Top 5 VC Deals of the Week in AI (1/9/26)

By Christopher Robbins · Jan 8, 2026 Views: 1

Our Top 5 VC Deals of the Week in AI featured funding announcements from Nirvana Insurance, Tebra, LMArena, Lyte and Galbot

This week we continue our series on the top 5 VC-funded deals in AI.

This week's venture capital funding remained muted due to the new year holiday, however, taking into account the final weeks of 2025, we still have all five transactions in excess of the $100 million threshold.

The top reported deal, per FinSMEs, came from Beijing-based Galbot, a developer of humanoid robots (AI-powered humanoid robots are having a moment right now), which raised more than $300 million in its latest round. Galbot will use the funds to "accelerate technology development, scale its robotic deployments, and expand its global reach," according to its announcement. Our second announcement is from Newport Beach, Calif.-based Tebra, which raised $250 million to "accelerate AI-led capabilities across every aspect of practice management, including EHR, billing and payments, patient experience, and practice marketing," according to its announcement. The top five also included companies in the insuretech, AI benchmarking and physical AI spaces.

Smaller funding raises that did not quite make our top 5 this week included announcements from the engineering, logistics and sports sectors.

Below, we highlight the top five venture capital deals, ranked from the highest to the lowest funding amounts, showcasing the companies at the forefront of the AI revolution...

Top 5 Venture Capital Deals from Dec. 18 - Jan. 7

1. Galbot

Location: Beijing, China
Description: Galbot is a cutting-edge developer of embodied AI and general-purpose humanoid robots, aiming to revolutionize how machines interact with the physical world.
Funding Amount: Over $300 million
Funding Round: Undisclosed

2. Tebra

Location: Newport Beach, CA
Description: Tebra provides an integrated Electronic Health Records (EHR+) platform designed to streamline healthcare workflows and enhance patient engagement.
Funding Amount: $250 million
Funding Round: New financing (non-specified round)

3. LMArena

Location: San Francisco, CA
Description: LMArena is a community-driven platform for benchmarking AI systems, enabling transparent, reliable performance metrics across models.
Funding Amount: $150 million
Funding Round: Series A

4. Lyte

Location: Mountain View, CA
Description: Lyte develops integrated perception technologies for robotics and physical AI, enhancing machine awareness and responsiveness.
Funding Amount: $107 million
Funding Round: Stealth emergence (early-stage round)

5. Nirvana Insurance

Location: San Francisco, CA
Description: Nirvana Insurance is an AI-native commercial insurer leveraging real-time data and automation to enhance underwriting and risk management.
Funding Amount: $100 million
Funding Round: Series D

Make sure to check out our Top 5 VC Deals of the Week in AI right here!

Written & Researched by DWN Staff

VC Deals Synopsized by ChatGPT Research Source: FinSMEs