The Week’s Biggest Funding Rounds: Fintech’s Big Week

Want to track the biggest startup financing deals of 2024 with our curated list of $100M+ venture deals targeting U.S. companies? Check Crunchbase Large Trading Board.

This is a weekly feature detailing the top 10 funding rounds announced in the U.S. this week. Check out last week’s largest funding rounds here.

Here are our top 10 rounds in the last week of the year, and we’ve had some pretty big rounds – especially in the fintech space. All in all, 2024 was packed with big deals, with a surge in very large deals, with more than 280 rounds worth $100 million or more.

1. one$300 million, fintech: Fintech startups have struggled to raise capital this year, but it’s obviously easier when you’re majority-owned by the world’s largest retailer. Walmarttogether with investment companies Rabbit Capitalis leading a $300 million financing round for financial technology start-up One, According to Bloomberg. The company offers installment loans, debit cards and payment services, marking Walmart’s major push into financial services. The new round of funding reportedly values ​​the Sacramento, Calif.-based startup at $2.5 billion.

2. Liquid Artificial Intelligence$250 million, artificial intelligence: What would a week be like without massive generative AI funding? Liquid AI has secured a massive $250 million in financing, led by AMD Valuation is US$2.3 billion, According to Bloomberg. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company creates Liquid Foundation models—lightweight, general-purpose artificial intelligence models that require less data and computing power. Oddly enough, the company’s model actually uses mathematical methods discovered by studying worm brains. The company was founded in 2023 and has raised more than $290 million, per Crunchbase.

3. Passionate artificial intelligence$200 million, fintech: Yes, another round of big fintech funding. Burbank, Calif.-based Zest AI secures $200 million in growth investment Insight Partners. The startup uses artificial intelligence to help with credit underwriting—the technology offers a more sophisticated and accurate way to score. The new cash will enable Zest to diversify its current product portfolio and advance its fraud protection and generative artificial intelligence technology. The company was founded in 2009 and has raised nearly $358 million, Via Crunchbase.

4. Set up the lab$155 million, semiconductors: Ayal Labs locked down US$155 million in Series D financing leader Anhong International and Light Street Capital Valuation exceeds $1 billion. The new funding round includes participation from a number of strategic players, including AMD Ventures, Intel Capital, NVIDIA and 3M Startups. Ayar’s optical solutions for transmitting data replace older electrical solutions, helping users maximize the computing efficiency and performance of artificial intelligence infrastructure while reducing cost and power consumption. Ayar is the latest optical interconnect startup trying to solve artificial intelligence’s computational and power-use bottlenecks. October, light matter Secured US$400 million in Series D financing led by new investors T. Rowe Price The valuation is US$4.4 billion. After raising $155 million, this round nearly quadruples its $1.2 billion valuation in December. the same week, Xscape Photonics — A New York-based startup also using photonics to solve the energy, performance and scalability challenges of artificial intelligence data centers — raised $44 million in Series A funding, led by IAG Capital Partners and received investment from the following institutions Cisco Investment and NVIDIA. Ayar was founded in 2015 and has raised $370 million, according to the company.

5. winch medical$110 million, medical equipment: Capstan Medical, a startup developing robotic minimally invasive technology to treat heart valve disease, raised $110 million in Series C funding from Eclipse Ventures. Have more than 7 million people In a country with heart valve disease, it’s no wonder investors are interested in the company. The Santa Cruz, California-based company was founded in 2020 and has raised more than $141 million, Via Crunchbase.

6. say$78 million, EdTech: Speak, a startup that hopes to use artificial intelligence to help people learn new languages, has proposed a new solution Series C financing of US$78 million leader accelerator – Doubled its valuation in less than six months and reached unicorn status with a valuation of $1 billion. Just last June, the San Francisco-based startup declare $20 million Series B extension at $500 million valuation. Of course, this Valuation jump This is nothing new for startups incorporating artificial intelligence into their products. Take Speak as an example. Its platform generates audio conversations between applications and users, and artificial intelligence helps improve user fluency. The company says it has created more than 25 million personalized courses for its users this year alone, and it has launched enterprise products for employers since its last round of funding. Speak was founded in 2016 and has raised $162 million, according to the company.

7. Villa Demex$75 million, drugs: New Haven, Connecticut-based Veradermics, a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for common skin diseases, closed a $75 million Series B round of financing from Suweta Capital Management. The company plans to use the new cash to fund ongoing clinical development of its hair loss treatment. The company was founded in 2019 and has raised nearly $111 million, Via Crunchbase.

8. show$73 million, moved: San Francisco-based Gigs, a mobile services operating system developer, raised $73 million in Series B funding from Rabbit Capital. The startup plans to use the new funding to expand its geographic footprint and invest in new products. Gig allows tech companies to quickly embed connectivity into their products. The company was founded in 2021 and has raised $97 million, Via Crunchbase.

9. (tie) player health$60 million, Healthcare: Minneapolis-based Players Health, a provider of insurance for athletes and sports, closed a $60 million Series C round led by Bluestone Equity Partners. Players Health was founded in 2012 and has raised more than $100 million in funding, according to the company.

9. (tie) Excellent security$60 million, cyber security: Sublime Security, an email security platform powered by artificial intelligence, announces $60 million in Series B funding from intravenous injection. Washington, D.C.-based Sublime, founded in 2019, said it had raised $93.8 million.

Big global deals

The largest funding outside the United States comes from Asia.

• Headquartered in India rebel food, The company, which operates multiple food brands, raised $210 million in Series G funding.

methodology

We tracked the largest announced funding rounds raised by U.S. companies in the Crunchbase database over the seven days of December 7-13. Lag as there are some rounds reported later in the week.

Illustration: Dom Guzman