The Week’s 10 Biggest Funding Rounds: xAI Leads As 2026 Is Off To A Brisk Start
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0 Shares Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Want to keep track of the largest startup funding deals in 2025 with our curated list of $100 million-plus venture deals to U.S.-based companies? Check out The Crunchbase Megadeals Board. This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out last year’s biggest funding deal roundup here. After a big year for venture investment, fueled by the AI boom, 2026 is not showing signs of a slowdown. Quite the contrary, with the first full week of the year bringing us a whopping $20 billion new funding round for Elon Musk’s xAI. We also counted multiple rounds of over $100 million that look miniscule by comparison but are actually very large by traditional venture standards. 1. xAI, $20B, generative AI: Musk’s xAI, the generative AI startup known for its Grok chatbot and the parent company of X (formerly Twitter), said it secured $20 billion in Series E funding from a long list of venture and strategic investors. Founded in 2023, xAI has raised $42.7 billion in reported debt and equity funding to date, per Crunchbase data. 2. Parabilis Medicines, $305M, precision medicines: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Parabilis Medicines announced that it raised $305 million in a Series F financing co-led by RA Capital Management, Fidelity, and Janus Henderson Investors. The financing will support continued clinical development of its peptide platform for cancer therapeutics. 3. Soley Therapeutics, $200M, biotech: Soley Therapeutics, developer of a cell stress sensing platform and a pipeline of therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders and metabolic diseases, closed on $200 million in Series C funding. Surveyor Capital led the financing for the South San Francisco, California-based company. 4. LMArena, $150M, AI: San Francisco-based LMArena, a platform for evaluating AI models and systems, picked up $150 million in fresh funding. Felicis and UC Investments led the financing, which set a $1.7 billion post-money valuation, nearly triple the value at its seed round in mid-2025. 5. Diagonal Therapeutics, $125M, biotech: Diagonal Therapeutics, a biotech developing disease-modifying clustering antibodies that correct dysregulated signaling in severe genetic diseases, raised $125 million in Series B funding. Sanofi Ventures and Janus Henderson Investors led the financing for the Watertown, Massachusetts-based company. 6 (tied). Lyte, $107M, physical world AI: Mountain View, California-based Lyte, a startup focused on integrated perception for robotics and AI, emerged from stealth this week and disclosed it has raised $107 million in aggregate funding. The company says its mission is to “give robots the ability to see, understand, and operate safely in the physical world.” 6 (tied). EpiBiologics, $107M, biotech: EpiBiologics, a company working on tissue-selective extracellular protein degradation, said it completed a $107 million Series B financing. Google Ventures and Johnson & Johnson Innovation co-led the round for the San Mateo, California-based company. 8 (tied). Cambium, $100M, advanced materials: El Segundo, California-based Cambium, a startup developing advanced materials for defense, aerospace, and other sectors, secured $100 million in a Series B round led by 8VC. 8 (tied). Rakuten Medical, $100M, cancer therapeutics: Rakuten Medical, a San Diego-based startup focused on photoimmunotherapy for cancer treatment, raised $100 million in Series F financing led by TaiAx. The company is currently enrolling patients into its global Phase 3 trial for recurrent head and neck cancer. 10. Pomelo Care, $92M, virtual care: Pomelo Care, a virtual healthcare provider for women and children, raised $92 million in a Series C funding led by Stripes. The financing set a $1.7 billion valuation for the New York-based company. Illustration: Dom Guzman Tagsunicorn Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the Crunchbase Daily. Rain, which is building infrastructure for payments with stablecoins, has raised $250 million in a Series C funding round led by Iconiq. Its post... 1 Shares Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn If you’re looking for new up-and-comers in venture capital, don’t read our rankings of the most active... Since the new millennium, $4.2 trillion has been invested into the global startup economy, producing 97,982 scaleups, per research from Mind The... Luxury Presence, an AI-powered marketing platform for real estate agents, has raised $22 million in a Series C round of funding led by Bessemer...