AI Power Needs Drive $1.75B Joulent Round in Busy US VC Week
Massive venture capital flows into AI infrastructure and energy this week, led by a $1.75 billion Joulent round, underscore that institutional investors are aggressively funding the physical and software layers required for compute-intensive growth.
Joulent, a Houston-based energy infrastructure startup, secured $1.75 billion in strategic financing from National Grid Ventures to support the power demands of artificial intelligence and compute-intensive industries. The massive round topped a truncated U.S. holiday week for venture capital announcements. San Francisco-based Together AI followed as the second-largest deal, closing an $800 million Series C round.
Joulent’s deal size highlights a critical market shift: AI’s immense electricity requirements are pulling traditional energy giants directly into startup financing. By backing Joulent, National Grid is positioning itself to capture the surge in power demand from modern data centers. This indicates that legacy energy providers view AI compute infrastructure as a fundamental, long-term growth market rather than a transient technology cycle.
Venture capital is simultaneously pouring into the software and compute layers required to run these models. Together AI, which develops infrastructure for companies running open-source AI models, achieved an $8.3 billion post-money valuation with its Aramco Ventures-led round. The participation of the Saudi oil giant's venture arm further illustrates how global energy and capital players are intersecting with the AI buildout.
Downstream AI applications and enterprise compliance tools also attracted major checks. LeapXpert closed $180 million in growth financing from Riverwood Capital to track enterprise communications. 8090 Solutions, a 2024-founded company co-led by Chamath Palihapitiya, raised $135 million from Salesforce to build enterprise software using coordinated AI agents. Higharc picked up $95 million from Insight Partners to apply AI to homebuilding design and workflow management.
Investors are additionally targeting specific friction points in AI adoption. Twelve Labs secured $100 million from New Enterprise Associates and Naver Ventures to develop AI systems trained on video archives. Privacy remains a focal point, as evidenced by Venice raising $65 million at a $1 billion valuation from Dragonfly to provide surveillance-free access to AI models.
While AI and energy dominated the top of the list, healthcare and niche industries proved resilient. Beeline Medicines added $126 million to its Series A, backed by Bain Capital, CPP Investments, and Bristol-Myers Squibb, to fund precision therapies. Flare Therapeutics raised $85 million for cancer treatments. In a notable departure from technology, the Premier Lacrosse League secured $100 million from Ares Management and Joe Tsai, marking the largest capital raise in the sport's history.
