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

While no billion-dollar rounds led this week鈥檚 list, we nonetheless saw a variety of startups in industries ranging from semiconductors to aerospace to biotech raise sizable rounds. The week鈥檚 biggest deal was $400 million for SiFive, a semiconductor startup challenging incumbent with chip designs built on an open rather than proprietary standard.

1. , $400M, semiconductors: San Mateo, California-based semiconductor startup SiFive raised a $400 million Series G round led by . SiFive makes the blueprints used by companies such as to develop their own internal chip designs, on an open standard called RISC-V. CEO Reuters he expects the raise to be SiFive鈥檚 last funding round before an IPO, though didn鈥檛 say when an offering would take place.

2. , $200M, aviation: Hermeus, an El Segundo, California-based startup developing autonomous military aircraft, raised $200 million in equity in a -led round. The company, which is developing what it says will be the fastest unmanned defense aircraft, also raised $150 million in debt as part of the round, which pushes its valuation to $1 billion. Other investors in the deal include , and

3. $137M, biotechnology: San Diego-based Sidewinder, a biotech startup developing cancer drugs to target difficult-to-treat tumors, raised a $137 million Series B led by and . The company is developing听next-generation cancer drugs called antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, which are designed to act like 鈥済uided missiles鈥� by using engineered antibodies to deliver toxic payloads directly into tumor cells. The company said its new funding will be used to push its lead drug candidates into clinical trials.

4. , $125M, AI infrastructure: Palo Alto, California-based Aria Networks raised $125 million in a -led Series A funding round. The company develops an AI-driven networking platform that monitors, analyzes and optimizes data center performance.

5. , $111.7M, aerospace: Starfish Space, a Seattle-based startup developing and manufacturing autonomous space vehicles that perform in-orbit, satellite servicing missions, raised $111.7 million. The Series B round was led by , and . Starfish鈥檚 spacecraft dock to satellites already in orbit to service and reposition them. They can also remove defunct satellites and debris from space.

6. (tied) , $100M, biotechnology: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Stipple Bio raised a $100 million Series A round to advance its precision cancer therapies. The round was led by , and . Stipple aims to develop highly targeted cancer treatments that selectively attack cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissue.

6. (tied) , $100M, health insurance: led the $100 million Series E for Chapter, a New York-based startup offering a Medicare navigation platform that provides advisory services for seniors seeking health coverage. Other investors include 鈥嬧��, and 1.

8. , $85M, fintech: Modus, a Philadelphia-based startup, raised $85 million in a -led seed and Series A round. The startup describes itself as a tech鈥慹nabled audit platform that acquires CPA firms and equips them with AI鈥慸riven audit tools to deliver higher鈥憅uality audits. and also participated in the deal.

9. , $80M, medical devices: and led the $80 million Series C for Menlo Park, California-based Endovascular Engineering, also called E2, which has developed a device called H膿lo for the treatment of venous thromboembolism, or VTE. The company secured clearance for H膿lo in December.

10. , $80M, biotechnology: Boston-based Life Sciences, which aims to develop drugs to promote longevity and find treatments for age-related diseases, says it raised $80 million in Series D funding. The company says it will use the funding to advance human trials of its cellular rejuvenation therapy, called ER-100, which aims to make older, damaged cells act younger again. Investors in the round were not disclosed. The company has previously been backed by , , , and.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 附近上门 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the period of April 4-10. 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.

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led the latest financing, which the company described as 鈥減reemptive.鈥� Previous lead backers and also doubled down 鈥渟ignificantly.鈥�

Put simply, Nirvana鈥檚 goal is to build 鈥渢he world鈥檚 first AI-powered operating system for insurance.鈥� The startup uses real-time driving telematics and 30 billion miles of truck-driving data to build and manage insurance policies for truckers.

CEO started Nirvana in 2021 after spending years running product at , an AI-powered fleet management and safety platform. There, he said, he saw firsthand how heavily safe and responsible trucking fleets 鈥渨ere penalized by the rising costs of one-size-fits-all insurance rates based on old industry data.鈥�

鈥淚t was survival stakes,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淓xpensive policies literally drove some fleets out of business.鈥�

His goal with Nirvana is to use the telematics data those fleets already generate 鈥渢o build a more fair and transparent model.鈥� Nirvana has trained its models on more than 30 billion driving miles and vehicles鈥� telematics that show details such as speed, selected routes and driver behavior.

鈥淭his allows us to reward safe fleets with more accurate and often lower premiums, helping them save money and making roads safe,鈥� Goel told 附近上门 News. He also claims the company is able to underwrite 鈥渨ith speed and precision鈥� and 鈥減rice risk in real time.鈥�

On top of providing insurance, Nirvana claims it gives fleets the tools to reduce accidents before they happen.

The raise comes at a time when insurtech funding overall is down, and deal counts are at a multiyear record low. So far in 2025, global insurance-related startups have pulled in about $4 billion in seed-through growth-stage financing, per 附近上门 鈥� less than one-fourth of the 2021 peak dollars raised 鈥� with deal counts also on the decline.

VCs bet Nirvana can transform 鈥榯rillion-dollar industry stuck in the past鈥�

Nirvana raised its $3.2 million seed round in January 2021, co-led by General Catalyst and Lightspeed. In total, it has raised more than $260 million in funding.

While Goel declined to reveal hard revenue figures, he said that Nirvana has doubled its year-over-year premium growth. It has also doubled its staff to around 200 compared to a year ago.

Nirvana says it serves 鈥渢housands鈥� of motor carriers. Its customers range from single-owner and -operator carriers to fleets with more than 500 trucks.

The startup鈥檚 revenue model is to charge an annual insurance term with upfront discounts based on the historical telematics data it analyzes with its proprietary models.

Interestingly, Nirvana is not Goel鈥檚 first startup venture. Besides serving as the VP/GM of fleet at Samsara, he also co-founded , a digital health startup.

, partner at Valor Equity Partners, said in a release that this round isn鈥檛 just about reinforcing Nirvana鈥檚 approach to proprietary telematics data, deep machine learning expertise, and execution in underwriting and claims.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an opportunity for us to stake a claim in redefining an industry and exploring how Nirvana will apply its 鈥淣 of 1鈥� AI capabilities to benefit customers beyond market-leading insurance products,鈥� he said.

Lightspeed partner believes that Nirvana has 鈥渆xecuted flawlessly鈥� since the firm first invested in its seed round. He said: 鈥淐ommercial insurance is a trillion-dollar industry stuck in the past, and it鈥檚 been incredible to see how quickly Nirvana鈥檚 AI models have been able to deliver material benefits to customers.鈥�

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But insurance impacts everyone in one way or another, and the sector is also one of the areas that shows great promise for artificial intelligence. Indeed, many of the venture deals that have gone into the sector this year have been around AI and automation. Funded insurtech startups are using AI for functions such as streamlining underwriting, automating claims processing, improving risk assessment, and reducing manual work.

The broad trend: Even before the pandemic-fueled funding peaks, insurtech startups received more than double the amount of venture funding in 2019 than they have in more recent years. While investors haven鈥檛 given up on insurtech, funding to startups in the space is down in 2025 and deal count is at a multiyear record low.

The numbers: So far in 2025, global insurance-related startups have pulled in about $3.9 billion in seed-through growth-stage financing, per 附近上门 鈥� almost less than one-fourth of the 2021 peak dollars raised 鈥� with deal counts also on the decline. The lower deal count signals both potentially decreased investor interest in the space, as well as larger round sizes.

Noteworthy recent rounds

Several large megadeals took place this year, many of them in this final quarter. Unsurprisingly, one of the largest recipients of venture capital often cited AI as an area of focus.

In October, San Francisco-based raised led by . Founded in 2015, the company noted at the time of its fundraise that deeper adoption of AI technology has been a part of its strategy since its inception.

鈥淐yberCube has continued to harness the power of its proprietary AI toolset and internet-scale large language models to drive insights from complex data to solve clients’ biggest problem 鈥� to meaningfully quantify cyber risk to maintain profitability and sustainability,鈥� the company said in .

And, in recent weeks, Austin-based raised financing that valued the startup at $1.275 billion. Founded in 2020, Curative created and launched an employer-based health insurance plan that focuses on preventative care and a pledge of $0 out-of-pocket costs. The startup uses AI to power its member experience in combination with human support. Investors include , , , and .

On Dec. 3, raised to grow its own AI-driven healthcare benefits offering. led the 6-year-old San Francisco startup鈥檚 raise, which also included participation from

And in January, Boston-based brought in led by . Founded in 2017, the company offers home, auto and life insurance services using AI to generate quotes.

Early-stage insurtech funding

There were smaller insurtech raises as well, for companies working on a variety of insurance-related issues, many of them centered around automating aspects of the claims process.

• , a startup that lends against whole life insurance policies, in August raised $8 million in a Series B funding round.
• , a builder of artificial intelligence agents that automate 鈥渞epetitive鈥� insurance claims tasks, in November raised $4.6 million in seed funding led by with participation from , , and .
• raised a $25 million Series A financing led by in October to automate insurance workflows. YC also participated in the round.
• , an AI startup automating insurance operations, raised $50 million in an October round led by .

While funding is undoubtedly down from the peak, it鈥檚 also clear that insurtech isn鈥檛 dead. The industry鈥檚 newest winners just look a little different than the straight D2C plays we鈥檝e seen in the past, as they are more focused on infrastructure and workflows. If that鈥檒l make it easier and cheaper to get insurance, that鈥檚 not a bad thing.

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• Exclusive: Insurtech Startup Inclined Raises $8M For Offering That Was 鈥楬istorically Reserved For The Wealthy鈥�

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The St. Petersburg, Florida-based company priced shares at $20 a piece Tuesday afternoon,听 the top of the projected range. The offering raised $368 million for Neptune and set an initial valuation around $2.76 billion. The company trades on the under the ticker “NP.”

Founded in 2018, Neptune bills itself as an AI-enabled platform for insurers to offer flood coverage to residential and commercial customers. The company underwrites policies but does not handle claims or take balance sheet insurance risk, opting instead to work with other insurance providers.

So far, it鈥檚 working out profitably, with business growing as well. In the first half of this year, Neptune reported revenue of $71.4 million 鈥� up 34% year over year. The company posted net income of $21.6 million, more than doubling from the same period last year.

Neptune cites climate change as a driver of future growth in its platform, noting that 鈥渁reas with low perceived flood risk today (e.g., non-coastal regions) could face increased frequency and intensity of flooding due to additional rainfalls and storms.鈥澨�

Additionally, it foresees the possibility of more areas with severe inland flooding being designated as mandatory flood insurance zones for policyholders with federally-backed mortgages.

Today, per Neptune, the largest U.S. provider of flood insurance and the holder of the majority market share is the National Flood Insurance Program, a government-run entity that it cites as its main competitor. Per Neptune, however, 鈥渋ts limited product offerings often fail to meet policyholder needs.鈥�

Neptune鈥檚 growth to date has been funded in part through private investors.The company lists and as its largest holders of Class A shares, with 28.9% and 25.4% stakes, respectively.

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led the financing, which also included participation from and other new and existing backers. The raise brings San Francisco-based Inclined鈥檚 total funding to $31 million. The company did not disclose its valuation, saying only that the Series B was raised 鈥渁t a premium鈥� to its $16.5 million Series A.

In 2020, co-founder teamed up with and to start Inclined, his third company. He鈥檇 previously founded insurance software startup , which ended up going public in 2012. Shaw joined activity and fitness tracking platform Strava as a co-founder in 2009 to lead engineering as CTO.

The goal with Inclined, he said, is to digitize many of the traditional time-intensive operations involved in the process of lending against whole life insurance policies.

Shaw concedes that insurance may not be considered among the sexiest of industries, particularly in the age of AI. But in his view, Inclined is able to do something that has historically been reserved for the wealthy: open up the option to borrow against whole life insurance policies to more people.

Whole life insurance policies differ from term life in that they accumulate value that is available permanently, rather than just paying for coverage. Shaw, who serves as Inclined鈥檚 CTO, likens it to buying versus renting a home.听

And when whole life policyholders want to access their cash value, they often choose to do so via a loan, rather than withdrawing the money directly, which is less efficient, he explains.

This gives banks a way to better participate in the market at scale, according to Shaw. And because banks often have 鈥渕uch lower rates than insurance companies,鈥� he explained, that means borrowers get to borrow at lower interest rates. Plus, their money can be compounded over decades.

Inclined鈥檚 flagship product is called 鈥渋LOC鈥� and is a revolving line of credit collateralized by the cash value accumulated within a whole life insurance policy. It鈥檚 offered through advisers of insurance carriers such as , and .

No recurring interest payments are required, there are no late-payment penalties, and no fees are charged to borrowers, according to Wyss, who serves as the company鈥檚 CEO.

People 鈥渁re essentially borrowing from themselves,鈥� he said. Many people access the money they have built up in these policies to do things like make investments, pay for education or fund other large purchases such as real estate.听

鈥淭hey can access this liquidity during their lifetime,鈥� Wyss told 附近上门 News. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just something used after a person dies.鈥�

Insurtech funding sees choppy funding

Inclined’s funding follows several years of declining venture investment in insurance and insurtech startups but a more recent uptick, 附近上门 data shows.听

Last year, such startups raised some $4.5 billion globally, down from $6.3 billion in 2023 and $9.5 billion in 2022. In 2021 鈥� the peak year for global venture funding 鈥� insurance-related startups raised close to $19 billion worldwide, per 附近上门 data. But through the first half of 2025, those startups have raised nearly $4.3 billion, putting them on pace to top last year and 2023.

Inclined鈥檚 rapid growth

Since Inclined鈥檚 founding, more than $1 billion of credit has originated on its platform, its co-founders said. While they declined to reveal hard revenue figures, they told 附近上门 News that the company鈥檚 annual recurring revenue is 鈥渦p more than 50x鈥� since it last raised in September 2022, for a compound annual growth rate of 318%.听听

Because of its B2B2C model, Inclined has a few different types of customers. Over 2,000 insurance professionals recommend and sell its iLOC product to their policyowner customers who want to access the cash they have built up in their policies. It has about 3,500 whole life policyowners who are using the iLOC product.

The company makes money primarily through fees paid by its banking partners.

When asked why the startup opted to raise less money in its Series B than it did in its Series A, Wyss said the company was 鈥渏ust being judicious鈥� about the amount of capital it needed.

鈥淲e felt like this was the right amount of capital to get to the next milestones of the company,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd, partnering with Northwestern Mutual and getting them on the cap table was a big part of this, too.鈥�

Inclined plans to use its new capital mostly to 鈥渋nvest in sales,鈥� and grow its engineering team, according to Shaw.

, vice president of venture and corporate development at Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, told 附近上门 News via email that Inclined鈥檚 technology platform will help enable its policyowners 鈥渢o understand and optimize the value of their whole life insurance policies, helping them manage their financial lives and have greater access to the living benefits of their Northwestern Mutual policy.鈥�

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

Last week鈥檚 run of big rounds slowed down slightly this week, but overall still had a strong showing. Yet another huge public safety raise, as well as big rounds for semiconductor, life sciences and cybersecurity startups.

1. , $275M, public safety: Just a week after public safety startup locked up a $190 million funding round led by 鈥� minting the San Francisco-based firm as a new unicorn at a $2.5 billion valuation 鈥� another such startup raised even bigger. Atlanta-based Flock Safety raised a $275 million round led by that values the startup at $7.5 billion. The company鈥檚 integrated safety platform includes license plate readers, gunshot detection, AI-powered video cameras and drone-as-first-responder technology. The company also has surpassed $300 million in annual recurring revenue. Founded in 2017, the company has raised nearly $656 million, .

2. , $250M, semiconductor: Optical interconnectivity startup Celestial AI raised a $250 million Series C1 round led by at a $2.5 billion valuation. The fresh cash comes almost exactly a year after the company locked up a $175 million Series C led by 鈥檚 . The startup鈥檚 photonic fabric platform helps separate compute and memory, making processing extensive AI faster and providing more energy-efficient computing. Founded in 2020, Celestial AI has now raised more than $515 million, per the company.

3. , $200M, life science: The intersection of artificial intelligence and science is seeing a lot of money, and this week we saw another example. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Lila Sciences raised a huge $200 million seed round from the likes of and others. The new company is looking to build the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and fully autonomous labs for life, chemical and materials sciences by using an advanced form of AI that can not only process vast amounts of data and make predictions, but also assist scientists in 鈥渄esigning and conducting new experiments, generating hypotheses and testing them in real-world environments.鈥�

4. , $120M, cybersecurity: Boston-based cybersecurity startup Cybereason announced a $120 million investment led by , 2 and , just a month after its outgoing CEO said the . The new cash also came with the announcement has been appointed as the new CEO. Last month, former CEO sued former U.S. Treasury Secretary and the , accusing them of putting the company at risk by rejecting multiple fundraising plans. The past few years have been an about-face for a company that was flying high during the free money days of 2020 and 2021. In July 2021, the startup announced it had raised $275 million in a financing led by Liberty Strategic Capital, the fund started by Mnuchin. No valuation was given by the company, but reports at the time in both the newspaper in Israel and said the round valued the company at about $3.1 billion. In 2022, the company confidentially filed for an initial public offering that would have valued it at more than $5 billion, at the time. However, in 2023 the company raised a $100 million investment led by SoftBank while announcing the CEO change to Gan just months after that the company hired to find a buyer for the company.

5. , $95M, robotics: Robotics startup Dexterity raised a $95 million round that values the company at $1.65 billion, . participated in the round. The Redwood City, California-based company develops robots for repetitive tasks like loading and unloading boxes from vehicles and sorting parcels. Founded in 2017, the company has raised $291 million, .

6. (tied) , $82M, information technology: San Francisco-based Ditto, which helps synchronize data on the edge, raised an $82 million Series B led by and at a post-money valuation of $462 million. Founded in 2018, the company has raised $136 million, .

6. (tied) , $82M, crypto: Crypto payments network Mesh closed a $82 million Series B led by . Founded in 2020, San Francisco-based Mesh says it has raised more than $120 million.

8. , $80M, insurance: San Francisco-based Nirvana Insurance, an AI-driven commercial trucking insurer, announced an $80 million Series C led by valuing the company at nearly $850 million. Founded in 2021, the company has raised $162 million, .

9. , $75M, manufacturing: Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Lumafield, a developer of industrial X-ray CT technology, closed a $75 million Series C led by . Founded in 2019, the company has raised nearly $143 million, .

10. , $65M, medical device: Austin, Texas-based MicroTransponder, a medical device maker to help treat neurological diseases, raised a $65 million Series F financing round led by . Founded in 2007, the company has raised $180 million, .

Big global deals

A big crypto company saw the largest deal of the week.

• Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange received a massive $2 billion investment from Abu Dhabi-based investment firm .

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 附近上门 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of March 8 to March 14. 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:

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

While the year started out hot for large megaround deals, it has slowed considerably. Just three startups raised nine-figure rounds this week and you barely needed a round of $60 million to make this list.

1. , $425M, energy: Fusion startup Helion Energy locked up a $425 million Series F 鈥� valuing the company at $5.4 billion 鈥� as the company looks to commercialize its fusion technology. The round included participation from investors including , 2 and . The Everett, Washington-based startup has now raised more than $1 billion. In November 2021, Helion closed a $500 million Series E. The new round further illustrates investors鈥� appetite for new energy sources as power needs increase due to AI and other advances. In 2023, Helion announced a power purchase agreement with to deliver electricity from its fusion plant starting in 2028, and a customer agreement with to develop a power plant in the 2030s. Helion has just started operating its seventh generation prototype, Polaris, which is expected to demonstrate the first electricity produced from fusion. The company鈥檚 new round is the second-largest in the fusion sector since the start of last year, per 附近上门 data. Last October, , a startup attempting to create a nuclear fusion-based energy source, raised more than $900 million in a Series A led by .

2. , $180M, artificial intelligence: Voice AI startup ElevenLabs raised a $180 million round led by and at a $3.3 billion valuation. The raise comes about a year after the startup locked up an $80 million Series B at a unicorn valuation. The Brooklyn-based company allows creators, enterprises and others to use AI software to replicate voices in dozens of languages. Founded in 2022, ElevenLabs has raised $281 million, .

3. , $123M, insurance: The most expensive purchase most people will ever make is their home, so it matters who insures it. Openly provides independent insurance agents with a platform that offers coverage to homeowners and streamlines processes, improves risk underwriting and helps with claims. The Boston-based insurtech startup raised $123 million in equity financing led by this week, and another $70 million in debt. In 2023, the company raised a $100 million Series D, also led by Eden Global Partners. Founded in 2017, the company has raised nearly $431 million, .

4. , $97M, biotech: Boston-based Atalanta Therapeutics, a biotechnology using RNA interference for the treatment of neurological diseases, completed a $97 million Series B co-led by and . The company will use the cash to support clinical trials of its experimental RNAi therapies for KCNT1-related epilepsy and Huntington’s disease. Founded in 2018, the company has raised $207 million, .

5. (tied) , $75M, human resources: San Francisco-based recruiting startup Mercor raised a $75 million round led by 1听that values the company at a $2 billion valuation, per a report. The company started the process in December and the final total could still increase. Founded in 2023, the company has raised nearly $109 million, .

5. (tied) , $75M, power grid: Woburn, Massachusetts-based Veir, a developer of superconducting platforms for AI-driven data centers and utilities, closed a $75 million Series B led by . Founded in 2019, the company has raised nearly $112 million, .

7. , $70M, defense: Castelion, a defense manufacturer developing long-range hypersonic strike weapons, raised a $100 million Series A in a mix of debt and equity. The El Segundo, California-based startup creates what it calls 鈥渁ffordable, mass-produced hypersonic long-range strike weapons鈥� that serve as a 鈥渘on-nuclear deterrent.鈥� The Series A 鈥� which includes $30 million in venture debt from 鈥� was led by . Defense tech has garnered major headlines in the past several months after massive raises by the likes of and artificial intelligence defense software developer . Just late last year, defense and critical infrastructure tech startup raised $145 million in a Series B. Already this year, raised a $60 million Series C and locked up a $50 million Series B.

8. (tied) , $65M, biotech: South San Francisco-based Helicore Biopharma, a biopharmaceutical startup focused on the treatment of obesity and related conditions, emerged from stealth mode with $65 million in a Series A co-led by and .

8. (tied) , $65M, electronics: Durham, North Carolina-based Smart Wires, a company that develops solutions for a more reliable and affordable power grid, raised $65 million in a new investment that included participation from . Founded in 2010, the company has raised $248 million, .

10. , $60M, health care: San Francisco-based Rad AI, an artificial intelligence-enhanced radiology firm, locked up a $60 million round led by that values the company at $525 million. Founded in 2018, Rad AI has raised more than $140 million, per the company.

Big global deals

The largest deal outside the U.S. came from the Iberian Peninsula.

• Spain-based , an all-in-one platform for managing business travel, raised a $200 million Series E that values the company at $2.7 billion.

Methodology

We tracked the largest announced rounds in the 附近上门 database that were raised by U.S.-based companies for the seven-day period of Jan. 25 to Jan. 31. 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.

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However, that doesn鈥檛 mean large U.S. corporations and their venture arms are not leading a lot of rounds 鈥� and some big ones at that.

The likes of , 1 听and top the list so far this year in terms of rounds led or co-led by U.S.-based corporate ventures 鈥� including massive bets in AI, healthcare and the cloud.

With 附近上门 data, let鈥檚 dive into not just who is investing, but taking the pole position in those deals.

Taking the lead (or co-lead)

When it comes to investing, not only has GV 鈥� or Google Ventures 鈥� taken part in the largest number of rounds so far this year (46) as we discussed previously, it also is tops when it comes to CVCs leading or co-leading rounds, at 23.

The deals that GV has led or co-led have totaled $859 million this year, according to 附近上门 data 鈥� on pace to top the $1 billion-plus in rounds it led or co-led last year.

The largest it has led or co-led this year include a $125 million round for biotech firm , $200 million for data observability startup , and AI legal tech firm 鈥檚 $100 million round 鈥� the diversity of which shows how GV likes to spread its money into different sectors.

Salesforce Ventures has led or co-led the second-most rounds 鈥� nine this year, leaving it well off last year鈥檚 pace when it led 14. Those rounds have totaled $240 million, while last year鈥檚 totaled $510 million.

鈥檚 venture arm led a $106 million round for Menlo Park, California-based 鈥� which has developed a cloud platform to allow developers to build on open and custom AI models 鈥� at a $1.25 billion valuation in March.

While both Salesforce Ventures and GV have participated in a lot of rounds this year, the next CVC has been part of only 15 rounds 鈥� but led nine. , the investing arm of the fintech giant, also has not led or co-led huge rounds, but did co-lead Indonesia-based omnichannel insurtech startup 鈥檚 $47 million Series C. Most of the rounds it has led or co-led have been small to medium-sized, the rounds it has led or co-led this year total $214 million 鈥� already besting last year鈥檚 $150 million total.

鈥檚 venture arm, , follows a similar pattern. While the investment arm has only led or co-led seven rounds this year, those rounds total $152 million 鈥� already beating the $87 million such rounds totaled last year.

Those rounds have run the gamut from databases to edge computing platforms, but not surprisingly two deals are in cybersecurity 鈥� as Microsoft is perhaps the largest cyber provider in the world.

M12 led a strategic investment (the amount was undisclosed) for Israel-based , a security governance platform for low-code/no-code and AI applications, and a $14 million Series B for Santa Clara, California-based , a developer of protections against phishing and other scams.

Finishing up our look at the top five CVCs in rounds led is 鈥� which may be the most interesting of the bunch considering its parent鈥檚 .

Perhaps not shockingly, the amount of rounds Intel is leading is down, as is its overall deal count. Last year, the investment arm did 32 deals total, but it has consummated only 15 this year. It also has only led or co-led six rounds in 2024, compared to 16 last year.

Last year, the rounds it led or co-led totaled $275 million. This year, those rounds have totaled $166 million.

Those rounds include early-stage fundings for AI-related startups such as and , as Intel looks to not miss the AI revolution as it did the mobile.

Big names

While it is somewhat surprising to see CVC deals on the decline the past few years after so many large, noteworthy ones, it is not at all shocking to see these CVCs leading the way in deals led or co-led. Microsoft, Google and Salesforce all have made it clear they are willing to invest billions to lead in AI. Intel also has made strides to not repeat past mistakes 鈥� although its future still remains up in the air.

However, aside from the splashy AI deals, these CVCs continue to pour cash into other areas of immense personal interest like cyber (Microsoft), biotech (GV) and payments (PayPal Ventures).

It鈥檚 unlikely these CVCs will give up that lead anytime soon.

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That, at least, was the trend following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Total annual U.S. mental health spending, at around $280 billion in 2020, in subsequent years across age groups, boosted in part by the rise of telehealth platforms.

These days, more than one-fifth of American adults receive mental health treatment in a given year, per a recent federal government . Much of that comes in the form of one-on-one therapy.

Founders and investors in the space have taken notice. Funding to mental health-focused startups surged beginning in 2020, with large rounds going to companies developing telehealth offerings, AI-enabled platforms and services targeted to specific groups, such as teenagers or the elderly.

Yes, investment in mental health startups has tapered off since the 2021 peak. Nonetheless, we鈥檙e still seeing steady deal flow and big rounds getting done, as evidenced in the chart below:

Startups focus on covered care

One unifying theme for the largest investments this year is an emphasis on providing mental health care that is covered by insurance.

This was a core talking point for New York-based , a psychiatric care startup that in mid June $130 million in the largest mental health financing this year. The round consisted of a combination of Series C equity financing led by and debt financing from .

In its funding announcement, Talkiatry noted that it works in-network with providers that extend coverage to a majority of privately insured Americans. The startup, as its name implies, also focuses on connecting patients with psychiatrists who are able to both provide therapy and prescribe medications when needed.

New York-based , which landed $88 million in a -led Series C this spring, also pitches itself as a provider of covered mental health care. The startup offers an online platform to match people with therapists who work with their insurance plans.

Meanwhile, , which closed on a $33 million Series C in March, markets its mental health offering as 鈥渁ffordable help, with or without insurance.鈥� The San Francisco-based company provides online therapy for anxiety and depression, works with most major insurers, and also offers fixed monthly pricing for those who self-pay.

The right match

Investors are also backing good-sized rounds for startups honing screening tools and targeted services to match people with therapists best-suited to their needs.

Among these is San Francisco-based , which offers a platform run with its proprietary algorithm to help match the听 right therapist with a patient. The company closed this spring on a $72 million Series C round that was a mix of debt and equity.

Boston-based , which secured $30 million in Series B funding in March, is more narrowly focused. The 3-year-old company offers outpatient care for pediatric anxiety, considered the most common mental health disorder among kids and teens.

closed a $14 million Series A in May and is also focused on pediatric mental health. The startup has a particular focus on extending mental health care to children and families covered by Medicaid, who have previously faced limited options.

What not to do

While recently funded startups hope to set an example of the right approach to mental health care, they can turn to predecessors for a lesson on how to do it wrong.

For this, they can look to , a seed-backed telemedicine startup whose CEO and clinical president were for an alleged fraud scheme involving the drug Adderall.

Founded in 2019, Done describes itself as an online platform specializing in psychiatric care for ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Per the , the company 鈥渆xploited the COVID-19 pandemic to develop and carry out a $100 million scheme to defraud taxpayers and provide easy access to Adderall and other stimulants for no legitimate medical purpose.鈥� (Done has said it with the charges.)

A couple years earlier, another funded startup, , over charges that it prescribed Adderall and Ritalin for ADHD without properly screening patients. The company was also recently over its privacy practices. Cerebral raised over $460 million in 2020 and 2021 from and others, but has not secured fresh financing since.

Therapy demand still drives deals

Even with a mixed track record in mental health investing, venture backers still see opportunity in the space as demand for therapy and treatment remains strong, with continued high levels of unmet needs.

For now, focus areas of the most recently funded startups, which include extending covered care and targeting underserved populations, look like a sensible approach. We鈥檒l stay tuned to see how effectively they continue to scale.

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The prevailing venture-funded model, in contrast, offers little cinematic eye candy. Rather, the focus is mostly on startups where people in treatment message and video chat with care providers and use apps to track prescriptions.

Visual appeal aside, there鈥檚 plentiful funding to bolster this smartphone-driven vision. Addiction-focused virtual care startups have pulled in hundreds of millions for business models largely based on building offerings scalable enough to meet the massive demand for treatment.

Much of the funding activity is quite recent.

Just last Tuesday, Portland, Oregon-based , a provider of long-term, virtual care offerings for people with substance abuse disorders, pulled in $35 million in its latest venture round. The 7-year-old startup offers prescription meds and an online support infrastructure to help recovering opioid users and alcoholics.

The same day, Nashville-based , a provider of clinical and peer support to people with substance use disorder, it had secured a minority investment led by 听Previously, 12-year-old Wayspring had raised more than $116 million in known venture funding.

Recent funding recipients

For a bigger-picture view of where investment is going, we used 附近上门 data to aggregate a list of 14 addiction treatment-focused companies funded in the past few quarters.

Altogether, companies on our list have raised $810 million in reported funding to date. That includes CVS鈥� recent investment in Wayspring, reported to total $45 million.

Demand-wise, it鈥檚 not hard to see why startups pitching scalable addiction treatment would find a receptive investor audience. Among Americans who need substance abuse treatment, it鈥檚 estimated that more than 40% do not receive care, per a from the National Council for Mental Wellbeing.

Commonly, people forgo care because they don鈥檛 have access. Per the survey, more than 80% of adults who did receive substance use care had trouble obtaining it. Cost is a major factor, along with a lack of treatment facilities, in particular for rural areas and metros with high substance abuse rates.

Funded startups are taking on both the cost issue and, with virtual care, addressing the shortage of local treatment facilities.

Among them is the largest disclosed funding recipient on our list, . The New York-based company, which operates a digital clinic focused on substance abuse, closed on a $58 million Series C in March, bringing total funding to date to $137 million.

Pelago is founded on the premise that substance use is a treatable chronic condition. It markets itself to employers as a potentially lower-cost treatment option for tobacco, alcohol, cannabis and opioid use disorders.

Medication-based treatment

Medication is also a core part of the business model for many funded virtual clinics.

Boulder is a particularly strong proponent, positing that although medication-based treatment works for addiction, only about 10% of those who could benefit have access to it. The startup says it most often prescribes buprenorphine medications, used to treat opioid addictions, as well as drugs to treat alcohol abuse.

One advantage of the digital clinic approach in this regard is that patients don鈥檛 fall out of touch with care providers when they relocate. Since treatment is digital, one only needs a smartphone to video, chat and message with providers.

That said, none of us lives entirely in the digital world. Even among virtual care providers, it鈥檚 common to connect patients overcoming addiction with in-person support groups.

So, it looks like those basement gathering spots with their tepid coffee and heated conversations will still have a place in the recovery process after all.

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Related reading:

• Affect Raises $16M As Addiction-Related Financings Hold Strong
• More Startups Founders Are Tackling Addiction: Here鈥檚 Where The Money Is Going
• Startups Get Hip To Hypnotherapy
• Psychedelics Provide New Frontier For Venture Funding, But Nuances Prevail

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