Startup and Venture Investment News for Friday, January 30, 2026: Major Investment Rounds, Venture Fund Activity, Global Trends, and Key Deals in the Global Startup Market.
As we enter 2026, the global venture market has gained strong momentum following several years of decline. Investors worldwide are actively financing technology startups again—record deals are being made, and IPO plans are once again taking center stage. Major players are returning with large-scale investments, and governments are intensifying support for innovation. As a result, private equity is once again flowing robustly into startup ecosystems around the globe.
Increased venture activity is being observed across all regions. The United States is confidently leading (especially in the artificial intelligence sector), while the volume of venture investment in the Middle East has doubled, and Germany has overtaken the United Kingdom for the first time in Europe in terms of deal count. India, Southeast Asia, and Gulf countries are attracting record amounts of capital amid a relative downturn in activity in China. The startup ecosystems in Russia and the CIS are also striving to keep pace despite external constraints. A global early-stage venture boom is forming, although investors remain selective and cautious in their actions.
Below are key events and trends shaping the venture market agenda as of January 30, 2026:
- Return of mega funds and large investors. Leading venture firms are raising unprecedentedly large funds and sharply increasing investments, flooding the market with capital and reigniting risk appetite.
- Record deals in the AI sector and new unicorns. Unusually large funding rounds are driving startup valuations to unprecedented heights, particularly in the artificial intelligence segment.
- Revival of the IPO market. Successful public offerings of technology companies and new applications confirm that the long-awaited "window" for exits has reopened.
- Diversification of sector focus. Venture capital is being directed not only to AI but also to fintech, climate projects, biotechnology, defense developments, and even crypto startups.
- Wave of consolidation and M&A deals. Major mergers, acquisitions, and strategic investments are reshaping the industry landscape, creating new opportunities for exits and accelerated growth.
- Local focus: Russia and CIS countries. New funds and initiatives are being launched in the region to develop local startup ecosystems, attracting investor attention despite restrictions.
Mega Funds and Big Money: Global Investors Back in Motion
The largest investment players are triumphantly returning to the venture arena, signaling a new resurgence in risk appetite. For instance, Japan's SoftBank has doubled down on the AI sector and has made a bold move on OpenAI, investing around $40 billion—one of the largest private investments in tech sector history. Top venture funds are also building massive reserves: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has attracted about $15 billion in new funds, increasing its assets under management to over $90 billion and directing capital towards cutting-edge areas (AI, cryptocurrencies, defense technologies, biotech, etc.). At the same time, sovereign funds from Middle Eastern countries, primarily the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have significantly increased their investments in technology—pouring billions into both global funds and directly into startups. Many new venture funds are emerging worldwide, attracting substantial institutional capital. This influx of “big money” is filling the startup market with liquidity, providing resources for new funding rounds and supporting the growth of promising companies. The return of mega funds and large institutional investors not only intensifies competition for the best deals but also instills confidence in the industry about future uninterrupted capital inflows.
Record Investments in AI and a New Wave of Unicorns
The artificial intelligence sector remains the primary driver of the current venture boom, showing record funding volumes. Investors are eager to secure their positions among the leaders in the AI race, directing colossal amounts of money toward the most promising projects. For example, Elon Musk's startup xAI recently raised an unprecedented $20 billion in investments (with Nvidia as a key investor) to massively expand data centers and accelerate AI development. Moreover, OpenAI is negotiating a potentially even larger funding round—discussing raising up to $50 billion with a valuation of around $750–800 billion, highlighting the excitement surrounding industry leaders. Notably, venture investments are being directed not only to end-point AI applications but also to the infrastructure supporting them: the market is generously funding even the "picks and shovels" of the new AI ecosystem—from specialized chips to cloud platforms for model training.
This current investment boom is spawning a wave of new unicorns—startups valued at over $1 billion. In recent weeks, several companies have rapidly attained this status. For instance, the American startup Higgsfield, which develops video generation using AI, has become a unicorn after securing approximately $80 million at a valuation of over $1.3 billion (just a year after launch). Additionally, the Belgian company Aikido Security, focused on cybersecurity, reached a valuation of $1 billion with only $60 million raised in a Series B round—marking a record-fast path to unicorn status for Europe. While experts warn of the risk of overheating in the market, investor appetite for AI startups remains robust for now.
The IPO Market Awakens: SpaceX Prepares for a Record Listing
The global IPO market is emerging from a lull and gaining momentum. Hong Kong has sparked a new wave of IPOs in Asia: several major tech companies have gone public there in recent months, collectively raising billions of dollars. For example, Chinese battery giant CATL successfully conducted an IPO raising approximately $5 billion, demonstrating that investors in the region are once again ready to actively participate in IPOs.
The situation is also improving in the United States and Europe. American fintech unicorn Chime debuted on the stock market, with its shares rising roughly 30% on the first day of trading. Shortly thereafter, the design platform Figma executed its IPO, attracting around $1.2 billion at a valuation of between $15–20 billion; its shares also saw a steady increase in the initial trading days. In the second half of 2025, several other well-known startups, including the payment service Stripe, prepared for a public market debut, with several other highly valued companies filing for listing. Even the crypto industry has decided to take advantage of the revival: fintech company Circle successfully went public last summer (its shares later soared), while the crypto exchange Bullish submitted a listing application in the U.S. with a target valuation of around $4 billion.
Now, potentially the largest IPO in history is on the horizon: Elon Musk's space company SpaceX plans to debut on the public market in mid-2026, aiming to raise up to $50 billion with a valuation around $1.5 trillion. This amount nearly doubles the previous global record (Saudi Aramco raised about $29 billion in 2019) and could make SpaceX's listing the largest in history. Leading Wall Street banks are already discussing participation in this mega deal. There are also rumors that AI giants such as Anthropic, and even OpenAI itself, are beginning preparations for potential IPOs down the line. The revival of activity in the IPO market is crucial for the venture ecosystem: successful public exits allow funds to realize profitable exits and channel released capital into new projects, completing the startup investment cycle.
Diversification of Investments: Beyond AI
In 2026, venture investments are covering an increasingly broader range of sectors and are no longer limited to just AI. Following last year's downturn, fintech is reviving: significant funding rounds are occurring not just in the U.S. but also in Europe and emerging markets, fueling the growth of promising fintech services. Simultaneously, interest in climate and "green" technologies is strengthening—clean energy, agri-tech, and ecological projects are attracting record investments amid a global trend toward sustainable development. Interest in biotechnology and digital health is also returning: the emergence of new medical developments and online platforms is again attracting capital as valuations in this sector recover. Additionally, with increased attention on security, investors have begun to more actively support defense and aerospace startups, and a partial restoration of trust in the cryptocurrency market has allowed some blockchain startups to secure funding once again. As a result, venture capital is now diversifying across sectors, directing funds into a wide variety of niches:
- Fintech: renewed activity and large deals in financial technologies worldwide.
- Climate and ecological technologies: record investments in "green" energy, agri-tech, and other climate projects.
- Biotech and health: a new influx of investments into biotechnology, medtech, and digital health amid scientific breakthroughs.
- Defense technologies: an increase in funding for startups in security, defense, aerospace, and cybersecurity.
- Crypto startups: a renewed interest in blockchain projects and crypto-based fintech as trust strengthens.
This widening sector focus indicates that in 2026, the venture market seeks to encompass a broader range of innovations, as investors look for new growth points beyond a single dominant theme.
Consolidation and M&A: Scaling Up Players
Elevated valuations of startups and intense competition for markets are driving the industry toward consolidation. Major mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are once again coming to the forefront, reshaping power dynamics. For instance, Google has agreed to acquire Israeli cybersecurity startup Wiz for approximately $32 billion—a record amount for the Israeli tech industry. Such mega deals demonstrate tech giants' desire to secure key technologies and talent.
Overall, the current activity in acquisitions and major strategic investments signifies market maturation. Mature startups are increasingly merging with one another or becoming acquisition targets for corporations, while venture investors are finally seeing opportunities for long-awaited profitable exits. The wave of consolidation is reshaping the industry landscape, allowing fast-growing companies to scale up under the wings of larger players and enhancing exit opportunities for funds.
Russia and CIS: Local Initiatives Amid Global Trends
Despite external constraints, Russia and neighboring countries are witnessing a surge in startup activity amid overall global trends. In particular, several new venture funds with a total volume of approximately 10–12 billion rubles have been announced, aimed at supporting early-stage technology projects. Local startups are beginning to attract substantial capital: for example, the Krasnodar-based foodtech project Qummy raised about 440 million rubles at a valuation of approximately 2.4 billion rubles, while the company Motorica, a developer of modern rehabilitation tools, received over 800 million rubles in investments from private investors (the largest deal in 2024 in Russia). Additionally, at the end of 2025, Russia reopened investment opportunities for foreign investors in local startups, gradually rekindling foreign capital interest.
Although venture investment volumes in the region remain modest compared to global levels, they are gradually increasing. Some larger companies are contemplating going public with their technology divisions as market conditions improve—VK Tech, for instance, recently publicly entertained the possibility of an IPO in the foreseeable future. New government support measures and corporate initiatives aim to give additional momentum to the local startup environment and integrate it into global trends.
Cautious Optimism and Quality Growth
Overall, moderately optimistic sentiments prevail in the venture market today: successful IPOs and major deals indicate that the downturn period is behind us, although investors remain selective and prefer startups with sustainable business models. Strong capital inflows in AI and other sectors instill confidence, yet funds are working to diversify investments and enforce stricter risk controls to ensure that the new upswing does not lead to overheating. Ultimately, the industry is entering a new phase of development, focusing on quality, balanced growth.
