Large exits for AI companies pushed up investor returns in January, but sub-billion-dollar IPOs are on the rise as well.
Just as January 2026 was the best recent start to the year in terms of capital invested in corporate-backed funding rounds, it was also the best January for exits in the past few years – with $12.08bn from 59 exits – showing that the road continues to open up for investors looking to realise returns.
By comparison, January 2025 had a far smaller aggregate disclosed exit value of $4.52bn from 59 mergers, acquisitions and IPOs, while January 2024 saw $1.47bn from just exits deals, as the recovery from the venture downturn was still far away. Now, it seems, investors can be a bit more optimistic about making a return in a reasonable time frame.
Of the top 10 exits in terms of value, eight were related to artificial intelligence or robotics, showing the continued dominance of the space, and where investors are likely to see more exit opportunities in the near term. AI chips, humanoid robotics, multi-modal AI tech, generative AI, AI speech recognition were among the types of technologies whose investors raked in cash.
Fernando Moncada Rivera
Fernando Moncada Rivera is a reporter at Global Corporate Venturing and also host of the CVC Unplugged podcast.
