Weekly TOP Startup / VC news of January 22, 2026

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Parloa, a German AI firm, recently secured $350 million. This funding elevates its valuation to $3 billion. The company pioneers conversational customer experience. It automates enterprise support with voice-first AI technology. This move highlights a significant shift. Digital service becomes more human-like. Parloa reshapes how businesses engage customers.

ClickHouse secured $400M Series D funding, boosting its valuation to $15B. The fresh capital targets aggressive global expansion and cutting-edge product development. A core focus is robust AI infrastructure. Strategic moves include acquiring Langfuse, an LLM observability platform, and debuting a native, enterprise-grade Postgres service. This integrates transactional and analytical workloads. ClickHouse now serves over 3,000 cloud customers. It reports impressive 250% year-over-year recurring revenue growth. This solidifies its commanding presence in the competitive real-time analytics market. It uniquely powers high-concurrency, low-latency AI applications. It also champions safe AI deployment.

Higgsfield, a San Francisco-based AI video generation startup, has achieved unicorn status. The company recently closed an $80 million Series A extension funding round. This investment pushes its valuation beyond $1.3 billion. Higgsfield reports an impressive $200 million annualized revenue run rate. Major investors include Accel, GFT Ventures, and Menlo Ventures. The capital injection targets key growth areas. These include expanding into enterprise sales and international markets. Further research and development will also receive significant investment. Higgsfield employs a distinct strategy. It fine-tunes existing AI models for video production, rather than building foundational AI. This approach minimizes production costs. It also enhances efficiency for its primary client base. The company serves social media marketers. Its browser-based platform simplifies complex video workflows. Higgsfield plans substantial workforce expansion. This move reinforces its leadership in the booming generative AI sector.

Belgian innovator Aikido Security secured a $60 million Series B investment. This funding propelled its valuation to $1 billion. Aikido now stands as Europe's fastest cybersecurity company to reach unicorn status. This achievement redefines application security paradigms. The company offers a unified, developer-first platform. It tackles security across code, cloud, and runtime. Aikido aims to simplify complex security challenges. Its focus remains on actionable intelligence, not overwhelming noise. Its rapid growth and innovative self-securing software vision mark a significant shift in enterprise security.

Equal1, an Irish quantum semiconductor innovator, has secured $60 million in funding. This capital propels the deployment of its silicon-based Bell-1 quantum servers. The technology shifts quantum computing from bespoke labs to standard data centers. It leverages existing semiconductor manufacturing processes. This approach promises scalable, cost-effective quantum solutions. It bypasses exotic infrastructure and specialized teams. Equal1 aims to make advanced quantum capabilities widely accessible. The firm positions itself as a leader in integrated quantum for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI). This investment marks a significant step towards mainstream quantum adoption. It addresses critical power and cost limits facing current computing systems.

Hydrosat secured $60 million in Series B funding. This investment propels its thermal-infrared satellite intelligence. The company deploys advanced AI-driven analytics. It targets critical global challenges. These include water scarcity and resource management. The new capital fuels expansion across commercial, civil government, and defense markets. This significant funding round solidifies Hydrosat's position as a leader. It provides essential insights for a changing world.

OpenAI finalized a pivotal $10B+ agreement with Cerebras, securing 750 megawatts of compute power through 2028. This aims to dramatically accelerate AI inference, making ChatGPT the world's fastest platform for real-time responses. The strategic move diversifies OpenAI's crucial infrastructure, integrating Cerebras' unique wafer-scale chips. These massive processors eliminate bottlenecks, offering unparalleled low-latency performance essential for complex AI tasks. This deal bolsters Cerebras' market standing as a leading independent AI chip producer. It drives OpenAI's vision for mass AI adoption, new user scenarios, and a future of seamless, instantaneous artificial intelligence interactions.

CloudSEK, an AI-powered predictive cybersecurity firm from India, secured $10 million in Series B2 funding from Connecticut Innovations. This investment is historic, marking the first time a US state-backed fund has invested in an Indian-origin cybersecurity company. Total Series B funding now stands at $29 million. CloudSEK plans aggressive US expansion, establishing a critical regional hub in Connecticut. This new hub will drive operations, local talent acquisition, and advanced cybersecurity research. The strategic move aims to bolster cyber resilience for CloudSEK's diverse enterprise clientele across banking, healthcare, technology, and government sectors. The company's expansion promises job creation and enhanced threat intelligence capabilities for the Western world, solidifying its position in the global cybersecurity landscape.

Cyb3r Operations, a London-based leader in continuous third-party cyber risk visibility, secured $5.4 million in seed funding. Octopus Ventures led the round. Pi Labs provided follow-on investment. This capital fuels accelerated platform development, deepens threat intelligence, and expands support for global organizations. The company tackles escalating supply chain vulnerabilities and shadow IT. It aims to prevent costly security incidents, data loss, and regulatory penalties. The investment highlights urgent market demand for proactive cyber defense. Cyb3r Operations strengthens its position in enterprise security amid rising digital threats.

Midnite, a UK-based online sportsbook and casino operator, announces a major $35 million Series C funding round. Raine Partners IV led the investment. This capital infusion propels Midnite's total equity funding past $75 million, signaling strong investor confidence. The company will deploy funds to aggressively scale global operations, accelerate its in-house product development, and fuel international expansion efforts. Strategic hiring, especially within product teams, remains a core focus. Midnite's distinct proprietary technology and player-centric approach aim to disrupt the competitive online gaming sector, establishing it as a tier-1 challenger in a rapidly evolving market.

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