Top Startup and Tech Funding News – February 19, 2025

It’s Thursday, February 19, 2026, and we’re back with today’s top startup and tech funding news. Today’s rounds highlight deepening investor conviction in AI-native infrastructure, spatial computing, and vertical SaaS platforms for regulated industries. With capital flowing into chip design, GPS-free positioning, and real-time manufacturing, founders are building intelligent systems that interact with the physical world across industries—from finance and medtech to defense and logistics.

Strategic Series A and B financings underscore a growing appetite for software-defined tax, compliance, and onboarding platforms that unlock automation in legacy workflows. Meanwhile, enterprise AI infrastructure—from custom silicon to 3D printing and inference automation—continues to attract top-tier backers. Today’s deals point to a global buildout of embedded intelligence and decision-making across both virtual and real-world systems.

Tech Funding News

Funding Highlights

• Taalas raises $169M to scale custom AI chip production
• ZaiNar raises $100M to launch GPS-free spatial AI platform
• Jump raises $80M Series B for AI platform for financial advisors
• Altesa raises $75M Series B for antiviral lung therapy
• Freeform raises $67M Series B to scale AI-driven 3D metal printing
• Onshore raises $31M Series B to expand AI tax platform
• Avantos raises $25M Series A to streamline advisor onboarding
• Stacks raises $23M Series A to automate enterprise finance
• Flinn.ai raises $20M Series A for AI medtech compliance platform
• Portkey raises $15M Series A for AI agent developer tools

Investor Activity

Today’s funding saw strong participation from global VCs and strategic backers focused on foundational AI infrastructure and workflow automation. Lightspeed, Insight, Founders Fund, and HV Capital led multiple rounds across fintech, deep tech, and enterprise SaaS, while NVIDIA’s NVentures and FPV Ventures doubled down on AI-native platforms. Investors are coalescing around tools that build intelligence into regulated, physical, and high-stakes environments—pushing beyond cloud software into real-world systems with defensible, sector-specific applications.

Taalas raises $169M in funding to scale custom AI chip production

Toronto-based chip startup Taalas announced a massive $169 million funding round on Feb. 19, 2026, to accelerate development of its AI inference chips. Taalas is building specialized silicon that prints parts of AI models onto chips, trading off generality for speed. CEO Ljubisa Bajic said the bespoke design – customizing chips to specific AI models – lets Taalas run inference faster and more cheaply than traditional methods.

The new capital will fuel R&D and production as Taalas competes in the growing field of AI accelerators. Already backed by investors including Quiet Capital, Fidelity, and chip veteran Pierre Lamond, Taalas has raised $219 million in total, making this one of the year’s largest pure-play AI chip financings.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Taalas (Toronto, Canada – custom AI inference chips)

• Investors: Quiet Capital (lead), Fidelity International, Pierre Lamond, and others

• Amount Raised: $169 million

• Total Raised: $219 million

• Funding Stage: Undisclosed (large strategic round)

• Funding Date: February 19, 2026

ZaiNar raises $100M in funding to launch GPS-free spatial AI platform

After nine years in stealth, Belmont, California-based AI startup ZaiNar has emerged from stealth with a $100 million funding haul to build “physical AI” infrastructure. ZaiNar’s technology uses existing wireless networks (5G, Wi-Fi) to pinpoint objects and people with sub-meter accuracy – effectively turning radio networks into a continuous location-sensing layer. This eliminates the need for GPS, cameras or custom hardware for indoor/outdoor positioning.

With the new funding, ZaiNar will deploy its platform across healthcare, construction, logistics, and other industries to enable real-time spatial awareness for robots and asset tracking. Notable backers in this round include AME Cloud Ventures (co-led by Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang), SpaceX board member Steve Jurvetson, Siri co-creator Tom Gruber, Skype co-founder Jaan Tallinn, and investor Nicholas Pritzker, underscoring confidence in ZaiNar’s tech. The financing pushes ZaiNar’s valuation past $1 billion and sets the stage for its first commercial rollouts.

Funding Details:

• Startup: ZaiNar (Belmont, CA – AI platform for infrastructure-based spatial localization)

• Investors: AME Cloud Ventures (lead, Jerry Yang), Steve Jurvetson, Tom Gruber, Jaan Tallinn, Nicholas Pritzker, and others

• Amount Raised: $100 million

• Total Raised: $100 million (Series A/seed combined)

• Funding Stage: Undisclosed (post-stealth expansion)

• Funding Date: February 19, 2026

Jump raises $80M in Series B funding for AI platform for financial advisors

Salt Lake City–based Jump has closed an $80 million Series B to expand its AI software for financial advisors. Jump’s cloud platform uses AI assistants to automate tasks like meeting prep, note-taking, and follow-ups for financial advisors. The startup reports rapid adoption – its AI assistant now serves 27,000 advisors, about one in ten U.S. advisors, and adds over 2,000 new advisors each month.

This round, led by Insight Partners with participation from F-Prime, Allianz Life Ventures, TIAA Ventures, and others, brings Jump’s total funding to $105 million. The new capital will be used to broaden Jump’s AI capabilities and expand its enterprise deployments. Customers like Focus Financial and Merit Financial are already using Jump for compliance-friendly meeting summaries and analytics, and the startup plans to add deeper intelligence and orchestration features for large advisory firms.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Jump (Salt Lake City, UT – AI operating system for financial advisors)

• Investors: Insight Partners (lead), F-Prime Capital, Allianz Life Ventures, TIAA Ventures, Peterson Partners, Battery Ventures, Sorenson Capital, Pelion Venture Partners, Citi Ventures, plus angel investors including Hans Tung

• Amount Raised: $80 million

• Total Raised: $105 million

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: February 19, 2026

Altesa raises $75M in Series B funding for antiviral lung therapy

Atlanta-based biotech startup Altesa BioSciences closed a $75 million Series B funding to advance an inhaled antiviral for chronic lung disease. Altesa’s lead drug, vapendavir, targets rhinovirus infections that trigger exacerbations in asthma and COPD patients. The financing, led by VC firm Forbion and including Sanofi Ventures, Medicxi, Pitango, and Atlantic Partners, will fund a large Phase 2 trial in patients with COPD.

Altesa’s CEO Brett Giroir, a former FDA official, says the company hopes to “radically improve outcomes” by preventing virus-induced lung flares. The round follows about $35 million raised in 2023 and brings Altesa closer to testing Vapendavir’s efficacy in its target populations. Successful trials could position the drug as a first-in-class therapy to reduce hospitalizations in vulnerable respiratory patients.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Altesa BioSciences (Atlanta, GA – antiviral therapies for respiratory diseases)

• Investors: Forbion (lead), Sanofi Ventures, Medicxi, Pitango, Atlantic Partners

• Amount Raised: $75 million

• Total Raised: $110 million (approximately, incl. prior $35M)

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: February 19, 2026

Freeform raises $67M in Series B funding to scale AI-driven 3D metal printing

Los Angeles startup Freeform has secured a $67 million Series B to expand its AI-powered metal additive manufacturing platform. Freeform builds autonomous factories that use hundreds of lasers and real-time AI control to 3D-print precision metal parts at scale. The new funding will upgrade its existing GoldenEye printer to a next-generation “Skyfall” system, which Freeform says will use hundreds of lasers to produce thousands of kilograms of metal components per day.

Investors in the round include Apandion, AE Ventures, Founders Fund, Linse Capital, NVIDIA’s NVentures, Threshold Ventures, and Two Sigma Ventures. This positions Freeform among well-capitalized hardware startups: prior to this round, the company had raised about $60 million in funding. Freeform plans to use the funding to expand production capacity and accelerate deployment of its manufacturing-as-a-service platform to aerospace, defense, and other industries.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Freeform (Los Angeles, CA – AI-controlled metal 3D printing factories)

• Investors: Apandion, AE Ventures, Founders Fund, Linse Capital, NVIDIA NVentures, Threshold Ventures, Two Sigma Ventures

• Amount Raised: $67 million

• Total Raised: $127 million (approximately, including prior $60M)

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: February 19, 2026

Onshore raises $31M in Series B funding to expand AI tax platform

New York startup Onshore (formerly SPRX) announced a $31 million Series B on Feb. 19 to extend its AI-driven corporate tax optimization platform. Onshore’s software analyzes financials to identify and document R&D tax credits and other incentives with audit-ready precision, replacing slow, manual processes. The round was led by FPV Ventures and included Vertex Ventures, ADP Ventures, Y Combinator, and Restive Ventures.

The new funds will allow Onshore to scale into additional tax and accounting domains beyond R&D credits. Founded in 2020, Onshore has helped clients reclaim hundreds of millions in previously unclaimed tax incentives; the Series B brings its total funding to $46 million. Onshore says it will use the capital to hire engineering and sales talent and deepen its platform’s machine learning capabilities, aiming to turn tax compliance into a strategic, automated process.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Onshore (New York, NY – AI-powered tax and incentives platform)

• Investors: FPV Ventures (lead), Vertex Ventures, ADP Ventures, Y Combinator, Restive Ventures

• Amount Raised: $31 million

• Total Raised: $46 million

• Funding Stage: Series B

• Funding Date: February 19, 2026

Avantos raises $25M in Series A funding to streamline advisor onboarding

Bassam Chaptini (Co-Founder & CEO)  Rabih Ramadi (Co-Founder & CEO) – Credit: Avantos

San Francisco startup Avantos closed a $25 million Series A round led by Bessemer Venture Partners to expand its AI-based onboarding platform for financial advisors. Avantos automates tedious paperwork and data entry by using AI agents to pre-fill forms and carry client information through account-opening workflows. Its solution is aimed at major wealth firms and brokerages: early customers include Vanguard, SEI, Guardian Life, and $96B-AUM Mercer Advisors.

The funding will help Avantos grow its technology team and sales efforts in the RIA and custodian market. Avantos co-founder Rabih Ramadi, a former McKinsey consultant, says the platform solves the “fragmented” onboarding process at large advisory firms by unifying data entry and accelerating approvals. The new capital follows Avantos’s 2025 seed and pre-seed rounds and marks Bessemer’s first investment in the company.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Avantos (San Francisco, CA – AI platform for financial advisor onboarding)

• Investors: Bessemer Venture Partners (lead), Vanguard, Guardian Life, SEI

• Amount Raised: $25 million

• Total Raised: $25 million (Series A)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: February 19, 2026

Stacks raises $23M in Series A funding to automate enterprise finance

London-based Stacks announced a $23 million Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners on Feb. 19. Stacks offers an AI-powered platform that automates accounting and financial close processes for mid- to large-sized enterprises. Its software integrates with ERPs and tools like Excel or Slack to handle reconciliations, journal entries, variance analysis, and reporting, cutting the time to close books by roughly half.

Early users report that Stacks eliminates nearly all manual accounting tasks, enabling CFO teams to focus on analysis rather than data entry. This round (which also included General Catalyst, EQT Ventures, and s16vc) brings Stacks’ total funding to about $33 million after a $10M seed in 2025. The company will use the proceeds to hire in go-to-market and engineering, and to expand its agentic finance platform across global markets.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Stacks (London, UK – AI-driven automation for accounting and financial close)

• Investors: Lightspeed Venture Partners (lead), General Catalyst, EQT Ventures & Growth, s16vc (Founders for Founders Fund)

• Amount Raised: $23 million

• Total Raised: $33 million (including prior seed)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: February 19, 2026

Flinn.ai raises $20M in Series A funding for AI medtech compliance platform

Vienna-based Flinn.ai closed a $20 million Series A on Feb. 19 to scale its AI platform for regulatory compliance in medical device manufacturing. Flinn.ai automates tasks such as post-market surveillance, literature reviews, and quality audits by aggregating data from multiple sources and generating audit-ready reports. The company’s software is designed to help MedTech firms navigate complex EU and U.S. regulations (MDR, IVDR) with less manual effort.

The round was led by HV Capital, with participation from BHI (Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments), Cherry Ventures, Speedinvest, and SquareOne (the seed round investors). Flinn.ai was founded in 2022 and had previously raised €6 million in seed funding in 2024. The fresh Series A will be used to expand Flinn’s AI capabilities and support a push into international markets, starting with entry into the U.S. and broader rollout across Europe.

Funding Details:

• Startup: Flinn.ai (Vienna, Austria – AI platform for medical device compliance)

• Investors: HV Capital (lead), BHI – Bertelsmann Healthcare Investments, Cherry Ventures, Speedinvest, SquareOne

• Amount Raised: $20 million (Series A)

• Total Raised: $26 million (approximately, including €6M seed)

• Funding Stage: Series A

• Funding Date: February 19, 2026

Tech Funding Summary Table