Venture funding is off to a focused start in 2026, and the signal for job seekers is clear: investors are backing companies building the infrastructure behind AI, financial systems, energy, and cloud computing. The largest rounds are flowing toward technologies designed to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and support long-term scale, which typically translates into sustained hiring, stronger business fundamentals, and clearer growth paths for employees.
Several trends are clear:
- AI infrastructure is driving major investment. Companies developing compute, cooling, and advanced chips are attracting significant capital as demand for high-performance technology accelerates.
- Automation is reshaping legacy industries. From insurance and logistics to accounts receivable and automotive retail, startups are using AI to modernize workflows, opening up opportunities for technologists and operators alike.
- Innovation is happening beyond coastal hubs. Cities like Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Austin, Salt Lake City, and Denver continue attracting venture dollars, expanding where high-impact tech careers can grow.
In total, 12 companies raised more than $312 million in January to expand teams, accelerate product development, and scale their platforms, making them worth watching for professionals considering their next move.
Opendate
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Opendate is building the operating system for independent live events. In contrast to legacy ticketing giants, OpenDate’s platform brings booking, ticketing, and marketing into a single, purpose-built tool designed specifically for venues, promoters, festivals, and attractions.
The company serves independent operators across the U.S., from music venues to festivals and art fairs, and its $14M Series A led by High Alpha will fuel deeper product development across booking intelligence, ticketing, and marketing tools, while supporting team growth in engineering, data, and go-to-market roles. Opendate plans to accelerate adoption among organizations looking for modern, operator-first alternatives in the live events space.
Gridline
Location: Atlanta, GA
Gridline is building modern infrastructure for private markets investment. Banks, fintechs, and registered investment advisors use Gridline to unify capital activity, money movement, and reporting within a single ledger-centered system that reduces manual workflows while improving data accuracy and visibility across the investment lifecycle.
The $18.5M Series A funding led by FINTOP Capital, with participation from Ardent and Tech Square Ventures, will support Gridlines platform innovation, including new AI-powered fund diligence capabilities, while helping the company expand its team and accelerate adoption among financial institutions seeking more connected alternatives infrastructure.
Mia Labs
Location: Austin, TX
Mia Labs develops AI-powered communications technology designed specifically for automotive dealerships, acting as a 24/7 conversational layer across calls and texts — answering customer questions, checking inventory, scheduling appointments, and routing updates to dealership teams — to help operators capture more opportunities while reducing manual workload.
The company has rapidly scaled to support more than 350 franchise dealerships nationwide, driving tens of millions in attributed revenue while saving over a million hours in staff time. The $20M Series A led by Permanent Capital Ventures brings Mia Labs’ total funding to $29M and will fuel continued product innovation, team expansion, and platform growth as the company positions itself as a foundational AI communications layer for modern dealership operations.
SkyFi
Location: Austin, TX
AI-first Earth intelligence platform SkyFi makes satellite imagery and geospatial analytics more accessible to commercial and government organizations. Through its data marketplace, enterprises, researchers, and developers can quickly access on-demand satellite and aerial imagery to monitor assets, assess environmental impact, support infrastructure planning, and strengthen supply chain visibility.
As demand grows for real-time planetary data beyond traditional defense use cases, SkyFi is positioning itself as a more flexible gateway to space-based insights. The company’s new $12.7M Series A funding round, led by Buoyant Ventures and IronGate Capital Advisors, will accelerate product development, expand data partnerships with satellite operators, and enhance SkyFi’s analytics capabilities as it scales its global footprint.
Accelsius
Location: Austin, TX
Accelsius’ proprietary technology helps data center operators manage extreme heat while reducing overall power consumption and operating costs. Its advanced liquid-cooling technology is designed to support the next generation of AI-driven data centers. As demand for high-performance computing pushes rack densities far beyond what traditional air cooling can handle, Accelsius’ direct-to-chip, two-phase liquid cooling systems offer a more energy-efficient path forward.
The company raised $65M Series B led by Johnson Controls and Legrand to fund manufacturing scale-up, commercial deployments, and global expansion as Accelsius accelerates adoption of liquid cooling across hyperscale and AI-focused data centers.
Biller Genie
Location: Miami, FL
Biller Genie builds accounts receivable automation for invoice delivery, payment collection, and reconciliation, giving finance teams clearer visibility into cash flow while eliminating hours of follow-up and administrative tasks. Designed for small and mid-sized businesses using tools like QuickBooks, Biller Genie replaces fragmented AR workflows with a single system that typically saves customers 10–20 hours per week.
Since launching in 2020, the company has focused on reducing cash flow bottlenecks that slow growing businesses. The $22M Series B led by Radian Capital will support product development, sales and marketing expansion, as well as increase global hiring as Biller Genie scales to meet rising demand for modern AR automation.
DiversiFi
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
DiversiFi is building AI-powered tools designed to help third-party logistics providers (3PLs) regain control of their margins. By embedding AI directly into day-to-day logistics workflows, DiversiFi helps build financial visibility into an industry where pricing, billing, and carrier data are often fragmented across disconnected systems, leaving operators guessing where money is made or lost.
The $8M seed round backed by Sorenson Capital, Kickstart, and Peterson Ventures will support continued product development, pilot programs, and expanded partnerships as DiversiFi scales its tools for one of the most complex and underserved sectors in modern commerce.
FinOpsly
Location: Cincinnati, OH
As organizations scale AI and data workloads, infrastructure costs are rising faster than finance and engineering teams can manage. FinOpsly’s cloud cost optimization software helps enterprises control rapidly growing infrastructure by connecting technology spend directly to business outcomes, and uses explainable AI to identify waste, forecast usage, and automate real-time cost controls.
The recently secured $4.45M funding led by Cultivation Capital will support continued product development, expand FinOpsly’s go-to-market efforts, and drive deeper automation capabilities as FinOpsly positions itself within the fast-growing Financial Operations category.
Encoord
Location: Denver, CO
Encoord develops advanced modeling software that helps utilities, grid operators, and energy developers plan for an increasingly electrified future. Its flagship platform integrates financial and operational modeling across generation, transmission, distribution, and distributed energy resources, enabling faster, data-driven infrastructure decisions.
As global power systems undergo rapid transformation, encoord’s technology helps stakeholders reduce interconnection timelines, optimize capital investments, and accelerate decarbonization efforts. The $2M seed funding led by KittyHawk will support platform development, engineering growth, and expanded deployments across North America as demand rises for smarter grid planning tools.
Indigo
Location: Miami, FL
Indigo is a medical professional liability insurer using AI to modernize underwriting and risk assessment. Its proprietary platform automates workflows traditionally handled through manual processes, enabling faster quoting and more precise coverage decisions for physicians and specialty practices.
Founded in 2023, Indigo has quickly scaled to insure nearly 1,000 providers nationwide while surpassing $10M in premiums. The new $50M Series B capital, led by Rubicon Founders, will expand product capabilities, strengthen distribution partnerships, and accelerate automated underwriting as Indigo continues applying vertical AI to modernize malpractice insurance.
Neurophos
Location: Austin, TX
Neurophos is developing photonic computing chips designed to dramatically improve the speed and energy efficiency of AI workloads. By replacing traditional silicon-based processing with optical technology, the company aims to overcome the power and scalability constraints increasingly limiting modern data centers.
Neurophos is positioning itself as a breakthrough player in next-generation AI infrastructure, and the $110M Series A funding oversubscribed round led by Gates Frontier with participation from M12 and others will accelerate delivery of its first integrated photonic compute systems and support expansion across engineering and production as demand for high-efficiency compute continues to surge.
Illuno
Location: Dallas, TX
llluno connects businesses directly with verified off-duty law enforcement officers, transforming a historically fragmented security staffing market into a centralized, on-demand marketplace. With a nationwide network of hundreds of thousands of professionals, the platform delivers higher fill rates while reducing reliance on legacy agencies and manual coordination.
The $5 million Series A will help scale operations, deepen platform capabilities, and expand illuno’s national footprint as organizations increasingly seek more reliable, tech-enabled security solutions.
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