At first glance, February looked like a massive rebound for venture capital. Global startup funding hit $189 billion for the month, but that headline number hides a deeper reality: 83% of that capital went to just three companies, largely tied to large-scale AI infrastructure. The market looks strong at the top, but remains tight everywhere else.
Investors call it a bifurcated funding environment — a small group of companies raising strategic or infrastructure-level rounds are attracting huge checks, while most startups still face higher expectations, slower deal cycles, and more scrutiny from investors. In other words, venture funding hasn’t fully bounced back, and venture capitalists have become highly selective about where capital flows.
The companies in this month’s roundup reflect this reality. Across 13 startups raising roughly $870 million combined, much of the capital is going toward the operational backbone of the modern tech economy: AI-enabled productivity tools, data infrastructure, energy-efficient computing, fintech automation, electrification platforms, and robotics. Practically speaking, investors are betting less on speculative AI concepts and more on the systems and infrastructure that make AI and digital operations actually work in the real world.
For job seekers, the strongest hiring momentum tends to cluster around companies building AI infrastructure, automation platforms, energy and compute solutions, and industry-specific software that help other organizations run more efficiently.
Here are the 13 companies that raised money in February.
FirmPilot
Location: Indianapolis, IN
FirmPilot builds an AI-powered marketing platform for law firms. It automates SEO and AI search optimization, digital ads, social media management, and website optimization, and analyzes competitors’ marketing activity to spot where a firm can rank higher and win more clients.
FirmPilot raised a $22 million Series A-1 led by DeepWork Capital, with a significant investment from Data Point Capital. The company will use the funding to train a next-generation AI model on 10x more data and build integrations with legal case management platforms, linking marketing performance directly to case outcomes and revenue.
7Rivers
Location: Milwaukee, WI
7Rivers is a data and AI services company helping organizations modernize their data foundations and put cloud platforms to work. The team focuses on data optimization, advanced analytics, and AI solutions, with a Snowflake-aligned approach and accelerators that help companies move faster from messy data to usable insights.
7Rivers raised a $5 million Series A led by Inoca Capital Partners. The company plans to expand its Snowflake delivery and product teams, scale GenAI solutions through the Snowflake Marketplace, invest in industry-specific templates and use-case libraries, and grow sales and partner enablement as it expands into new markets.
Efficient Computer
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Efficient Computer develops processor technology designed to deliver more performance with far less power, which is a key constraint for AI, signal processing, and embedded workloads. The company is building general-purpose architectures aimed at reducing energy use without sacrificing capability in environments where thermal limits, battery life, and size constraints matter.
Efficient Computer raised a $60 million Series A funding round led by Triatomic Capital. The company announced it will use the funding to push its product roadmap forward and expand engineering and developer teams as it brings its architecture to edge, infrastructure, and AI-driven systems.
Mojo AI
Location: Sandy, UT
Mojo AI builds Safety Mojo, an AI-powered safety management platform for high-stakes construction environments, like data center builds. It helps teams capture better safety data through voice-enabled, multilingual forms, then turns that information into real-time visibility on high-risk activities.
Mojo AI raised a $10 million Series B led by Altira Group, with participation from Pelion Venture Partners and Frame VC. The company will use the funding to expand Safety Mojo into new markets (including construction and oil and gas) and support broader enterprise rollouts as data center construction accelerates.
Jump AI
Location: Draper, UT
Jump AI offers a platform for financial advisors that handles the administrative work around client meetings — think prep, note-taking, compliance documentation, CRM updates, follow-ups, and client recaps. The platform integrates with existing advisor tools so teams can keep their workflows intact while improving productivity and compliance.
Jump raised an $80 million Series B round led by Insight Partners. The funding will fuel product expansion and help Jump scale sales, support, and partnerships as demand grows across the wealth management and financial services market.
Ownwell
Location: Austin, TX
Ownwell helps homeowners lower property tax bills by automating the appeal process. Its software analyzes public records and local assessment data to identify strong appeal cases, then generates and files appeals with local municipalities. The company has recently expanded into exemptions, insurance comparisons, and refinancing exploration to support a broader set of homeowner financial decisions.
Ownwell secured $50 million in financing with $30 million in Series B equity and $20 million in debt. The equity round was co-led by Alpha Edison and Mercato Partners, with participation from Intuit Ventures, Left Lane Capital, First Round Capital, Long Journey Ventures, Proof Fund, and Wonder Ventures. Western Alliance Bank provided the debt financing. Ownwell plans to use the funds to expand into additional markets and continue building AI tools that simplify tax appeals and related homeowner decisions.
DG Matrix
Location: Raleigh, NC
DG Matrix builds solid-state power conversion systems that help modernize how electricity is managed for energy-intensive environments like data centers. Its modular technology integrates multiple power sources — including solar, batteries, and grid electricity — and is designed to reduce space requirements, improve efficiency, and support the growing power needs of dense compute infrastructure.
DG Matrix raised a $60 million Series A led by Engine Ventures, with participation from ABB, Cerberus Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Clean Energy Ventures. The company will use the funding to commercialize its technology and scale deployments across data center power infrastructure and distributed energy applications.
Payra
Payra builds a B2B payments and accounts receivable automation platform for construction suppliers and industrial businesses running on legacy ERP systems. It integrates directly with existing accounting and ERP tools to automate invoicing, payment acceptance, reconciliation, and cash application, enabling teams to modernize cash collection without ripping out the systems they already rely on.
Payra raised a $15 million Series A round led by Edison Partners to expand product capabilities, deepen ERP integrations, and scale go-to-market efforts across construction and industrial verticals.
Zero Homes
Location: Denver, CO
Zero Homes helps homeowners plan and complete electrification upgrades, supporting anything from heat pumps and water heaters to induction cooktops, electrical upgrades, and EV chargers, through a digital-first workflow. Homeowners can complete a remote home assessment via mobile app, then receive tailored designs, transparent pricing, and project coordination, including contractor scheduling and rebate guidance.
Zero Homes raised a $16.8 million Series A led by Prelude Ventures, with participation from SJF Ventures and Exelon Foundation, plus existing investors VoLo Earth Ventures, Overture VC, and FJ Labs. Zero Homes will leverage this capital to support expansion into new markets, growth of its contractor network, and additional product offerings for home electrification.
Quash
Location: Miami, FL
Quash builds an AI platform for financial institutions to personalize lending and prospecting decisions based on credit risk. By combining internal and external data, Quash helps institutions identify borrowers who may be overlooked by traditional scoring, refine pricing and approvals, and support decision-making with tools for modeling and reporting in regulated environments.
Quash raised a $2.6 million seed round led by Acronym Venture Capital, with participation from H20 Capital and Insight Partners’ scouting fund. Quash plans to expand adoption with U.S. credit unions with this funding, and continue developing its credit decisioning and personalization products.
Apptronik
Location: Austin, TX
Apptronik develops humanoid robots designed to work alongside people in industrial and logistics environments. Its flagship robot, Apollo, is built to operate in spaces designed for humans and support physical tasks like material handling, case picking, palletizing, and machine tending.
Apptronik announced a $520 million Series A-X extension round, with participation from existing investors including B Capital, Google, Mercedes-Benz Group AG, and PEAK6, and new investors including AT&T Ventures, John Deere, and Qatar Investment Authority. The company will use the capital to ramp production of Apollo, expand commercial and pilot deployments, and invest in robot training and data collection to accelerate performance improvements.
RADICL Defense
Location: Boulder, CO
RADICL Defense builds cybersecurity-as-a-service for small and midsize businesses, with a focus on those tied to the U.S. Defense Industrial Base and critical infrastructure. Its core product is an autonomous virtual SOC designed to improve detection and response while supporting compliance readiness without requiring SMBs to staff a traditional security operations team.
RADICL secured a $31 million Series A led by Paladin Capital Group, with participation from returning investors Access Venture Partners and Denver Ventures, plus new investor Cervin Ventures. With this new funding, RADICL will accelerate development of its autonomous vSOC platform, expand product offerings, and scale adoption among SMBs operating in high-risk, regulated environments.
BrainCheck
Location: Atlanta, GA
BrainCheck offers digital cognitive assessments that help evaluate brain health across clinical and non-clinical settings. Providers can administer computerized tests in person or remotely to measure memory, attention, processing speed, and executive function, with automated scoring and reports that support screening and monitoring for conditions like concussion, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia.
BrainCheck raised a $13 million Series A led by Next Coast Ventures, with participation from S3 Ventures and UPMC Enterprises. The funding will expand BrainCheck’s enterprise platform to enable deeper workflow integrations, long-term patient monitoring, and broader deployments across primary care and specialty settings.
