ºìÌÒÊÓÆµ

Artificial intelligence Cloud computing Fintech & e-commerce Health, Wellness & Biotech Sales & Marketing Startups Venture

The Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds: Anthropic Leads Slow, Slow Week

Illustration of gardener holding a rake. Venture

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 ºìÌÒÊÓÆµ Megadeals Board.

This is a weekly feature that runs down the week’s top 10 announced funding rounds in the U.S. Check out the biggest funding rounds of last week here.

After a frenetic first couple of weeks as far as big rounds go, this week was quieter than a library. Only one round of more than $100 million was reported — although it was actually  $1 billion — as everything came to a crawl. The goings on in Washington, D.C., likely had something to do with that, as many companies may have decided to hold their news until a slower week.

1. , $1B, artificial intelligence: Anthropic, a rival with its AI assistant Claude, is taking in a fresh $1 billion investment from previous investor . In October 2023, Google invested $2 billion in the rival. The new funding also comes just a couple of weeks after it was the startup was in advanced talks to raise $2 billion in a deal led by that would value it at $60 billion. Anthropic was last valued at $18.5 billion in February 2024. This deal also comes just two months after agreed to invest another $4 billion in an AI startup. That deal followed Amazon’s 2023 announcement to invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic — a deal that gave the Seattle-based e-commerce and cloud titan a minority stake in the startup.

2. , $90M, fintech: San Francisco-based Highnote, a fintech startup whose platform enables companies to embed virtual and physical card payments into their products, closed a $90 million in Series B led by that values the company at $750 million. While known mainly as a card issuer, the company is creating a platform that allows companies to receive card payments. Founded in 2020, Highnote has raised more than $145 million, according to the company.

3. , $80M, cloud infrastructure: Render, a cloud application platform, raised an $80 million Series C funding led by . The San Francisco-based startup’s cloud platform looks to simplify things for developers — eliminating the need for them to set up infrastructure configurations and settings. Founded in 2018, the company has raised nearly $157 million, .

4. , $77.5M, marketing: It’s not enough to have a great brand anymore — you also need to have relationships with influential creators. That’s where New York-based ShopMy comes in. This week, the startup — which helps creators manage product recommendations and eventually form relationships with big brands — raised a $77.5 million Series B led by and . Founded in 2020, the company has raised $97 million, .

5. , $70M, nonprofit: Even fundraising is getting into AI. Brooklyn-based Fundraise Up, a fundraising platform for nonprofits globally, raised a $70 million financing round led by . The startup uses AI in its platform to boost donations in a variety of ways, including tailoring donation suggestions to individual donors. Founded in 2017, the company has raised $82 million, .

6. , $65M, fintech: San Francisco-based Clutch, a fintech that partners with credit unions to enhance their offerings, completed a $65 million Series B led by . Founded in 2020, the company has raised $106 million, .

7. , $60M, mental health: Boston-based Eleos, a startup using artificial intelligence to help with behavioral health, raised a $60 million Series C led by . Founded in 2019, Eleos says it has raised more than $120 million.

8. , $55M, biotech: New York-based Lindus Health, which helps clients run faster clinical trials, locked up a $55 million Series B led by new investor . Founded in 2021, the company has raised almost $80 million, .

9. , $50M, artificial intelligence: Washington, D.C.-based Rhino.ai, an AI-driven development platform that enables enterprise application design, raised a $50 million Series A led by . Founded in 2023, this is the company’s first announced round, .

10. , $42M, fintech: Austin, Texas-based Method, a financial connectivity API for consumer liability data and payments, locked up a $42 million Series B led by . Founded in 2021, the company has raised nearly $61 million, .

Big global deals

Anthropic’s raise was easily the biggest of the week. The next largest came from Europe.

  • Sweden-based , a health-tech startup, locked up a $260 million Series B.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the ºìÌÒÊÓÆµ database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of Jan. 18 to Jan. 24. Although most announced rounds are represented in the database, there could be a small time lag as some rounds are reported late in the week.

Illustration:

Stay up to date with recent funding rounds, acquisitions, and more with the ºìÌÒÊÓÆµ Daily.

67.1K Followers

CTA

Discover and act on private market opportunities with predictive company intelligence.

Copy link