Joulent's $1.75B Raise Leads AI, Energy Funding Wave

Two separate weekly roundups of the largest venture and growth rounds show a striking pattern: capital is concentrating in AI infrastructure, energy solutions for compute-intensive industries, and precision biotech — with several rounds crossing the $1 billion mark.

The headline raise

Joulent, a Houston-based energy infrastructure provider serving AI and compute-intensive industries, secured a $1.75 billion strategic financing round backed by National Grid via National Grid Ventures — the largest deal tracked across both lists.

AI infrastructure takes center stage

According to one tracked list, AI-related companies claimed five of the week's 10 largest announced funding rounds. Notable deals include:

Together AI (San Francisco) — $800M Series C led by Aramco Ventures, at an $8.3B post-money valuation
SambaNova (Palo Alto) — $1B Series F led by General Atlantic, at an $11B post-money valuation, with nearly $2.5B raised to date
Twelve Labs (San Francisco) — $100M Series B co-led by New Enterprise Associates and Naver Ventures, for AI systems trained on video archives
Prime Intellect (San Francisco) — $130M Series A led by Radical Ventures, bringing total funding to $200.4M
Venice (Sheridan, Wyoming) — $65M Series A led by Dragonfly at a $1B valuation; the company is just two years old
8090 Solutions (Redwood City) — $135M led by Salesforce Ventures for its coordinated AI-agent platform; the company was founded in 2024 and is led by CEO Chamath Palihapitiya
Norm AI (New York) — $120M Series C led by Khosla Ventures at a reported $1.2B valuation, bringing total funding to just over $256M

Energy and infrastructure bets

Beyond Joulent, energy-linked rounds included Quaise Energy ($134M Series B led by Prelude Ventures, $225M raised to date) and Proxima Fusion (€411M Series B, based in Munich) — both signaling continued investor appetite for power solutions tied to AI's growing energy needs.

Enterprise tooling and compliance

LeapXpert ($180M growth financing led by Riverwood Capital) and 8090 Solutions point to rising demand for enterprise communications compliance and AI governance tooling, a theme reinforced by Norm AI's compliance-focused raise.

Biotech and other notable rounds

Beeline Medicines (Boston) — $126M Series A extension backed by Bain Capital, CPP Investments and Bristol-Myers Squibb, following a previously disclosed $300M Series A
Flare Therapeutics (Cambridge, MA) — $85M Series C led by Third Rock Ventures and Nextech Invest
Fore Biotherapeutics (Philadelphia) — $67.4M Series D led by SR One, bringing total funding to just over $274M
Keyfactor (Independence, Ohio) — $1B private equity round led by Summit Partners, bringing total funding to $1.21B
Oratomic (South Pasadena, CA) — $300M Series A led by Arch Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures and Spark Capital
Premier Lacrosse League (New York) — $100M Series E led by Ares Management and Joe Tsai, described as the largest capital raise in professional lacrosse history
Higharc (Durham, NC) — $95M Series C led by Insight Partners for AI-enabled homebuilding design
Venus Aerospace (Houston) — $91M Series B backed by Mercury, bringing total funding to $197M
Gauntlet (New York) — $125M Series B with SBI Group as sole investor
EDX Markets — $76M with SBI Group as sole investor
Skello (Paris) — €200M private-equity round led by Bridgepoint Group

Sources differ on the timeline

The two tracked lists of "the week's 10 biggest funding rounds" share no overlapping companies. One list — covering Joulent, Together AI, LeapXpert, 8090 Solutions, Beeline Medicines, Premier Lacrosse League, Twelve Labs, Higharc, Flare Therapeutics, and Venice — is explicitly dated to June 27–July 2. The second list, including Keyfactor, SambaNova, Oratomic, Quaise Energy, Prime Intellect, Gauntlet, Norm AI, Venus Aerospace, EDX Markets, Fore Biotherapeutics, Proxima Fusion, and Skello, does not specify a date range, leaving it unclear whether the two lists refer to the same week or consecutive weeks.

Additionally, no stated valuation is available for several rounds, including LeapXpert, 8090 Solutions, Twelve Labs, Higharc, Flare Therapeutics, Quaise Energy, Prime Intellect, Gauntlet, Venus Aerospace, EDX Markets, Fore Biotherapeutics, Proxima Fusion, and Skello. Currency conversion context for the euro-denominated Proxima Fusion and Skello rounds is also not provided.

Why founders should care

The scale and concentration of these rounds may signal several trends worth monitoring, though outcomes remain uncertain:

AI infrastructure demand likely persists. With five of ten tracked deals in one list tied to AI, and valuations reaching $8.3B (Together AI) and $11B (SambaNova), founders building adjacent tooling — model serving, video AI, agent orchestration — may find continued investor interest, though elevated valuations could also signal expectations that may not be met if AI demand growth slows.
Energy-for-AI could be an emerging category. Joulent's $1.75B raise and Quaise Energy's and Proxima Fusion's rounds suggest investors are increasingly betting on power infrastructure to support compute-intensive industries. However, fusion and energy infrastructure projects may face long development timelines before commercial returns materialize.
Early-stage AI capital appears active. Several Series A and B rounds (Twelve Labs, Prime Intellect, Venice, Gauntlet) suggest that capital for compute, video, and agentic AI use cases may still be accessible to earlier-stage teams — not just mega-rounds.
Geographic diversification may be underway. With top rounds spanning the US, Germany, and France, founders considering international expansion may want to watch whether investor interest continues to broaden beyond traditional US hubs.
Investor concentration carries risk. SBI Group acted as the sole investor in two deals (Gauntlet and EDX Markets), a pattern that could concentrate influence over portfolio companies — a dynamic founders negotiating single-investor rounds may want to weigh carefully.
Biotech funding remains clinically gated. Rounds for Beeline Medicines, Flare Therapeutics, and Fore Biotherapeutics reflect continued capital flow into precision therapies, but these remain subject to the clinical and regulatory risks inherent to drug development.

No details were provided on use of proceeds, board changes, or strategic partnerships tied to most of these raises, so founders evaluating comparable deals should treat headline figures as a starting point rather than a full picture.