: The company was acquired by The Yucaipa Companies, Ashton Kutcher and MCR Hotels through a $2.7 billion public-to-private LBO on January 30, 2026. The company is an operator of membership-based clubs and hospitality venues providing workspace, lodging, dining, and event programming.

Skywater Technology / IonQ: The company reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by IonQ for an estimted $1.8 billion on January 26, 2026. SkyWater Technology Inc is a U.S.based, independent, pure-play technology foundry that offers semiconductor development and manufacturing services from its fabrication facilities.

Bridg / Par Technology: The company, a subsidiary of Cardlytics reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Par Technology for $27.5 million on January 26, 2026. The company is a provider of a SaaS platform used to collect, analyze, and activate customer data for businesses in the retail, grocery, restaurant, fuel and convenience, sports, and live entertainment sectors.

Bullrush Entertainment / FPFX Tech: The company was acquired by FPFX Tech for an undisclosed amount on January 27, 2026. The company is an operator of a competitive gaming platform used for skill-based contests and wagering.

Cleanlab / Handshake: The company was acquired by Handshake for an undisclosed amount on January 28, 2026. The company is a developer of software tools used to detect and correct data labeling and quality issues in AI and machine learning models in production environments.

Convert by Riddle / Riddle: The company, a subsidiary of contentbird, was acquired by Riddle for an undisclosed amount on January 28, 2026. The company is a developer of a prediction and engagement tool designed for sporting events and global tournaments.

KCHA News / Achen Becker Media: The company, a subsidiary of Coloff Media reached a definitive agreement to be acquired by Achen Becker Media for an undisclosed amount on January 30, 2026. The company is an operator of regional radio broadcasting stations and digital news platforms delivering local news and entertainment programming.

Motortech.ai / Keyloop: The company entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Keyloop, via its financial sponsor Francisco Partners, through an LBO on January 26, 2026 for an undisclosed amount. The company is a developer of AI software used to process automotive operational data and support vehicle-related applications.

MSR Classics / PARMA Recording: The company was acquired by PARMA Recording for an undisclosed amount on January 27, 2026. The company is an operator of a classical music record label providing recording, publishing, and artist management services based in Newtown, Connecticut.

North Road / Mediawan: The company entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Mediawan, via its financial sponsors Bpifrance, The Raine Group, Groupe MACSF, ESAS Holding and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, through an LBO on January 30, 2026 for an undisclosed amount. The company is a provider of film and television production and financing services for scripted and unscripted content.

Particle / Digi International: The company was acquired by Digi International for $50 million on January 27, 2026. The company is a developer of infrastructure software used to connect, manage, and operate IoT devices across distributed networks.

Partnerbrite / WSC Sports: The company was acquired by WSC Sports for $10 million on January 28, 2026. The company is a developer of a multi-channel digital campaign management platform designed to automate the buying and optimizing of digital ad campaigns for sponsors.

Prism / OpenAI: The company was acquired for an undisclosed amount on January 27, 2026. The company is a developer of an AI-assisted LaTeX editing platform used to create and format scientific and technical documents.

Shaip / Ubiquity Global Services: The company entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Ubiquity Global Services, via its financial sponsor BV Investment Partners, through an LBO in February 2026. The company is a provider of human-in-the-loop data annotation and dataset management services for AI and machine learning training.

Stationhead / Sterling Partners: The company was acquired by Universal Music Group and Sterling Partners through an LBO on January 28, 2026 for an undisclosed amount. The company is a developer of a live social audio platform used for music streaming and user-hosted radio-style broadcasts.

Thunderbird Entertainment Group / Blue Ant Media: The company was acquired by Blue Ant Media for an undisclosed amount on January 28, 2026. Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc is a multi-platform media company that develops, produces, and distributes film and television programming for domestic and international markets.

Veevx / Ainekko: The company was acquired by Ainekko for an undisclosed amount on January 29, 2026. The company is a developer of low-power semiconductor processors used for artificial intelligence processing on mobile and edge devices.