Top Startup and Tech Funding News – January 26, 2025

It’s Tuesday, January 26, 2026, and we’re back with today’s top startup and tech funding news. Today’s funding landscape reflects an expanding investor push into AI infrastructure, defense systems, deep industrial platforms, and cloud-native enterprise tooling, as capital concentrates on teams building core rails for intelligence, security, and scale. From a $300 million seed round for a recursive AI–chip design lab to late-stage bets on cloud security, AI video, and blended-wing aircraft, today’s announcements show investors rewarding companies that can turn technical advantage into platform leverage.

AI remained the center of gravity. Ricursive Intelligence raised $300 million to pair AI with semiconductor design, while Upwind secured $250 million to harden runtime cloud environments. Synthesia joined the late-stage cohort with a $200 million round to expand its enterprise AI video platform.

Fintech and crypto rounds pushed into post-AI infrastructure, with Zocks raising $45 million to embed generative AI into wealth management workflows and Project Eleven landing $20 million to prepare crypto protocols for a post-quantum future.

Hard tech and defense drew sharp focus, with JetZero’s $175 million raise for next-gen aircraft, Standard Nuclear’s $140 million round to scale U.S. HALEU fuel production, and Grid Aero’s $20 million to scale autonomous cargo systems. Cyclic Materials closed a $75 million funding round to expand rare-earth recycling across North America and Europe.

Tech Funding News

Funding Highlights

• Ricursive Intelligence raises $300M Series A to fuse AI with semiconductor design
• Upwind lands $250M Series B to secure runtime cloud environments
• Synthesia secures $200M Series E to scale enterprise AI video generation
• JetZero grabs $175M Series B to develop blended-wing body aircraft
• Standard Nuclear raises $140M Series A to expand U.S. nuclear fuel capacity
• Neurophos lands $110M Series A to commercialize photonic AI chips
• Cyclic Materials closes $75M Series C to grow rare earths recycling infrastructure
• Zocks raises $45M Series B to embed AI in financial advisory workflows
• Grid Aero secures $20M Series A for autonomous cargo aircraft
• Project Eleven raises $20M Series A to help crypto protocols transition to quantum-safe encryption

Investor Activity

Today’s rounds drew leading AI funds, industrial strategics, government-linked capital, and cloud-native backers. From deep-science seeds to enterprise-scale E rounds, investor behavior signaled conviction in platform-centric startups building for critical industries. Here’s the full breakdown of January 26’s most significant startup and tech fundings.

Ricursive Intelligence Raises $300M in Series A Funding for AI-Driven Chip Design

Ricursive Intelligence, a Palo Alto-based AI lab spun out of Google DeepMind alumni, announced a $300 million Series A funding round at a $4 billion valuation. The startup is developing a platform that tightly couples AI algorithms with semiconductor design, aiming to automate and accelerate the creation of new chip architectures. Founders Anna Goldie and Azalia Mirhoseini, former Google DeepMind researchers, say their approach creates a “continuous improvement cycle” between AI model development and chip design, potentially breaking current bottlenecks in AI hardware.

The new capital comes just two months after Ricursive’s launch and follows a $35 million seed round in December. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from DST Global, Nvidia’s NVentures, Felicis Ventures, 49 Palms, Radical AI, and Sequoia Capital. This infusion will fund Ricursive’s rapid team and product expansion as demand grows for innovative AI chip solutions amid a global semiconductor crunch.

• Startup: Ricursive Intelligence

• Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners (lead), DST Global, NVentures (Nvidia), Felicis Ventures, 49 Palms, Radical AI, Sequoia Capital

• Amount Raised: $300M

• Total Raised: ~$335M (including $35M seed)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: January 26, 2026

Upwind Raises $250M in Series B Funding to Scale Runtime-First Cloud Security

Upwind, a San Francisco startup building a runtime-first cloud security platform, announced a $250 million Series B round, bringing its total funding to $430 million. The funding was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Picture Capital; existing investors Greylock, Cyberstarts, Leaders Fund, Craft Ventures, TCV, Alta Park, Cerca Partners, Swish Ventures, and Penny Jar Capital also joined the round.

Upwind’s technology monitors cloud applications at runtime to detect and block threats, a model increasingly seen as essential as enterprises deploy AI-driven, real-time cloud workloads. CEO Amiram Shachar calls the financing round the start of the company’s “Next Wave,” focused on securing cloud-native applications in the AI era. The raise comes amid projections that the cloud security (CNAPP) market will soar in the coming years; Upwind plans to use the funds to accelerate product development and go-to-market efforts as more organizations adopt its approach.

• Startup: Upwind

• Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners (lead), Salesforce Ventures, Picture Capital, Greylock, Cyberstarts, Leaders Fund, Craft Ventures, TCV, Alta Park, Cerca Partners, Swish Ventures, Penny Jar Capital

• Amount Raised: $250M

• Total Raised: $430M

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: January 26, 2026

Synthesia Raises $200M in Series E Funding for Enterprise AI Video Platform

Synthesia, a London-based AI video generation company, announced a $200 million Series E round at a $4 billion valuation. The round was led by GV (Google Ventures) and included existing backers such as Kleiner Perkins, Accel, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Nvidia’s NVentures, Air Street Capital, and PSP Growth, as well as new investors Evantic and Hysan. Synthesia’s platform lets businesses create realistic AI-generated videos and avatars from text, eliminating the need for cameras or actors.

The company says its customers now include many of the Fortune 100, which use its AI “presenters” for training, marketing, and internal communications. This funding will support expanded features and capacity as demand for AI-produced video soars. The raise underscores the growing interest in generative AI content tools and corporate training automation, with investors betting that Synthesia’s tech will become a standard in enterprise media creation.

• Startup: Synthesia

• Investors: GV – Google Ventures (lead), NVentures (Nvidia), Kleiner Perkins, Accel, NEA, PSP Growth, Air Street Capital, Evantic, Hedosophia

• Amount Raised: $200M

• Total Raised: ~$500M+ (prior rounds)

• Funding Stage: Series E

• Funding Date: January 26, 2026

JetZero Raises $175M in Series B Funding for Blended-Wing Aircraft

JetZero, a California aerospace startup developing a blended-wing aircraft for reduced fuel consumption, said it has raised $175 million in Series B funding. The round was led by growth equity firm B Capital, with participation from Northrop Grumman, and the corporate venture arms of United Airlines, 3M, and RTX (Raytheon Technologies). The new capital will help JetZero accelerate development of its “Demonstrator” prototype, which aims to improve aerodynamics by at least 30% over conventional jets, and prepare for a projected first flight in 2027.

JetZero has already secured more than $1 billion in commitments and government grants, including a $235 million contract from the U.S. Air Force. The startup’s aircraft is intended to carry both commercial passengers and cargo more efficiently, addressing industry goals for greener, cheaper air travel. The Series B will expand JetZero’s engineering team and ramp up manufacturing of test vehicles as it works toward eventual commercial and defense orders.

• Startup: JetZero

• Investors: B Capital (lead), Northrop Grumman, United Airlines Ventures, 3M Ventures, RTX Ventures

• Amount Raised: $175M

• Total Raised: >$1B (including grants)

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: January 13, 2026

Standard Nuclear Lands $140M in Series A Funding for Advanced Nuclear Fuel

Standard Nuclear, a San Diego-based startup producing advanced nuclear fuel, closed a $140 million Series A funding round led by Decisive Point. Chevron Technology Ventures, StepStone Group, and XTX Ventures also participated, along with returning investors Welara, Fundomo, Andreessen Horowitz, Washington Harbour Partners, and Crucible Capital. Standard Nuclear specializes in high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel in a TRISO particle form, designed for next-generation reactors.

The capital will finance the expansion of the company’s production infrastructure: Standard Nuclear plans to ramp up annual TRISO fuel output to over two metric tons across multiple U.S. sites by mid-2026. This addresses a critical bottleneck in the nuclear supply chain by establishing domestic fuel capacity for commercial, defense, and space reactors. The Series A comes as Standard Nuclear achieves early commercial milestones, including selection for a DOE fuel program, underscoring strong demand for its reactor-agnostic fuel.

• Startup: Standard Nuclear

• Investors: Decisive Point (lead), Chevron Technology Ventures, StepStone Group, XTX Ventures; returnees Welara, Fundomo, Andreessen Horowitz, Washington Harbour Partners, Crucible Capital

• Amount Raised: $140M

• Total Raised: $140M

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: January 26, 2026

Neurophos Raises $110M in Series A Funding for Photonic AI Chips

Neurophos, an Austin-based photonics startup, announced a $110 million Series A to develop its optical AI processors. The round was led by Gates Frontier (Bill Gates’ fund), with participation from Microsoft’s M12, Carbon Direct, Aramco Ventures, Bosch Ventures, Tectonic Ventures, Space Capital, and others. Neurophos designs “metasurface” chips that use light instead of electrical transistors to perform matrix multiplications, aiming to greatly speed up AI inference while using far less power.

According to the company, its optical processing unit (OPU) can perform AI calculations thousands of times faster than a conventional GPU while drawing the same power. The funding will accelerate the final development of Neurophos’s “Lifter Lite” metasurface chips and prepare them for deployment in data centers. The raise highlights growing investor interest in beyond-silicon hardware solutions; by shrinking optical components to the nanoscale, Neurophos believes it can overcome past scalability limits of photonic chips and address the energy demands of large AI workloads.

• Startup: Neurophos

• Investors: Gates Frontier (lead), Microsoft M12, Carbon Direct, Aramco Ventures, Bosch Ventures, Tectonic Ventures, Space Capital, others

• Amount Raised: $110M

• Total Raised: $110M

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: January 22, 2026

Cyclic Materials Raises $75M in Series C Funding to Expand Rare Earths Recycling

Cyclic Materials, a U.S. company that recycles end-of-life electronics and magnets into critical rare earth elements, closed a $75 million Series C round led by T. Rowe Price Associates. The funding brings Cyclic’s total equity raised to over $162 million. Cyclic will use the proceeds to build additional recycling facilities in North America and Europe, processing used electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, MRI machines, and other waste to recover high-demand rare earths.

The company says its process achieves over 98% recovery of key elements such as neodymium and dysprosium, with a much smaller carbon and water footprint than mining. By deploying local recycling plants rather than opening new mines, Cyclic aims to quickly secure a domestic supply of magnets for AI hardware, robotics, defense systems and clean energy technologies. This raise reflects heightened urgency around resilient supply chains for critical minerals: as CEO Ahmad Ghahreman notes, recycling is the fastest way to obtain these metals in Western markets.

• Startup: Cyclic Materials

• Investors: T. Rowe Price Associates (lead)

• Amount Raised: $75M

• Total Raised: $162M

• Funding Stage: Series C

• Funding Date: January 26, 2026

Zocks Raises $45M in Series B Funding to Embed AI in Financial Advice

Zocks, a San Francisco startup that builds AI assistants for financial advisors, announced a $45 million Series B on Monday. The round was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and QED Investors, with participation from Illuminate Financial and existing backers Motive Partners, Expanse Ventures, Entrée Capital, and 14Peaks Capital. Zocks’ platform ingests advisor–client conversations and documents, then uses AI to extract insights and automate tasks in CRM and financial planning tools. Zocks said that advisors already save 10+ hours per week by having Zocks auto-generate proposals, reports, and follow-up actions from meeting data.

The fresh capital will push Zocks further into the emerging “agentic AI” space: the startup plans to add features that actively surface planning opportunities across an advisor’s entire book of business (for example, identifying clients without college savings plans and prompting next steps with a click). With over 5,000 advisory firms on its platform, Zocks aims to embed AI as a growth driver in wealth management.

• Startup: Zocks

• Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners (co-lead), QED Investors (co-lead), Illuminate Financial, Motive Partners, Expanse Ventures, Entrée Capital, 14Peaks Capital

• Amount Raised: $45M

• Total Raised: $65M

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: January 26, 2026

Grid Aero Raises $20M in Series A Funding for Autonomous Cargo Aircraft

Grid Aero, a California aerospace startup, has raised $20 million in Series A funding to scale its autonomous cargo aircraft technology. The round was co-led by Bison Ventures and Geodesic Capital, with participation from Stony Lonesome Group and Alumni Ventures. Grid Aero builds low-cost, uncrewed cargo planes capable of flying long distances and carrying thousands of pounds, even from rough or forward locations.

Its vehicles combine simple airframe designs with advanced autonomous systems, enabling them to operate where infrastructure is limited and airspace may be contested. The new capital will enable Grid Aero to move its “Lifter Lite” prototype into operational testing with military and humanitarian users. Founded in 2024, the startup notes that its technology addresses a critical need for resilient logistics; as the CEO put it, “contested logistics” is a top mission problem for defense, and Grid Aero’s aircraft could deliver supplies or equipment when traditional systems can’t.

• Startup: Grid Aero

• Investors: Bison Ventures (lead), Geodesic Capital (lead), Stony Lonesome Group, Alumni Ventures, Ubiquity Venture Funds

• Amount Raised: $20M

• Total Raised: $20M

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: January 26, 2026

Project Eleven Raises $20M in Series A Funding for Post-Quantum Crypto Security

Project Eleven, a crypto security startup, closed a $20 million Series A funding led by Castle Island Ventures. The funding (total equity now $26M) will help Project Eleven build tools to help blockchain networks transition to quantum-resistant cryptography. As detailed in the press release, the company is developing migration-planning software and testing environments to enable protocols such as Bitcoin and Ethereum to migrate to post-quantum encryption standards in a staged, secure way.

Project Eleven’s CEO, Alex Pruden, notes that emerging quantum computers pose an existential threat to current cryptography, and his startup aims to make the complex multi-year upgrade process practical before it becomes an urgent emergency. Participants in the round included Coinbase Ventures, Fin Capital, Formation VC, Lattice Fund, Nebular Ventures, Quantonation, Satstreet Ventures, Variant, and Nascent Ventures. This raise comes on the heels of the company’s $6M seed in 2025, positioning it as a leader in an area of growing concern among digital-asset firms and governments.

• Startup: Project Eleven

• Investors: Castle Island Ventures (lead), Coinbase Ventures, Fin Capital, Formation VC, Lattice Fund, Nebular Ventures, Quantonation, Satstreet Ventures, Variant, Nascent Ventures

• Amount Raised: $20M

• Total Raised: $26M

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: January 14, 2026

Funding Summary Table